Ann Patchett helps Nashville mourn with books and canines.
On Tuesday, the novelist shared that her bookstore, Parnassus Books, is open to the neighborhood within the wake of the mass capturing on the Covenant School, which claimed the lives of three kids and three adults.
While the workforce had closed the shop within the wake of Monday’s tragedy, a deliberate occasion for households and their canines to rejoice the newest launch of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man went on as deliberate Mar. 28, serving as a possibility for these grieving to swing by and, hopefully, create alternatives for therapeutic.
“We just want to send out our love to our friends and our neighbors and our customers at the Covenant School down the street,” an emotional Patchett, holding her canine Sparky VanDevender, mentioned in a video shared to Twitter. “We’re not here to sell you books. We’re here because we love you and we’re your friends and we’re a place to come. We want you here with us. So, if you don’t know what to do today and you don’t know where to go, come here and be with us and hold a dog and just know that we care.”
Patchett, who was just lately awarded a National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden, echoed these sentiments to Yahoo Life whereas referring to the significance of making protected havens for communities in mourning.
“One of the many wonderful things about independent bookstores is that they give us a place to be,” she says. “We rejoice at Parnassus, we dance, we launch fantastic books, we host story time readings. Today we mourn.”
“Sometimes you need a place to go when you’re alone or with your family or wanting to meet friends,” she adds. “Sometimes you need a place to go when you want to hide, when you can’t imagine what could possibly make you feel better, when you don’t feel like being by yourself. Sometimes you just need to hold a book or hold a dog. Sometimes you go to a bookstore because you’re looking for a particular book and sometimes you go to a bookstore because it’s the only place you can think of that makes any sense.”
Sarah Arnold, advertising and marketing and communications director for Parnassus, was current within the retailer as information of the capturing unfolded. She remembers the stress her workforce felt as they realized the tragedy occurred on the Covenant School, the place lots of their clients have private ties.
“We were all in shock. You don’t know what to do with yourself, and you feel pretty helpless,” she tells Yahoo Life. “Since we opened in 2011, we have always had the goal to not just be a bookstore, but a place for the community to gather, whether that’s during author events or for something like our Dog Man celebration. On any given day, we want to be a place where people can meet and feel happy and at peace among fellow readers.”
That’s why, Arnold says, she and Patchett thought it was vital to open up their doorways for others who’re grieving as a approach to present unity and compassion and to guide by instance so different small companies can do their half as properly.
“Small businesses are unique because we have such strong community ties,” Arnold explains. “It’s really important in times like these to reach out to your community and hold them close, and let them know that you have a space where they can just be. We are in a unique position to be able to do that.”
That was particularly clear on Monday, when Arnold and her workforce discovered themselves on the middle of the scene, as rows of firetrucks lined their avenue. Even extra emotional was the truth that Parnassus occurred to be near the reunification middle, the place dad and mom had been instructed to attend to be reunited with their kids.
“That’s why we made the decision to close [on Monday],” she explains, “out of respect for what had happened to those families who lost loved ones, and also just to keep the roads clear for emergency vehicles and the parents trying to reunite with their children.”
“But today we’re back,” she notes. “We want to be that place for folks to come and let kids be kids for a minute, let parents feel like their kids can enjoy themselves in public and give the parents a minute of peace as well.”
As for Patchett, she says merely being current proper now for many who want it’s an important factor.
“We love our community in joy and in sorrow,” she tells Yahoo Life. “We just want you to know you’re welcome here, today and all the other days, at Parnassus and at all the other bookstores. I’m the spokesperson for independent bookstores so I feel comfortable saying this: no matter where you are, we want you here with us.”
“Reach out to your community and let them know that you’re there and that you care about them,” provides Arnold. “That’s really all we can do right now.”
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