By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — As he wrestles with his emotions during the holiday season, Nick Hindy has an important message for all of his old friends and acquaintances: “It's okay to come and see me. I want people to come in.”

Where he wants them to come is Candy from Heaven (Sent by Lori Bean), a delightful, family-owned and operated store located at 686 Central Ave. After the tragic death of their 24-year-old daughter, Lori Ann, in 1993, Nick and his wife, Shirley, opened the candy boutique in her memory. Both, but especially Nick—found that the business has been therapeutic, and that it has also provided them with a way to feel a spiritual connection to the daughter who was the light of their lives.
Nick Hindy did not want to discuss the details of his daughter's untimely death, saying that the story is  “too sad.” He spoke, however, of how her passing was such a crushing blow to the family and how the grief he felt overpowered him and changed him in ways he could never have imagined. “I was always a leader...a strong person. I was always there for others. Now, my loved ones and friends had to be there for me.”
Hindy said that while Shirley was able to deal with her grief and carry on, he became an angry person and someone that he, himself, did not like. He said that while there are several close friends—people like Freddy Kilsey, Al DeAndrade, and Jerry Boutin--who stayed with him and “cried with him”--there are many others who he knows cared about him but stayed away out of feelings of awkwardness or of not knowing how to help. These are the people, in and around his native Central Falls, Pawtucket, and Seekonk, where he and his family have lived for 30 years—that he wants to reach out to to say he's changed. “That it's okay to come and see Nick,” he stated, smiling.
Hindy added that another close friend, Bobby Salisbury, gently told him one day that he thought he was inadvertently keeping people at bay. He said to me, “You have to lead people back in to your life,” said Hindy.
The other key reason for anyone to visit Candy from Heaven is the store itself, which offers a tantalizing array of fine quality chocolates, fudge, Jelly Belly jelly beans, sugared fruit slices, hard candies, nuts, and other assorted sweets.
Hindy stresses that all of his gourmet chocolates, available in milk, dark and white chocolate varieties, are handmade in the Pennsylvania Dutch area. “The candy is unbelievable,” he stated. He also offers a wide variety of sugar-free chocolates and hard candies, “that taste so good you can't even tell the difference,” he stated proudly.
A big part of Candy from Heaven's business is in custom gift boxes and gift baskets. Customers can come in and choose the type of candy or nuts that they want in order to personalize the gift. The boxes or baskets will be delivered or shipped anywhere that the customer requests, Hindy said.
Hindy, who also works in the flooring business and sells real estate, still takes an active role in the store. “I come in here every day,” he said. He even plans to be open on Christmas Day. Shirley Hindy, and the couple's son, Jason, also help to operate the candy boutique.
Candy from Heaven features a wall of photos of “Lori Bean”, the nickname that Hindy gave his daughter shortly after she was born. Hindy also firmly believes that Lori Ann sends him, along with her mother and brother, some kind of positive sign or spiritual message each and every day.
Hindy related one such event that occurred this past year when an out-of-town minister named Elmer Murdoch came into Candy from Heaven. He said that he hadn't been to Pawtucket in 10 years and found that much had changed. He said that “something” had made him come in to the store, which he hadn't known existed.
While the two were talking, the minister mentioned that he had the same birthday as Lori Ann, March 19. Moments later, a young man who is a tenant in one of Hindy's rental properties also came in to the store. This young man happened to be born on Dec. 23, the date that Lori Ann passed away. Hindy said he found it particularly moving to be standing between the two men, one with the same birthday as his daughter and one who was born on the day she left this earth. When all three realized the significance, “We held hands and we prayed,” said Hindy.