“Ever has it been that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.”

- Kahlil Gibran

We've all heard the phrase “you don't know what you've got till it's gone,” and while I've had to learn that one on many levels as of late, it seems that my lessons haven't ended yet. In the past week word has come down that the last bookstore in the Auburn area is about to close. Not only are we about to be without a proper place to buy prose, the arcade is shutting its doors, as well.

Yep, Waldenbooks and Fun & Games arcade are both pulling up stakes and heading to that big retailer in the sky.

Granted I know to everything there is a season and it appears that it's just time for these two mall staples to have their final sales still, I am sort of sad to see them go. Since there hasn't been a major uproar I assume most people haven't quite grasped what the loss of these two spaces means.

Think of this for a minute - after the first of the year we won't have a “store” to buy books in Auburn instead just a few aisles sitting between gift wrapping paper and greeting cards. And video games? Sure, you have your X-Box 360s but what if you don't have $300 to dole out on the latest console? What of the silent masses with only quarters in their pockets? For them we have only two words, Skill Crane. It's outside Wegmans. Have fun trying to snatch that big teddy bear.

To me, I think the real challenge will be how to fill in the gap once their void is created? For reading, there's always the library, which has books though you won't be able to spend any money on them. How are we to feel complete without having to shell out a few dollars on the written word? Well, I guess you could just leave them on the coffee table for a month or so and then have to pay a late fee, it's not the same as shopping but, at least we get to spend money and read which, now that I think about it, if we had done that sooner we'd still have a bookstore to go to, but I digress.

Unfortunately video games will live on in our homes, but what will become of my precious Skeeball? All the hours I've spent rolling those wooden balls up the alley seem to be in vain now that I'll have no venue to apply my skills. I'm worried that I'll end up putting money into those green parking meters just to get a little taste of my former glory. Maybe the city could come up with a way to give me a piece of gum or a fuzzy troll pencil if I hand in enough of those scraps of paper. (Just a suggestion.)

So good bye Waldenbooks and farewell Fun & Games. We'll miss you, but sadly, we won't realize it till after you're gone.

Auburn native Bradley Molloy's column appears here each

Sunday. He can be reached at lovonian@hotmail.com