When I think about the past year of my life I am utterly confused. Where has it gone? Part of me cannot remember life before Sweet Pickle Books. Maybe that's because it has always been part of me and only now it lives in the world in a real, more tangible way. However there's also a part that certainly remembers running around "like a headless chicken" with several hundreds of books to make this possible. When I was doing things like carrying 48 boxes of Fiction and Art down a fifth floor walk-up in the middle of July, I would tell myself to enjoy it because there'd come a time when I missed doing things like that. I do.

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As I accept this Oscar, I must thank Costa for doing everything and being everything, I love you; My parents and brother; my dear friends; and the lovely Fox, Ella and Steve. It's easy to use words like "community" and "authenticity" to describe the ethos of a business. Each person who has supported this store makes it possible to really be and practice those things every day. I am so grateful.

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Thank you to everyone who comes in. Thank you to everyone who orders online. Thank you to everyone who tells their friends. Thank you to everyone for putting up with one straight year of Aretha Franklin and The Talking Heads playing loudly among the stacks.

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I now run around as a chicken with a head and can proudly say this has been a wonderful year. Thank you for having me. It's been one for the books.