When I was a child, my mother would pick us up from school every Thursday and we would drive into Wichita Falls, TX to pick up my father’s paycheck.  There were five of us children, four of us lined up across the backseat while my oldest sister got to ride in the front.  Back then, we weren’t aware that seat belts would save our lives and probably save my mother’s sanity.

Occasionally, my mother would surprise us and pull into the Gibson’s Discount Center parking lot in downtown Wichita Falls.  What a treat it was to walk the aisles and discover what wonderful new things had found their way to the shelves since we last visited.  We never made many purchases, but the pure enjoyment of just wandering the aisles was more than enough entertainment.

Finding the Gibson’s Discount Center in Weatherford last weekend awakened the excitement of a childhood adventure.  As I opened the door to Gibson’s in Weatherford, Texas I was instantly eager to explore.  Although the Gibson’s in Weatherford is affiliated with Ace and not quite the same concept as the Gibson’s from my childhood, I still felt a delicious sense of adventure wandering up and down the aisles.  I love the old metal nail bins where you buy one nail or one hundred and you pay by the pound instead of per each.  Even though I didn’t need any nails, I was really tempted to pick some up.  I know that you can find most anything on the internet and I often do my shopping online, but I hope we never completely lose the brick and mortar locations.  It’s a wonderful sense of joy to pick up merchandise and actually hold it in your hands before purchase.

The things I actually purchased, (some tea and an elephant figurine) weren’t particularly unique or rare.  What I really walked away with was a welcome remembrance of a childhood adventure.  The purchases were simply a thank you to the store owners for keeping the store open and allowing me 45 minutes of pleasure, walking the aisles.