Bridget O’Hearn is a powerful force in my town, but she can’t mess with Mother Nature. Demolition Day – the day the town knocks down the toppling building (second from right) that has been threatening her pharmacy (far right) for some time has been postponed, so has the celebration Bridget has been planning for so long. Hopefully, it will just be one day.

The storm that is supposed to eat New England tomorrow caused the demolition company to postpone knocking down the offending building until Wednesday, rather than tomorrow, as was initially planned. The demolition is a Godsend to the town’s old men, the whole saga is the Super Bowl for them, they follow every twist and turn. For months, the building, abandoned for years, has been threatening O’Hearn’s, the town’s much loved independent pharmacy.

For those of us who live here, and for so many of you who do not, Bridget’s pharmacy has become a symbol of the individual struggling to survive in the Corporate Nation, where small business everywhere have been swallowed up by chains and box stores. With them goes the sense of community and personal connection that often is part of dealing with a small business. It is a wonderful thing to be known.

I can only imagine Bridget’s frustration, her associate Margaret look frazzled today when I went in to buy some fish oil. “No,” said Margaret, “those are not the kind you usually get.” She was right, of course. The town has a love affair with Bridget, they crawl over barricades, wait in line, hang in there with he. She is almost there.