NOW THAT YOU’RE GONE

Good afternoon from Butler & Bailey Market.  I hope everyone is having a good week after last week’s snow event.  We were super busy at the store last week and now we are super slow at the store this week.  Easy come, easy go, that’s kind of how it goes with snow scares.

I always get accused of being in cahoots with the weather people to try to drive business when a snowstorm is predicted.  I guess you could bribe a weather person to forecast snow.  Their job doesn’t seem to be dependent on an accurate forecast.  They could take my bribe money, make up a forecast, be wrong, still have a job the next day, plus a little extra money in their pockets.  I think I could get away with it.  It would be hard to prove a weather person “fixed” a forecast when they are hardly ever accurate to begin with.  I’m not even sure it is a crime.  When I asked someone about it, they told me it must not be a crime because Trump hasn’t been charged with it.  Trump does seem to spend a lot of time in court rooms.

I try to stay out of all the theatrics of politicians and famous people.  They think they are important, but I always feel like I have more important things to do.  That is until this morning.

So sometimes I play music at the house when I am getting ready for work.  This morning Superstition by Stevie Wonder came on, so me being me, I started to dance to the music.  My wife being my wife, just walked by and rolled her eyes at me.  So, I said “look at me, I’m doing the now famous Trump Dance”.  She’s like, no you’re not, you’re doing the Tom dance, you’ve been dancing like that since I’ve known you, long before Trump ever did it.  Well, that got the wheels turning in my head.  Maybe I could find a good ambulance chasing lawyer to take Trump to court over stealing my dance?  The dance obviously played a big part in propelling him back to the White House.  That should be worth millions of dollars to me, after all, I’m the one that invented it.  Apparently, I need to get it done quickly, once you’re the president, all your legal troubles somehow go away for you and anyone else you want to set free.  I guess the current president just set the record for setting people free.  Well, I tell you that story, as valueless as it is, to let you know my wife is still putting up with me after almost twenty-seven years.  I still have her fooled!

I haven’t written Grocery Life in quite some time, probably about three years.  I am going to try to get back at it, although I’m sure most have enjoyed the break.  I think the COVID pandemic put me in writer’s block, and I am just now recovering.  That was like a snow scare that lasted about two years instead of two or three days.  What a nightmare!

I always try to write about things that affect our store and our community.  Most of the time, I get to tell a lighthearted, personal-interest story.  Unfortunately, I am writing today to let you know about the loss of Mark Burnette.  Mark was one of our employees who was also a loved member of our community.  He grew up here, went to Bearden High School, and was a valued member of our staff at the store for the last 15 years.  He served several roles for us at the store, the last being our produce department manager. 

It is kind of hard to put into words what Mark meant to all of us here at the store.  When he first started here, to be quite honest, I didn’t think he was going to work out for us.  I think he was still trying to find his way in life much less in his job.  He had lost his dad at a young age.  He didn’t have any siblings or a wife or kids so really the only family he had in his young adult life was his mom.  That’s tough on a young man trying to find his way.

As time went on, I think we started to earn Mark’s trust, and he started earning our trust.  From that point on, he became a loyal and valued member of our team.  More importantly, he became a trusted friend to many of us here as well as a mentor to new employees trying to find their way.

What I have realized for myself, as well as all the people that have worked here over the last thirty-five years, is that most everyone has voids in their lives that need to be filled.  For some it may be a mother or father figure, for others, maybe a brother or sister they never had, or it may just be a trusted group of friends.  My hope is that this store and this community gave Mark a place where he could fill some of those voids in his life.  I certainly know he filled some of those voids in our lives. 

Mark’s funeral was yesterday.  It was a great celebration of his life.  Several people shared about Mark’s life and what he meant to them.  As I listened to various people, it struck me that we sometimes learn the most important and valuable things about people after they are gone.  We all know things about each other at a moment in time but hardly ever get the full story until after they are gone. 

Mark’s mom, Karen, is his only surviving family.  I am sure she will need our thoughts and prayers as she navigates the loss of a son.  She requested that a poem be read at the end of Mark’s funeral yesterday, so I want to end with it as well.

Rest in peace, Mark.

Thanks for letting us be a part of your community!

Tom Butler