Celebrating a Small Business – Stichez – and the Possibilities of Rocky Mount,NC in 2024

As I write the first blog post of 2024 I reflect on its possibilities and the role the Main Street blog plays in high-lighting these possibilities. I smile when mentioning that I can talk in long run-on sentences, which makes editing the blog a challenge. One tool I use is standing back and throwing a bunch of commas at the copy hoping some stick where needed. Learning to delete pearls of wisdom is one of the hardest lessons a writer faces. It reminds me of the AA story: “You give three speeches when speaking at a AA meeting. The speech you write, the speech you give, and the speech on the way home.

One evening after a City Council meeting a lovely black woman approached me and said, “I read your blog. I don’t always know where you are headed, but I get there.” If only I could remember her name because I think of her regularly as I write my way into the post with an opening like the one above. When I first thought of writing Mainstreetrockymount.com, it began with one of those God moments. I heard him say, “You write, you do something about it.” After a trip to meet John Jesso to ask if I would be stepping on anyone’s toes if I started the blog, John’s answer was, “Help me change the narrative of Rocky Mount.” I have set my course accordingly. A sweet friend said the blog could help people look differently at the painting on the wall. I love that idea.

I find that noticing the little things in my life bring balance to the world around me that is a ‘mell of a hess.’ I take myself off to Smith’s grocery to enjoy their Christmas world above the beer cooler and the vegetables. Smith’s Coconut White Ices are available at holiday time. I only have two ices left and crumbs. A small thing but it gives ballast to my ship.

Did you have a peppermint shake from Chick-fil-A? The long lines were worth the wait. I get it if sweets are not a good metaphor for you, but the point is that endowing significance to the small stuff hones gratitude. It is easier to recognize the big stuff like your two oldest great grandchildren saying, “I love you, Grammy.” A small wiggley crayon drawing on the refrigerator becomes priceless.

A Small Business of Rocky Mount – Stichez

The small businesses of Rocky Mount are like the Smith’s Coconut White Ices of life. Before Christmas I discovered Stichez at 322 SW Main St. The Manager-designer, Lamone Green, is a Main Street jewel. What a nice man! Mr. Green has been at this location for three years. My favorite quote, “I bring people downtown.”

The Main Street blog starts the new year celebrating. Celebrating the life- giving things that sustain us, a shell brought home from the beach, the chestnut I found in a French garden, the rock in the shape off a heart I was given. I celebrate Mr. Green, his wisdom, his view of Main Street, his hopes for it, his flag that he has planted to draw people that need his unique creative business. I LOVED the results of my projects. I enjoyed the customers that I met in the store. We need more Mr. Green’s, more businesses dedicated to excellence like STICHEZ. Go downtown and meet Mr. Green. Have something stitched, enjoy the Main Street scene. AND…keep me company on my Main Street bench in 2024. Start following the blog today.