Don't ever doubt for even one minute -

I think it was sleep deprivation in the early days that kept the doubt away. Libby was a baby, Anna was in Kindergarten, and Aaron barely in Junior High School. People I have never met in my life before were calling and stopping in to say they had read about the business and they wanted to be a part of it. I was open to anything and everything. I guess looking back a filter of some sorts is always needed but with that said - life happens and then you adjust. I have learned the most about myself as a person from being a part of The Little Hat Company and meeting so many new people. It has forced me to come out of my shell and decide who I want to be when I grow up. It hasn't always included my most graceful times but I'm learning.

My most favorite memories come from our first Christmas Season down on lower Main Street. My very dear friend Joyce was another who volunteered to help out however she could. Her husband came in about a week before our town parade and asked if we had a float. That was all it took. The Lebel Family single handedly put together the most beautiful magical float in one weeks time. Joyce, Ginny, and I made 26 matching hat and scarf sets for kids who wanted to be a part of the float. Joyce said the morning of the parade kids that she didn't even know where being dropped off at her house. A year later I was chaperoning for one of Aaron's class trips at Sturbridge and a girl came up to me at the bathroom and said she had been apart of the float for Little Hat. I had a moment. Pure Goosebumps.

Our little store was hopping for our first season and the day of the parade I remember looking over at Sue when the float went by and the Gagnon Family had made up flyers about the store and were passing them out to the crowds, and smiling with tears in my eyes. I knew at that moment that The Little Hat Company wasn't about me, Sue, Barb, or any one of us. It was going to be much bigger than I could ever even imagine and I promised myself that cold holiday evening that I would never doubt myself even for one minute.