For the first time in 34 years, the Hand Store will not be part of my life.

In so many ways, this is something I never suspected I would have to write. Perhaps I believed at different times that “someday” the Hand Store would no longer be a part of my life, but until something actually happens, the realities of it are hard to conceptualize. For me, the decision by my parents to sell the North Beach Haven department store after 34 years in business was bittersweet, to say the least.