05/17/2023
Dearest Dearest Puppy Love Family,
There is no easy way to make this post, so I’’ll just walk through the front door with it - Puppy Love will be permanently closing for business as of June 24th, 2023.
For 32 years, our family has taken care of Tampa’s pups; we’ve been invited into the lives of thousands. Again and again, we have found love and friendship and community, something truly rare and special in these often frightening times. When my Mom, mother of six, told all of us she would go to grooming school all those years ago, none of us could have imagined the wild, funny, sometimes gross, sometimes heartbreaking, and mostly joy-filled ride our family was about to embark on.
Deborah Warmack is the strongest, kindest person you don’t know you’ve met. My Dad, Samuel, is the most supportive, empowered person you don’t know you’ve met. For over three decades, the love and strength I have been so blessed by has been shown to the public. Truly, you can not know the true level of depth and faith and sheer love it is that makes up my parents - in so many ways, over so many years, my parents have turned that ferocious love back toward the community.
And always, always, that mirror has been turned around to reflect that love back at all of us from the Tampa and Temple Terrace Community. 32 of my 37 years on this planet has been spent growing up around all of you; I’ve gone from a kid who went to school with your kid, to the adult who now owns the shop and shares in your joys and heartbreaks. My brothers, my Nana, my Nano, my entire family… my whole family has poured ourselves into Puppy Love. That small spark my Mom committed to years ago hasn’t just raised me, it hasn’t just raised my brothers - it’s sustained my family and adopted family and orphans and so very many rescued cats and dogs (and birds and turtles and squirrels and snakes and and and and…) - it’s supported and nourished all of us, and it’s raised your pet-babies, too. It hasn’t just sustained a family - it’s created a family, a community, and you are all a part of that. In our own small way, we have created a home.
On a personal level… taking ownership of my family’s business has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Carrying my parents legacy, but especially my Mom’s, has been one of the most difficult and rewarding things I have ever done. But you all welcomed me - you all contributed to that special, precious feeling that what we have done has mattered. I will carry that feeling with me always. So many wonderful things are happening in my life - my first novel has been published, and I’m moving to a place where I will be able to turn that triumph into something bigger. I, and the Warmack family, are moving into a brighter future. We’re going out on top - business has never been better.
But, sometimes, the best part about a beautiful party is knowing when to leave. The champagne is still cold, the music is still thumping, and the party has been a blast.
Tampa, we love you.
Tampa, I love you.
Thank you. Thank you.
With love stacked on top of love,
The Puppy Love/Warmack Family
