MELROSE – The bucket list is long. Uninterrupted time with his granddaughter. The Grand Canyon. The USS Arizona. Visiting Redwoods National Park. Yellowstone. Mount Rushmore. Feeling the mist of Niagara Falls on his face. Sleeping in.

Bruce Williamson can’t remember the last time he took a vacation, much less focusing on anything other than running the family’s Williamson’s Food Store.

That will change soon. There’s a deal in place to sell the store on the corner of State Roads 21 and 26 at the end of the month. If all goes as planned, he and his wife, Charlene, will have two months to sell the remaining inventory and turn the keys to the new owner.

Since the grocery items are being sold, it’s not likely it will remain a grocery. Bruce said he doesn’t know what the prospective owner will do with the property.

After working 14 to 16 hours every day, he knows he’s ready to move on.

“My father was the original owner. He opened it in 1972, and he passed away in 2018,” Bruce said. “I asked Paul [Seay, meat cutter] what he wanted to do, and he said he wanted to work as long as possible. He announced he would be retiring on Feb. 10 because his knees were getting bad. I said when he leaves, I’m going with him.”

Williamson’s has been the cornerstone of the Melrose community for generations. Grandchildren watch Bruce and Paul cut meat at the back of the store the same way Bruce’s father, Romie, did it.

Longtime customers posted their feelings about the store closing on a website dedicated to news about Melrose.

“I have nothing but love for the Williamson family and all that they brought to this community,” Brian Moore wrote. “I’m saddened to hear they will be closing, but I sincerely hope Bruce enjoys a much-deserved retirement.”

“This past week, I picked up the freshest, most tender cube steak (Paul prepped it 5 minutes before I bought it), and it made for a delicious early family Christmas meal,” said Deborah Collins Strickland. “We love you Williamson’s. You’ll be tremendously missed!”

“Been going there since I was a kid, brought my kids in there,” Jessica Ramirez wrote. “Praying someone takes it over and makes it another local grocery store.”

Paul has been in the grocery business since 1964 and at Williamson’s for nearly 40 years.

“We specialize in things that a lot of stores don’t, and we take time with the customers,” he said. “I see how the meat industry has changed over the years, with people not cooking like they did 30 years ago, eating lots of fast food. But we’re still hanging in there trying to please the customers.”

Bruce said Paul made 200 pounds of breakfast sausage before Christmas, which sold out in three days. The store’s reputation for its fresh-cut meat extends well into the four corners of Clay, Bradford, Alachua and Putnam counties. The butcher shop must make fresh sausage in 100-pound increments. Bruce and Paul will turn their meat-grinding machine off in less than a month for good.

“I’m sure my wife will find things for me to do at home,” Bruce said. “I’m ready to find out.”

What the Williamsons want to do most is spend time with their granddaughter. She lives near Dayton, Ohio, and they’ve only seen her four times.

“They flew here for Christmas and arrived on Tuesday,” Bruce said. “I was so busy; I didn’t even see her until Thursday. I can’t wait to spend more time with her.

“I haven’t been on a vacation in years. There are places I want to go and things I want to see. I want to see it all.”

And start working down a bucket list that’s been a lifetime in the making.