Destiny's Call

I never expected to gain So Much at such a bargain. I was in it for the love of the hunt, yet somehow I knew my day that day wasn’t ordinary, but it was oddly familiar. As I strolled the isles of our local flea market, I saw many of my old colleagues. See, I had once had a Friday/Saturday store there. I knew all of the vendors, some of them being my closest friends, and well, since moving into the newly rented space in the newly built strip mall, I guess it was seen as a lateral move. I had made it! But my highs were stifled, and the fall of failure could be devastating, this dichotomy of high and low was always in focus in the town I was raised. My old friends and colleagues didn’t know I was struggling to get by. Every week I spent hours trying to find new ways to stay afloat. I had maybe a few months left to get it right, but my confidence was waning. My business concept was solid, my items one of a kind, but unsurprisingly, The pandemic had really hit us hard. Being that people were stuck at home, at first they really wanted to bring the beauty of great finds into their homes, but as the months dragged on, people struggled-and so did we.

Yet going to the market sparked my creative flow; I love the way old things can be made new, new things improved to have a unique spin. These were Gorgeous original pieces, I was surrounded by such immense beauty, rawness, Realness, yet I felt like such a Fraud. My names Manda by the way, and as I smiled, chatted, and even belly-laughed with old friends, I thought about how some of the best times of my life were spent in this place. At one point, I felt the success of my little shop was all I needed, yet I felt the need to move up and on. Nothing’s wrong with growing, right?

My store, The Artisans Gallery Place, an 800 square foot, central air-conditioned Artisan shop, decorated chicly and looking as high end as the client’s we hoped to and do attract (the kind of place not only for, but that welcomes folks who won’t always step foot in a flea market, to say the least). To them and your everyday Jane or Joe, we sell things myself, and others make. Art, furniture, jewelry, a diverse mishmash of goods. The vendors I stock in our store Love that their works are getting more notoriety and praise than ever before. They can't beat the residual business they get, the free marketing, and not to mention the healthy paycheck they receive when their items sell. This shop is the perfect fit for our small community on the outskirts of Leadville, Colorado, where the sun rises to the east brightening the sky and framing its beauty against the backdrop of Mount Elbert. The locals here know and love one another, and in the tough times, we band together. Yet, when there is so little to go around, the wants suffer as the needs take paramount. But the reason I am in it is the joy and satisfaction I get from seeing us make a difference in our community and the works we get to put on display not only to be owned but more importantly, appreciated.

But back to why I was there seeking the find of the century, I had a purpose, and I was determined to find something great. So as I browsed, I spotted it, a beautifully restored 1950s midcentury-style bench. And then I saw something I didn’t know I needed, yet I was drawn to, an old globe. It wasn’t particularly gorgeous or anything; it definitely was old, but I thought it would be nice as a store prop, so I grabbed it up with the bench and headed toward the register to make a deal on payment. On the way to the checkout, I saw a leather-bound small black notebook that I thought I could write future dreams down in, I picked it up as well, three items total. I was a happy hunter. Yet somehow I too felt that I was the one being hunted. Something chasing me down to get my attention, I had no clue.

As I opened the store door Monday morning, coming in with all of my goods, I knew this week would Be Good and slightly different than all the rest. Cindy, my only employee, was there bright and early too. Cindy, the spunky redhead with a wide breadth of knowledge about antiques. She was so valuable to my business, and immediately she asked me if I knew that the old globe I picked up was a small treasure-only about (400 in circulation at the time of its making and 100 still to be found). It could be worth a few thousand dollars possibly. I remember being drawn to it, but for why I didn’t know, she examined it with such intent, and under a bit of dust, she saw an x. We thought very little of it until about 15 minutes later when I went to open the small black notebook. On the first page, it read, “A treasure for my treasure-Julie, I Love You-Love Jim.” Coordinates were there. My mind began to race. Was this real? Sure enough, Google made us realize that the x on the globe was indeed over the state the coordinates were found. I didn’t believe I would find a “treasure” I’m sure Julie found it already, but if I put the story on our Social media pages, maybe it would trend, and just maybe this was just the attention our little store needed to put Us on the Map. I immediately called my old friend John who owned the shop where I got the items. He confirmed, “Yuppero Manda,” those two pieces had been purchased together at an estate sale he had recently attended. He told me the older man who owned the house had died recently after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. Thus, his wife Julie would be moving into a senior living community soon and wanted to unload many of their belongings to downsize. I asked John if Julie would possibly be willing to speak with us; he gave me the contact to the estate sale company, and after a brief confirmation and a call back from Brian, who oversees client relations, he had good news verifying that I now had the permission I needed, and they connected me with Julie's information. Yet, I would wait until tomorrow to call.

The next morning was brisk, the air cool and refreshing-the perfect morning in a sense and full of anticipation. I was excited yet slightly nervous about my call with Julie, so I took a big gulp and dialed her number, not exactly knowing what to expect. Julie answered, she was very kind, yet I could sense the hint of melancholy in her voice. A voice slightly weathered from years of Living and Loving, I assumed-she could only have hoped to be so lucky to have lived and not only survived. As we spoke, she said that Jim wasn’t always clear in what he said in the last few years. There were times he mentioned a treasure buried for her, but she was too old and wasn’t sure if this were fantasy or fact. His disease hit unexpectantly, thinking they still had many years to enjoy the day-to-day with one another, but that just wasn’t the case, so she gave us her blessing to go and look and It was settled.

Immediately I knew an adventure was underway. I mean, who would we be to not go to the coordinates and at least look. So the next day, Cindy and I packed up, had my mom man the shop for us as we excitedly traveled two states over from Colorado to Montana, soon arriving in a small field connected to an old general store. You know, the kind of store that must have had its heyday in the mid-1950s and now was a landmark standing the test of time and still kicking. The building painted a bright fire-engine red many times over with bright white letters letting the locals know they were there, as if everyone didn’t already know. As we went in to get their permission to dig on their property, they were so gracious and enjoyed our story, they permitted us to search and even knew Jim and Julie as most of their family still stayed near the area. On our end, the story piqued all of our interest, and so many were now a part of this journey with us. Cindy wasn’t only great at understanding the old, she also was great at getting the word out on our FB, Insta, and Tik Tok pages. With thousands now following us on our adventure, the dig's monotony was, well, uneventful. We dug all afternoon. We were just about ready to give up when we struck the box. It was large and felt like it was made of steel, and it was. We hoisted it up with a little rope, and now was the moment we had waited days to find out. A long car ride and little sleep, what would be there? First there were two gold coins, 1 Love letter and in a crisp manilla envelope a sum of 20,000 dollars. Stunned, we had to know the rest of this story...

And as it goes... Jim had worked at this store as a young man, the place he worked when he met Julie on a night shift. They fell madly in love, had four children and moved two states over early on in their marriage. Jim was keeping a secret retirement gift for them in their later years, and he buried this here a few years back when visiting family and friends in the area. You see, a dream they had, but never the right time to see it through, was to do a month-long cruise trip around Europe. It was going to be the cherry on top of a life he had loved spending with his love. But Jim was struck with Alzheimer’s as life had dealt him a harsh hand. It came on relatively quick and strong, he had all but forgotten about the money he buried there years back. It was going to be her 65th birthday present, but he had gotten sick just a few years prior. He tried to tell her, and she still doesn’t know how he acquired this much money, although he was always frugal and they had had very many successful years as small business owners themselves.

As you can only imagine, Julie decided to split the money exactly down the middle with us. At first, I vehemently denied her extreme act of kindness and told her as much as I appreciated the offer, I just couldn’t accept; she insisted knowing the struggle of a small business owner and especially in these times. So, this is how it all ends, I was able to buy my second of two investors out and have some leftover for the months ahead. I asked Cindy to become my business partner, and she accepted! I also had an idea to draw more people into our shop by expanding into more modern furniture pieces and to give old artwork a modern spin. We are already seeing traction in our establishment from all the social media attention as well as the local news coverage that picked up our story. Who would have thought this destiny would catch me and it would be So Much better than I could have imagined…