Nostalgia in Simoné's Workshop

Two days ago we visited a leather shop run by a craftsman named Simonè (I cant make an apostrophe on the Italian keyboard, but I can put an accent on the "e"). He is third generation craftsman. His shop runs almost like a 16th century guild. It has the familiar smell of my hometown shoe repair shop on West Broadway in Cedarhurst. Simoné uses the same tools as his grandfather and father before him. He learned the trade as an apprentice and he makes beautiful leather boxes, wastepaper baskets, bookends, and masks. I was a little saddened/nostalgic when he said that the shop will likely not last to the next generation. It reminded me of the furniture store started by my great great grandfather on the Lower East Side in the first decade of the the 20th century (c. 1906), which will likely not last to the next generation either.