Fritz Creek misses their general store and post office
As you probably know by now, our much beloved Fritz Creek General Store and Post Office burned down this past summer in early July. It was a sad day indeed as Fritz Creek was THE social hub of East End Road. We went there almost daily.
They not only provided us with our mail but also groceries, gas, propane, $5 soup and homemade bread, French pastries, espresso, gourmet pizza, brisket, wine/beer, T’s/sweatshirts, ice cream, dog treats and the best little free or trade-a-book-honor-system-library anywhere. I’m sure I’m forgetting something because even though they were small, they always had the very thing you needed.
Sometimes Fritz felt warm and welcoming and other times busy and out of sorts, but we were all those things too. We came back because it was our home away from home dependably nurturing and nutritious. I miss sitting at the spool tables at lunch time wondering who might drop in for a hoagie, tell a raucous joke or make a sarcastic jab. It was all in good fun and a much-needed respite from the difficulties of the world.
How many times since the fire have I thought, “I’ll just run up to Fritz, get a bowl of soup and…” only to remember no one is there anymore.
Fritz always held our mail when we were on vacation and if we were a few days late, they did not return to sender. They knew our names, and no one asked for ID when we picked up a package. Meaningful touches. Sean, the chef extraordinaire and co-owner, catered our wedding, my son’s wedding, and many other local events. His kitchen made the best carrot cake, ribs, lasagna, tamales and on and on.
So, rumor has it the post office won’t be back, and I don’t know about the rest. One thing I do know, we’ve all had to re-learn how to socialize with others and cook again.
When at the Homer post office, you can recognize the Fritz Creek people by the lost look in our eyes — we’re more disheveled, we smell like wood smoke, and we are still talking about how much we miss Fritz. Almost five months later and we are all still talking about it every day. We’re not letting it go. Where are the pizza slices and bird seed cookies?
Yesterday as I stood in line with my ID and application for a new P.O. box, I realized it must be kind of hard on the Homer employees hearing about how great Fritz used to be every…single…day.
Honestly though, the Homer folks have been amazingly patient with us all. They even gave us free P.O. boxes for six months just to soften the blow. While waiting my turn, I chatted with three old friends and met someone new. Small gifts and treasured moments amidst the rubble.
What I want Fritz Creek, Sean, Di, and everyone else who worked there to know, is that we miss you. All of you. What you created there mattered. Thank you for being there for all of us for all these years. I wish you the very best in figuring out what is next.
Sharon McKemie Bauer
Homer
Dear Editor,
I don’t remember last Christmas. The sudden onset of extremely painful, though not life-threatening health issues which led to five days in acute care at South Peninsula Hospital here in Homer, has somehow completely erased most of December 2022 from my mind, even though I only spent the last few days of 2022, and the first day of 2023 at South Peninsula Hospital.
What I am left with about that period, however, is a deep sense of gratitude for the assistance and care which I received both in the hospital and as follow-up through the Home Health, Independent Living and Hospice of Homer programs which stepped in to make sure my recovery had the support needed.
I am still in awe of the local EMT team, which managed to get me down my steep and narrow staircase and into the ambulance with the most absolutely mind-boggling example of coordinated teamwork I have been privileged to witness in all my 82 years of life on this planet!
Not that everything, everywhere, was all sweetness and light, mind you. There were missteps along the way which created some distress, but here I am, one year later, preparing for a quiet elder’s holiday, able to manage my day-to-day living pretty much on my own again, thanks to the team work between the hospital, its individual employees and medical professionals, the Home Health Program which followed my recovery post-hospitalization, and the ever-generous and thoughtful assistance of Hospice of Homer and the Independent Living Center, which promptly delivered medical equipment: hospital bed, shower bench, bedside commode, installed grab bars, provided a reach extender, two walkers, and even a box of See’s chocolates to ease my recovery!
Where else but Homer? I sincerely wish that kind of caring to envelope all those experiencing health issues great and small wherever they may be. Meanwhile, we are blessed by those who care.
Yours sincerely,
Carol R. Dee
Homer
