At Vaillancourt’s, we purposely don’t use the word “customer,” we consider everyone who shops with us a “collector” because once an individual experiences what we do, they are welcomed into the family. And today, we remember a very passionate collector, Ginny O’Leary, who passed away on May 29th. Ginny, who was part of Gary Vaillancourt’s high school graduating class, was dubbed a collector many years ago. First, by popping into the retail gallery during the Christmas season and then becoming so enthusiastic that she and her son Jim, who would fly in from Wisconsin, made the annual tradition of painting together during our annual Collector’s Weekend. Over the years, the two of them never missed a Vaillancourt event, always showing such a warm and caring mother-son relationship. When we hosted a European Viking River Cruise touring Europe’s Christkindlesmarkts, Ginny was one of the first to sign up — which cemented our friendship with the many stories that resulted from it. Jim notified Judi and Gary this weekend that Ginny had passed after an unexpected surgery. In life we get many gifts and seeing such strong mother and son bond was a special gift that we were blessed to have be a part of our lives. Our condolences go out to Jim, a loving and dedicated son.