Stanley

My Mom hired Stanley for the doll shop when he was 19.

He picked me up from school, helped with all my school assignments (I had the coolest science projects, thanks to him), and took my friends and me on summer adventures.

I had been running the shop for a while once my Mom got Alzheimer’s, but it wasn’t until she passed that I asked Stanley what felt like every other minute, “Hey, Stan, how do we do this, where do we order this, who do we call for this.”

Stanley’s wife Pam worked here for almost 20 years, and she was one of the best things to happen to our company.

When she passed in January of 2020, we were at her bedside together. It was devastating to us all, and shortly after, we lost Mom.

I didn’t see Stanley smile again until Holland Diane. Now, he smiles every day. They enjoy lunch, she refuses to nap anywhere else but his chest, and they have their little routines.

He sacrifices what he used to enjoy watching over lunch for her favorite cartoons on his lap while they eat lunch.

They are the best thing to happen to each other, and I’ll never get tired of seeing this smile.

We've been through a lot. Stanley is part of the reason I care about keeping this shop so much, and we will be working together until the very last day.