Farewell to Emory's Barber Shop

jerry atricks July 14, 2011 at 02:01 am

I always got my hair cut at Emory's Barber Shop (or as my cousins and I knew it as- Papa's barber shop). It was something of a bittersweet day on saturday as we all got together to celebrate his retirement from barbering. For my entire life I have known the barber shop to be there and even after my parents and I moved away, whenever we would come back home to Kent to visit we would always pass Papa's barber shop going through town and, depending on what time of day it was, we would invariably look over as we passed 147 S Water Street on our way to Nana and Papa's and my dad would say "There's dad. Looks busy." There was something so comforting about knowing that Papa was down at the barber shop. It was an installation in Kent for probably longer than many people who live in Kent have been alive. The summers were the best when my cousin Ben and I would go get lunch at the Franklin Square Deli and then head on over to Papa's for a little bit before we went on with our day. I'm glad that so many people came out, many of who I have never seen before in my life and many who could recollect getting their hair cut the first time by Papa.