Last Saturday we loaded up our Alpaca socks, scarves, yarn and teddy bears from our store in Hayden to attend the Home and Garden show featured at the Garden Plaza independent living retirement center in Post Falls. Our host Beverly was very gracious to allow us to be part of this very special event. They have quite a facility for our elderly community members! The best way to describe it is a town within a town. It's much like the Hilton in that you have a top notch place to live with all the amenities (Post office, gym, spa, hair salon, restaurants, activities) which are located inside of the living center area. I noticed how the guests were part of a close knit community since they live within walking distance of their neighbors and do not have to bother going outside or driving. Spending the day with these folks brought back fond memories of times earlier in my life where I spent a large part of my time with the elderly.

As a child I grew up in a very small town on the Mendocino coast in northern California. We had a family friend in her eighties who used to bring me to her cabin for weeks at a time during the summer when I was around 12 years old. Her husband had passed away a few years back so she enjoyed having me there to keep her company. The cabin had no electricity or running water and even had an outhouse so we learned to enjoy the simple things in life. We would chop wood in the morning for the stove and fireplace. Then we would go out and pick apples from the trees in the orchard and bake apple pies. She was a wonderful lady who would tell me stories from her childhood and share her wisdom on life and how to live it.

During college I worked in a nursing home for many years and spent thousands of hours caring for the elderly. They too would share their stories and wisdom with me and I carry many of these life lessons with me to this day. All these feelings came rushing back to me this weekend as I spent the day at Garden Plaza. There was one nice lady who used to Crochet but said she no longer could due to carpal tunnel pain in her wrist. I put one of our ergonomic crochet hooks in her hand and her face lit up with excitement. Wow...it didn't hurt to hold the crochet hook and a favorite pastime was again within reach.

I then met a sweet lady in a wheelchair. She suffered from cold feet due to diabetes and we fixed her up with some Alpaca socks and she left with warm feet and a big smile. It was a delight to spend time this weekend with these wonderful people. They have a lot to teach us and we should do anything we can to make this era in their life a little more enjoyable.

In case you have not heard about us, Alpaca Direct is a direct merchant of high quality yarn, apparel, gifts and socks. We stock a full line of fiber art accessories, including hundreds of needles and thousands of yarns. Our unique selection of products also includes Peruvian alpaca sweaters, hand-loomed lace scarves, performance alpaca socks, cuddly alpaca teddy bears & unique international jewelry.

Our building is handicap accessible, with ample parking and is easy to find. We are located on Hayden Avenue, just two blocks west of Highway 95 at 1016 W Hayden Ave. in Hayden.

Our Alpaca fiber experts are on call 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Visit us at 1016 W. Hayden Ave. or online at www.AlpacaDirect.com for your local destination for luxury yarn, apparel & gifts. "Like" us on Facebook and Yelp for exclusive coupons, product spotlights and news.

Kelley Hobart is the owner of Alpaca Direct.