Letter: Closing her store with a heavy heart

It is with a heavy heart that after failed attempts to sell the Flowering Tree in Montrose that I am looking at having to close after 23 years serving the community. Health and financial reasons have led to this decision. It is a sad commentary that the store will be added to a dying breed of Christian bookstores that have fallen to the Internet over the last few years. It seems the small business is a thing of the past.

I have been touched by the outpouring of love and support I have received in light of this difficult decision. Over the years as I have ministered to the community I have been buoyed by those who have been so supportive of me and my business. I have met and become friends with so many new people and deepened old friendships, and for that I am forever grateful. These people and memories will go with me as I travel through the next phase of my life whatever that may be.

I would like to publicly thank the community at large and in particular those who helped in a more personal way by volunteering at the store so I could get much needed rest and a break from the pressures of running a small business. I don’t know what I would have done without them.

At this point in time, short of a last minute reprieve, the store will be closing its doors for good the end of March. I have very mixed feelings about the recent turn of events that have precipitated this decision; however I feel in the long run it will benefit me and my long struggle with multiple sclerosis.

Thank you again to everyone.

Christine Stafford
La Crescenta