A part of the story, thus far..
How did a Midwest girl who liked board games, books and “Weeble Wobbles” and a Colorado boy who relished trains, match box cars and anything that would go “crash” come to own an educational toy store? It was not only due to their enjoyment of toys but mostly because of their love for a little boy named “Jake.”
Due to the fascination of books and school, the girl went to law school and became a lawyer for the FBI. The energetic boy became a successful salesman. They met in San Francisco, married and decided to move back to Colorado to be near his parents. Jake was born and became the love of their lives for four and half years.
Jake had a genetic disease -tuberous sclerosis- that caused him to have seizures. Sadly, he passed away in his sleep in 2009 due to a particularly rare form of a seizure - SUDEP. Living without him became unbearable. Jill and Dan decided it was time to do something special to honor their wonderfully special son.
Jake loved everyone he ever met. One of his favorite activities was go to the toy store in Arvada, and play with the other kids. He could play forever with the Thomas Trains at the front of the store. We decided what better way to honor him than to own that toy store and help other kids enjoy the toys. We wanted to make it fun for not only the neighborhood children, but also for children like Jake with special needs.
Incredibly the timing could not have been better. Jake’s favorite toy store was closing, because the owner was moving onto another business. We decided to put all our efforts, our time and every penny we had into purchasing the store in November 2010. With Christmas right around the corner, it took almost twenty four hours a day to learn all the ins and outs of the business. Luckily, the two employees the previous owner had agreed to stay and have become a wealth of information for us.
Our future plans are to keep the store as an educational resource for all levels of children. Our dream is to become a play center and toy lending library where special needs children and their primary care givers can visit and learn about toys that will assist in their development.
To honor our son, on what would have been his sixth birthday, February 24, 2010, we renamed the store, Jake’s Toy Box. Jake never met anyone who was not immediately his friend, everyone was there to play with him, and everyone was to be included. He set the bar extremely high. We strive each day to reach it.
Due to the fascination of books and school, the girl went to law school and became a lawyer for the FBI. The energetic boy became a successful salesman. They met in San Francisco, married and decided to move back to Colorado to be near his parents. Jake was born and became the love of their lives for four and half years.
Jake had a genetic disease -tuberous sclerosis- that caused him to have seizures. Sadly, he passed away in his sleep in 2009 due to a particularly rare form of a seizure - SUDEP. Living without him became unbearable. Jill and Dan decided it was time to do something special to honor their wonderfully special son.
Jake loved everyone he ever met. One of his favorite activities was go to the toy store in Arvada, and play with the other kids. He could play forever with the Thomas Trains at the front of the store. We decided what better way to honor him than to own that toy store and help other kids enjoy the toys. We wanted to make it fun for not only the neighborhood children, but also for children like Jake with special needs.
Incredibly the timing could not have been better. Jake’s favorite toy store was closing, because the owner was moving onto another business. We decided to put all our efforts, our time and every penny we had into purchasing the store in November 2010. With Christmas right around the corner, it took almost twenty four hours a day to learn all the ins and outs of the business. Luckily, the two employees the previous owner had agreed to stay and have become a wealth of information for us.
Our future plans are to keep the store as an educational resource for all levels of children. Our dream is to become a play center and toy lending library where special needs children and their primary care givers can visit and learn about toys that will assist in their development.
To honor our son, on what would have been his sixth birthday, February 24, 2010, we renamed the store, Jake’s Toy Box. Jake never met anyone who was not immediately his friend, everyone was there to play with him, and everyone was to be included. He set the bar extremely high. We strive each day to reach it.
