Life is a Puzzle

Grant County Journal
Life is a puzzle
May 23, 2011
Written by Janet Warren

When things are meant to be, pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. At least that has been my experience looking back on my life. Of course, some of the puzzles of our lives, we’d just as soon keep in the box. Jerry Vanden Bos began working in his father’s jewelry store in Port Orchard when he was ten years old. He was brought up to take over the business and when the reins fell to him he was able to grow his father’s modest business into a million-dollar-a-year thriving jewelry business. One morning, he turned to his wife, Paula, and said, “I’m tired of retail. I want to become a crop duster.” Paula, after taking a few deep breaths, told him she had never worked a job she didn’t love, and if he didn’t love retail she would support him in his dream. The puzzle began to fall into place. They sold the jewelry business and Jerry went to Oklahoma to learn to be a crop duster. He has been flying since he was 15, and it had become a passion for him, so the crop dusting was an extension of that. They moved from their home in Port Orchard to Wenatchee where Paula continued to work as a mortgage banker while Jerry flew his airplane and dusted crops. Funny how a line in a movie can change your life. It was “City Slickers” for Paula. Billy Crystal plays Mitch Robins who is more or less happy with life, but his wife tells him that he has “lost his smile.” She sends him on a cowboy adventure to try and find it. This line struck Paula to her soul and she realized mortgage banking wasn’t making her smile anymore. She put in her notice and went to beauty school and worked as a hairstylist until Jerry got a job for the world’s largest Christmas tree farmer and they moved to Oregon. Paula worked at Safeway in Oregon and when Jerry got a job in Ephrata in 1998, Paula was able to transfer to Ephrata’s Safeway. Life moved along; the puzzle pieces fit. Then a mannequin with a broken arm wearing a wedding dress covered with vintage pins in a shop called “Little Treasures” caught Paula’s eye. The cigar-smoking, biker-woman owner of the store, Linda LaPlant, who was as different in personality to Paula as you can get, got under Paula’s skin and they became friends. One day Paula noticed a Business Closing sign in Little Treasures and she went in to talk to Linda and find out what was going on. As Paula was leaving, Linda held up the keys to her store and asked, “Do you want to buy my store?” Paula was taken by surprise, but the thought of owning a gift store began to nudge her creative urge. She went home and asked Jerry about it. “Absolutely not! I am not getting into retail again!,” newly-retired Jerry barked. So, Paula dutifully returned to Little Treasures to tell Linda she would not be buying her store. Linda and the retail gods had other plans, however, and before Paula returned home that day she had not only agreed to purchase Linda’s store, but she had given Linda her car as part of the deal. Now to tell Jerry. Paula said, “The look on Jerry’s face—I thought he was going to kill me!” Paula marched right up to him and shaking her finger to emphasize each syllable said, “I have followed you for 20 years crop dusting, it’s my turn.” To his credit, Jerry said, “You’re right, let’s do it.” Paula and Jerry worked to clean up the space vacated by Little Treasures and on November 4, 2003, Vanden Bos Gifts and Fine Jewelry was opened. Six months later in a huge surprise to the community, Ephrata Drug closed their doors after 28 years. Vanden Bos moved into their vacated space on April 1, 2004. As Paula’s line of Vera Bradley purses and accessories grew, she needed more space and so she rented the historic bank building next door. It was a little awkward because they were not able to punch a hole through to make the two spaces into one since the bank building was deemed an historic site, so it was essentially two different stores but it worked for a number of years. Paula had customers come from all over Eastern Washington because she carried the largest selection of Vera Bradley. A couple of things happened in the last year to change plans. First, on May 10, 2010, their healthy 40-year-old daughter Kristen VanAmen had an aortic dissection. If you remember actor John Ritter and how he suddenly died, that was from an aortic dissection. By all accounts Kristin should not have survived it, but miraculously she did. Stents in her heart helped for awhile, but they eventually failed. Her health has been on a downward spiral and on May 18th, her 41st birthday, Kristen re-entered the hospital too weak for open heart surgery and leaving doctors in a quandary of what to do for her. Jerry and Paula also had their rent raised in the main store space, so they decided to consolidate their store into the smaller bank space. It was actually a blessing since the headache of running both stores was gone so she and Jerry could concentrate more on how to help their daughter. Paula’s sister, Gema Powers, who lived in Tacoma, retired and moved over to Ephrata in February to help with the store in order to free Paula and Jerry up so they could travel to the Westside to help their daughter. As their lease renewal came up, however, emotionally they were too worn down to continue. “One of the things about living in this small town is that many of our customers have been praying for our daughter. Ephrata has a very spiritual heart,” Paula said. They need to concentrate on family right now. They do plan on keeping their home in Ephrata. “I’m too young to retire,” said Paula. “Give me a year and I’ll do something else after we figure out what’s going on with Kristin.” And you can bet it will be something that makes her smile. When the new puzzle gets taken off the shelf, the pieces will fall into place, because that is how life has been for Paula and Jerry.