Bob's Bargain Barn, Inc.

Bob's Bargain Barn, Inc. Used furniture and beds, local delivery. Very reasonable prices. Clean used furniture and house hold items. Reconditioned beds and new bed frames.

09/07/2026

After we move and get settled, what would be a good job for me to look for?
Any ideas?

09/06/2026

Sorry I haven't been writing much. We have had quite a few showings on the house and it's keeping us busy.

Almost didn't look real. I thought it was pretty cool.
09/04/2026

Almost didn't look real. I thought it was pretty cool.

09/01/2026

Page 13
When mom graduated high school, she went to work at the Owens Illinois Glass factory. That where her father worked for 45 years. It was very hot, and she was doing the same thing everyday, packing glass bottles. After 2 or 3 weeks of this she decided she would go to Miss Hicky's finishing school. She learned to type and take shorthand, and bookkeeping and switchboard operations. I believe it was a 2 year school. She graduated and got a job at the Muny Opera house in Forest Park, St. Louis Mo.
She was in the payroll department. It wasn't long before she was running the department. She was a wiz at numbers and she was such a people person, everyone loved her. She got to see all the shows and meet all the performers. She met dancers that were in 7 Brides for 7 Brother, she met Shirley Jones doing Oklahoma and so many more.
The very best story she told me was meeting Bob Hope. This was during the Vietnam war. He was given a tour of the offices while he was there. When he saw my mom, he asked who she was. They told him she was in charge of the payroll department. He said with great enthusiasm, let me meet her! She was the one writing him a check for being there for the week doing a show. He talked with my mom and asked her if any family members were in the military. At the time my Uncle Tom was in the navy, but home on leave. Bob told my mom to bring him to the Muny and he would love to shake his hand. So she did. He was such a nice man. Took the time to talk with people. My mom wrote him a check for $5000.00. That was a lot of money in those days.
When my grandparents passed, then mom and her sister, Uncle Tom and Uncle Bill went to Forest Park and had trees planted in their names. Each tree has a tag on it with their name and dates.
After mom left wroking there, she got married and had my sister and I. She took us there to meet everyone. It just so happened that Shirley Jones was there and we got to meet her. She was so beautiful and sweet. I can't remember the show they were doing. It would have been around 1971. Everyone was thrilled to see mom. We spent hours there talking with everyone. I think mom worked there 2-3 years.
She got to go back for a visit the year before she passed. When they found out when she worked there, they asked her to sit down and tell about her experiences. She was there 3 hours telling her stories. I was so glad she got to go back one more time. It made her year!

09/01/2026

Thank goodness it's September. I'm ready for fall. This time of year, our high temps usually drop one degree a week. I'll take it!

08/27/2026

Page 12
When I started working for mom and dad in 1983, I was paid minimum wage. It was $3.35 an hour. I was paid for 40 hours a week, I worked 55 hours a week or more, most of the time. We worked holidays, weekends, and evenings. What ever it took to make the store a success. Dad did the buying, mom did the cleaning and I did the lifting.
Even when I got pregnant, I was still lifting. At 7 months my doctor told me to start taking it easy. I over did it a couple of times and had to sleep with my legs propped up. Don't worry he came into this world perfect. All 9.7 pounds of him.
I was ordered to take bed rest for 6-8 weeks after delivery. I was in labor 6 days and he was a big baby.
After 4 weeks, my dad had to have emergency surgery. I had to go back to work. That was in 1991. That was the start of dads health problems. That's when I had to start taking over the buying and the running of the store.
Mom was a trouper. She took care of dad, worked the store, did the books, washed all the linens for the store, and always had a smile on her face. She worked more hours than any of us. She was the most positive person I've ever known.
She had all the major holidays at their home and cooked for all of us. At Christmas she made dozens and dozens of cookies to give to everyone she did business with. Like her bookkeeper, the girls at the bank, the lady that did her hair, and of course all the customers. She did this all after working all day or all week. She was so giving.
Having your own business takes everything you have in you. Especially if you care about it as much as we did. It was a life long love, and yes I miss it dearly.

In between the morning storms. If you look close there is a rainbow in several pictures.
08/23/2026

In between the morning storms. If you look close there is a rainbow in several pictures.

Good Friday Morning!
08/21/2026

Good Friday Morning!

08/18/2026

Page 11
When you pick up an estate like we did every week, you are going through someone's entire life. I never really gave it a lot of thought, because I didn't have time to think about it. It really didn't hit me until my mom passed away. Dad and I were just going through the motions of running the store for months. We didn't care what was going on. I really don't know how we stayed in business. We would just sit there and look at one another. Thankfully we had the best customers on the planet. They came with hugs and stories about mom that touched them the most.
It was the 3rd estate we picked up after we lost mom that hit me the most. It was the simplest thing. I was cleaning a box of kitchen ware when I came across a rolling pin with red handles. It was exactly like the one my mom used my whole life. I just sat there and cried. Then I had to decide if I should put it out for sale and have to deal with ringing it up at a later time, or throw it away so I wouldn't have to deal with it again. I finally decided to put it on the shelf for sale. I was hoping no one would buy it for a while.
You never know how you are going to mourn for a loved one. Everyone does it differently. There is no right or wrong. You have to do it on your own time line in your own way. Don't let anyone tell you differently.
Two weeks after mom passed a stranger to our store was shopping. He came to the register and noticed I wasn't up to par and asked me what was the matter. I told him I had just lost my mother. He said when did it happen? I said 2 weeks ago. Do you know what he said to me? He said "you have to get over that." Are you kidding me? I was flabbergasted. I couldn't believe he said that to me. He didn't know me, or my mom. He didn't know we worked together for 35 years, and lived only 5 houses apart. We were together 7 days a week. We were best friends. We loved one another more than life itself. Do you know what I said to him? I said see the front door? Walk out of it. He did.
To all of you that gave me your support and your hugs, I cannot thank you enough.
I cried every day for almost 2 years. I know that's a long time. It's what was necessary for me.
My dad did it differently. Emmediately after mom passed, he started throwing things away in their home. He started bringing her stuff to the store to sell. Her collectables my sister and I gave her over the years. He made me price them and display them. Everytime I rang one up it almost killed me.
One evening I went to their home to get some paperwork out of moms office and he was sitting in her office chair next to the shredder and just shredding file after file from her desk drawers. I told him he wasn't suppose to do that. We were suppose to keep records for 7 years of the business. He told me to get what I needed for the store and he just kept shredding. I called our bookkeeper the next day and told me she had most of it backed up on her computer, but to save what I could.
After 2 months dad couldn't bare to be in their home any more so he put it up for sale and moved into an apartment.
I still live 5 doors down from their home and it just sold for the second time. I still call it mom and dads home. The first couple that bought it, invited me to come see it. I told them I wanted to remember it just the way it was when mom and dad had it. You know, with their furniture, the way the house smelled. Mom was always cooking something good. That's what I want to remember. The way they decorated for Christmas. They always had a big display inside and out for the holidays. That's what I want to remember. You do what you need to do. That's all that matters.

08/14/2026

I just went 38 minutes without power. Anyone else?

Address

6016 15th Street E
Bradenton, FL
34203

Telephone

+19417583866

Website

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