I recently moved to a small community with a single entrance. At that entrance is a few small neighborhood retail shops which include a restaurant, a beer & wine store and a pet grooming store. The newest addition is an ice cream shoppe and the reason I sat down to write.
First let me say that I know nothing about the operations or running of an ice cream shoppe but my best guess would be that the ideal time to open an ice cream shoppe is not winter. Even in Florida, we have days that are just not ice cream type days. In any event, Mr Ahearn decided to open his ice cream store in December.
The ice cream store has all the favorites - soft serve ice cream perfect for dipping in hot chocolate syrup, popular cone flavors like rocky road, cookies n cream, you name it, he has it and what ice cream shoppe would be complete without home made sundaes and banana splits.
As you might imagine traffic to this shoppe full of ice cream goodies has been scarce. Passing by the shoppe a couple times each day I can't help but notice the empty parking in front of his store.
I always root for the little guy whether he or she is venturing out to start a business of their own or embarking on some journey to fulfill a dream. For Mr. Ahearn, this ice cream shoppe IS his dream.
The thing that sets Mr. Ahearn above the crowd is his determination for success. I first noticed Mr. Ahearn and his home made sign one Sunday afternoon; Mr. Ahearn was holding up his sign waving it at cars as they passed by on Alt 19 - his sign simply said OPEN. It made me reflect a few moments on commitment and how this man and his sign is a good example of commitment.
I've seen Mr. Ahearn and his sign frequently since that Sunday afternoon and one evening it was well past sundown when I saw Mr. Ahearn and his sign waving at the cars.
As a parent, I try to take note of real-life opportunities to help my teenager understand concepts such as commitment. Our society has become one of easy bail outs when things get tough and commitment has become just another 3 syllable word. So, as my daughter had lunch and discussed plans for college and moving out of the nest, we also talked about commitment and Mr. Ahearn for she too had noticed Mr. Ahearn and his sign.
When things get tough, and the road is not as easy as we hope it to be, we think of Mr. Ahearn. Sometimes failure is just not an option.
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