Patti Haefner is in mourning as she opens the door to the place she made for her community.

She's packing up what's left of Patti's Pantry.

"It's all gotta go," she said.

After 16 years of breakfasts and lunch at her country store, she's selling everything off.

Haefner says she's going to miss the families. She served them after funerals that took place at the cemetery across the street; and for anniversaries and birthdays.  

"I had nothing and then, I built this up to a really nice little kitchen. Makes me sad," Haefner said.

"We had the best clientele. I'm telling you, it was a community here. With the pandemic, when they closed us the first time, it was a struggle here. People didn't want to come back to work. I couldn't give them enough hours because the seating was reduced. And we're so small anyway," she said.

And when the second wave of the pandemic arrived, Haefner folded.

"I can't live this way. It's too frustrating. They were taking the tables away. Then they were changing this. Then they were changing that. And then people were too scared to come out. And I go 'this is not going to work, we've gotta get out,'" Haefner said.

This diner and craft store's going to be among the hundreds of American restaurants to close during the COVID-19 pandemic after receiving federal CARES Act funding. Patti got $8,000 from the city. She considered another $20,000 loan.

"I didn't trust it," she said. I know that sounds terrible. But they kept changing the rules of it. I was too afraid I'd have to pay it back. That's the god's honest truth. I didn't want to take all that money and something happens and I didn't follow a loophole, and I gotta pay all that back. So I had enough money to float me. Let somebody who can't, let them have it."

All the jewelry and merchandise from her store is not going to be given away. She's going to sell it online at a website her daughter's created. Patti's not going to pack away her recipes either. She's sharing them on a video blog.  

"I'll support her all the way," she said. "I told her, 'you tell me when to be on camera. You tell me what you want me to make and I'll be there for you.'"

The long view of going out of business means more than just taking an account of what worked and what didn't. Patti is going to miss being a part of the families in her community, but she also knows when it comes to running your own business, sometimes things are beyond your control.

"That constant over your head. You can't do business that way. You just can't," she said.