What's the definition of a great day at FCG?
Answer: Ringing up a sale wrapped in a love story.
Last week, we met a couple who'd driven six hours from Baltimore to our store in Plymouth. They'd found a Bob Timberlake cherry dresser on our website and decided to take an impromptu road trip to check it out. This was their hobby: furniture treasure-hunting around the U.S.
The Timberlake dresser was well worth the trip, they decided. As we wrapped the piece for the drive back to Baltimore, he regaled us with the story of their late-in-life romance.
"I married my cousin," he announced. Seeing our startled looks, his wife blushed and quickly jumped in to explain. "Actually, we're cousins by marriage."
The two had met at a family reunion a few years ago. In talking, they realized they had played together as children at an aunt's house on Chesapeake Bay – four decades earlier. "People change after forty years," he told us, wrapping an arm around her. "But her eyes ... they were just the same."
He'd been in the Navy and was in recovery from the bottle. She'd spent her career teaching middle-school math. I mentioned that we had a son in eighth grade. "Eighth-grade boys," she said, nodding her head in sympathy. "I don't miss them."
Now retired from their careers, they plan impromptu treasure-hunting trips. By day, they scour antique shops and consignment stores to find furniture bargains for their home. By night, they look for an "open mike" at clubs and bars. He backs her up when she sings; she does the same for him.
The Timberlake dresser was a particularly meaningful find for the couple. Bob Timberlake, an artist and designer of home furnishings, has been a major force in the furniture industry for twenty-five years. In particular, he's known for his insistence on furniture that's made in America. That meant a lot to this couple.
Sometimes, you have to travel quite a distance to find your treasure. For this couple, it was a forty-year journey to find a long-lost love. We're glad they shared their story with us, and let us share it with you.
This holiday season, we invite you to do your own treasure-hunting at FCG. And if you've got a special love story to share, we're all ears.
