As most people already know, a long time family owned business is about to close here in Tomball. Now, in case some of you have missed the news lately, Klein’s Super Market is about to close its doors. It is for no other reason than the economy. Times have changed for all of us and the way we used to do business tends to catch up to all of us after a while.

The family-owned, customer friendly, customer service oriented operations are placed by the wayside and replaced with large corporate owned, computer driven, non-human services. As with many in this area, I have been lamenting over the news of their closing for a couple of weeks now. Many of you know that I have written about Klein’s store, their family and some of their employees in several of my stories. They are a memory to thousands and for most, the memory is good. Times have changed, however, and memories will no longer be new ones, but simply reflections of the former.

There are many words that I could use to describe the Klein family. I will cover the description with only one word, loving. The family is a loving family. They have a love for God, a love for people and a love for their community. Yes, I know they are wise business people who have survived well, but something tells me that God sometimes smiles on those who give of themselves to others and that is the case with the Klein family.

After considering all things, I have decided to lament about the closing of the store’s operation no more. Some may call the Klein family operations a dynasty. Some may call it a legacy. Others may call it a heritage. Some may call it simply a business operation, but to me, what the Klein family has done, I call it a fulfillment of a dream and a re-birth of new ones.

Over 80 years ago Mr. A.B. Klein started this store with probably the same hopes and dreams many other people have: the desire to provide for his family and make a better life for his kids. It’s something every parent wants, the hopes that your children can have a better life than you had. We all want things to be better for the next generation. More peace, more security, a better lifestyle, all those things and more are the desires of most parents for their kids. We want our children to have a nicer house than we had. We want our children to have an easier life than we had. We want our children to be wiser and more educated than ourselves. There is absolutely nothing wrong or un-godly about such ambitions. It’s a desire we humans posess and nurture. It’s being human. We are always instilling in the next generation the idea to rise farther, dream bigger and provide more.

Just like that family tree that begins at the roots and multiplies itself many times over, that tree will eventually die, but is always renewed again and again by its seedlings. It’s offspring. So it is with this family. The roots that started with his parents, Mr. A.B. Klein became the trunk, and the trunk became branches, and the branches became limbs, and now the leaves that have blossomed will in turn drop their seeds and the process will start all over again.

The store has provided for many generations past, and now with its closing, the dreams of a better life for generations to come will be multiplied. The children, grandchildren and great-grand children of Mr. Klein will re-start something somewhere, somehow, some place and then they will become the roots of a new tree that someday will take its own place in history and throw off its own seeds for many more trees to grow.

The closing of this store is the closing of a dream and a rebirth of new ones. A rebirth of another generation’s opportunity to gather the fruits of the labors of the family tree and then re-multiply and replenish their own trees as they become roots, then trunks, then limbs and so on.

Yes, this may be an ending to one time and one place in history, but it won’t be the last of this family. While many family trees may come and go, their offspring always perpetuate themselves over again.

To the Klein family: The store may be gone, but it will not be forgotten by this community. The love you have shown thousands of people will last through eternity and I, for one, and many others like me will never forget the memories.

We Thank You!

Clifford

Hear Clifford share a couple of his stories on Tuesday, April 13, at 9 a.m. at the Montgomery County Fair Senior Citizens Day.

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