New Beginnings

New Beginnings. Kind of redundant, don’t you think? But we all say it. And we know what we mean by it. By it’s very definition a beginning is the start of something that hasn’t happened, therefore it is new. And something new has a beginning that doesn’t need to be called a beginning because, well, it is new.

I feel like I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.

That said, My Ron and I are having a New Beginning.

My Ron and I met in August of 2006 when I went to work at the salon where he was established. We hit it off famously and have been stuck to each other’s left hip ever since. At this point I’m pretty sure we can’t one function without the other. We’re a boxed set. Like the little fat pilgrim salt and pepper shakers at the Publix.

Some time in late 2007 My Ron abandoned me to go open his own beauty parlor not far down the road. (Do I sound salty? AM I SALTY? Well, maybe a little, still) He had two spaces available but had already promised them to two former co-workers before I ever came along. (Ok, definitely salty) I was out. Or so it seemed. Except that he kept returning to the scene of the crime for me to cut his hair, so I knew I still had an in.

I held on for one more year, all the while hoping for a change, and that change finally came when one of the girls moved away. My Ron came in for a cut and told me “The Other Sharon” was moving to Jacksonville, to which I immediately replied, “what day do I move in?” In November of 2008 I moved to his salon, Evolv Salon, and we’ve been together ever since.

It’s been an incredibly wild ride – additional stylists coming and going, issues at the dumpster, a head lice salon moving into our complex, calling the cops on a DUI driver who ended up in our parking lot screaming, a “company” who moved in two doors down and then got evicted with all of their belongings thrown out into the parking lot, and most notably the Asian hookers two doors down. But that’s a whole ‘nother blog post for a whole ‘nother day. Suffice, we’ve seen a lot, which came as such a surprise as our salon was, so we thought, tucked quietly away into a bucolic little business plaza. Silly us. Should’ve known better.

But as ‘they’ say, all good things must come to an end. Except it really isn’t an end – it’s a New Beginning.

Time has marched on and seemingly had it’s way with us. We have both had carpal/ulner surgery, breaks, shots and orthotics of and for our feet, and in general exponential aging of our bodies, as our profession offers when you work hard at it – and that is one thing at which My Ron and I do excel. We just can’t stop.

So the stark reality has been hitting as of late, that we are no longer spring chickens, we’re weary of salon ownership and all the responsibilities, and we’re are closer to riding off into the sunset sooner now as opposed to later. Dang it.

Time to move.

Time to let someone else have the responsibility of mopping and buying toilet paper, dealing with DBPR, worrying over the building, and in general being the one in charge. My Ron and I need to spend our last ten years working with less stress, less fuss, less hassle. Just doing hair and enjoying our people – what we came here for in the first place.

Now, don’t get me wrong, we’ve enjoyed each phase of our careers. Worked in the big salons, worked in small, owned it, rented a suite in it, cleaned it, painted it, plunged the toilet in it.

But it’s time to pass the proverbial torch and finish strong, and that’s just what we’re doing.

So we loaded up the truck and we moved to Beverly…..Hills, that is. Swimming pools, movie stars.

Ok, so not really. But you knew that.

We did, however, move just about two-and-a-half miles down the road, closer to home, to a spectacularly maintained building, with a phenomenal landlord/salon owner, who just happens to be a client of 25 years. See how this is all coming together? There’s always a method to my madness.

And, as always, holds true that you never think you have that much shitake mushrooms in the pantry, until you start moving said shitake, then you realize….

But thanks to my husband, sister, Ron’s brother and sister-in-law, two pick up trucks, two SUVs and a trailer, we got it all there in two trips, and nothing broke or flew out of the truck. Success. Now to find everything that we didn’t think we had but evidently we did and it all got moved and where are my combs and where did Ron put the bags of towels and why am I wandering in circles and clearly I need to eat a snack.

And that’s how it was for three days.

But it’s now coming together, our clients are finding us with little to no trouble, and it’s already starting to feel like home. Right now we’re burning that two-ended candle, and mama’s tired, but we see the light at the end of the tunnel of new beginnings. And it’s a spotlight, leading us down the path toward a beautiful finale decade.

Here’s to new, and here’s to beginnings. May they ever be one and the same.