By Casey Hoskins
Hello friends! As you can tell by the title, there is some “stuff” that needs chatting about. I’m gonna go ahead and jump in, so grab your coffee (crap, I have to get up and get mine) and settle in.
Can you believe it has already been six months since we started on this journey together? For some of you, it has been SO much longer, but that’s the point; time flies and unexpected hurdles show up when it does. CaseyGirl Designs got a sister, The Creative Home, and it has been a complete success! We have the best vendors in the valley, amazing items, customers, helped create a fabulous Makers Event, and overwhelming support, but there is one thing I didn’t anticipate, and really should have. Okay, there are a few things I should have anticipated but this is the biggest one.
My son is going back in for surgery.
Many of you know this because you come in and chat with me whenever you can, which I love, but there are some of you newbies that don’t; this is for you. I thought my son, E, was doing reasonably well, and the issues we have been facing would eventually either work themselves out, or we would learn to live with them. Nope. (How many of you think of Robyn and her silly Reels on IG when you hear that? I do!) The Year of the Introvert, as it is known in our house, created a hole in his care, denying us the knowledge that one of his kidneys had gotten to a very bad place. Add this to those issues I was telling you about, and E is headed back to surgery. This means multiple visits, scans, tests, and for me, time away from the business. I tried to get work done, to keep vendor sales up, be a part of community events, even the Chamber. It didn’t work. I crashed. Some serious reality checks needed to be made, forcing me to make a decision that was not only good for my son’s health but mine as well.
It is time to close the shop….for a little while.
It is not fair to my family or my vendors, or even to myself, to keep the shop open when the weight of it all is crushing me. Yes, I have wonderful people working for me, willing to help when and wherever they can, but the fact of the matter is if I am not working the CaseyGirl side of things the Creative Home side doesn’t work either. This is not a lesson on running a small business, but let me tell you, there is a lot more to it than making the shop pretty and selling stuff. Taking time off to care for my son is mine and my husband’s top priority. Closing the shop for a month or so is what I need to do but killing any opportunity for my vendors to make a sale is not. I chose to let them go and let God lead me into what comes next. I am struggling with feeling like a failure, with not pushing harder, not keeping better care of myself. This does not mean the end of The Creative Home, it just means it will look a little different when the time comes to build again. If you know me at all, you know that I already have ideas cooking on how my oh-so-wonderful vendors and I can make a splash. More of that later though, right now it is about being a parent and making damn sure my boy has EVERY opportunity to be successful in this new hurdle.
So, as the title says, Ump, you need to call it! Funny thing about endings though…they produce some amazing beginnings and I know of one coming… I may not be able to continue on as I had previously thought but some really great people were put in my path and I can’t wait to share what one of them is doing with this unexpected change!
Know you are loved and if it’s okay with you, maybe send up a prayer or good thought for my boy. ♡ ~Casey
