Metal Meredith

Bubbles, Skeletons and Goodbyes

So much has been said over the past week about the events of New Year’s Day in Richmond that I am not sure what to add. I feel that it is important to say something about it, as it has greatly affected my life this week.

It has been so long that I don’t remember the first time I met Kathryn Harvey, but I know it was in her little shop in the second floor building of Exile on Grace Street. Exile is this little punk shop where I so badly wanted to fit in. I would go and covet the newest Doc Martens and cool jackets. Then we (Kym and I or Michelle and I) would venture upstairs to fondle all the goofy toys, retro furniture and kooky antiques. This is where I first saw those Day of the Dead statues that made me a smile spread across my face in delight.

I remember talking to Kathryn on those trips and thinking about how nice she seemed and embarrassingly, how much older she seemed than me. I must have been about 20-ish and she barely, if not even, 30. She explained the Day of the Dead things and in that visit, created a customer for life.

She moved to Carytown in that tiny little spot and I was delighted. I met Phil somewhere around then, lived only a few blocks from her store, as it was between my house and Phil’s work. We met in the area often and I would typically stop in every week to check out what was new. I bought these great sunglasses there that Phil sat on (and I am not over it yet, buddy) and an embarrassing amount of those silly skeletons. At one point, I remember asking her to point out to Phil what I wanted for my birthday since I knew he was going in for a present for me later that week.

One of my fondest memories is of the installation of the bubble maker above the store entrance. When it was turned on, bubbles would stream down Cary Street as far as you could see. It delighted shoppers and neighbors alike. There was always this big sticky puddle right in the entrance that you had to step over. To Kathryn, it was a small price to pay for such fun.

We would go on Saturdays for a special treat of Espresso Milkshakes, best I have ever had. Phil and I would talk with her and Bryan for a while, shop and talk some more. They were a couple that we aspired to be, happy, loving and utterly joyous. So you can imagine when we found out she was pregnant, we made a special trip to stop by and congratulate. When Stella was born, I remember Kathryn taking me in to the backroom to meet her as an infant. She was beaming, Stella was adorable and Bryan was every bit the proud Dad.

Over the years, as we moved to Oregon Hill, Northside and then to the West End of Richmond, we grew as a family and only went back on occasion to pick up a gift or give Vivienne a place to play while we shopped for new toys for her and ourselves. I only saw Kathryn a handful of times in the past few years, Bryan almost never.

There was always something so special about going into World of Mirth when she was there, seeing an old friend, knowing that she would say hello, ask how we were doing and smile and laugh with us for a moment. The store is part of our life. I cannot look in any corner of my house without seeing something purchased there. Every year at either Christmas or my birthday, I get a World of Mirth bag. Every year, the contents make me smile, giggle and laugh.

I am so lucky to have known them personally, to have witnessed their love for each other and their children by just being near them, to have been there sharing laughs, conversations and wit. They were wonderful people that with their passing, have left a hole bigger than any I have felt before in my heart, in my community and in all of our lives.

R.I.P. Bryan, Kathryn, Stella and Ruby. You have made my world a better place, even though you have gone. I am forever thankful I was able to know you.

Meredith

*This photo is one of Vivienne’s first Christmas in 2003, opening her first big bag of World of Mirth toys. She still has each one of these toys today.