It means so many things: more than I could possibly fit into one blog post.

It means that everyday that I walk in the door there are people depending on me.  It means that when I call other businesses in town and say, “Hi, this is Peggy at Roper’s” I’m greeted with a cheerful, welcoming voice.  Likewise, when I call clients I know they are happy to hear that their wedding ring is sized, or that their grandma’s pearls have been restrung.  It means being asked, “Are you a Roper?”…a lot.  It means answering that, “although I’m not a Roper, they’ve sort of taken over payments on me because I’ve worked here so long”.  It means that people are willing to come in and hand over their most precious family heirlooms, and walk back out again knowing that we will take good care of them.   It means being approached by almost every fundraiser in a twenty mile radius, and doing my best to support each and every one.  It means supporting events and initiatives that may never affect us directly, but that will have an affect for the good for the community.  It means behaving myself anytime that I’m anywhere that people know where I work.  It means going to various meetings and having people hand me their watches because “they need a new battery, and do you mind taking it with you?”  And I take the watch, and I don’t mind, because I know that means that they trust me.  It means having Brenda bake each and every one of us our favorite dessert on our birthday.  It means sharing our clients’ best days: engagements, and weddings and babies, as well as their worst days: the passing of a spouse, or a child, or a friend.

It means being a working part of a larger community: a community where we choose to raise our children, a community we choose to call home.