DALLAS – The sound of shuffling LEGOs is a common one at the Bricks and Minifigs store in Dallas.

Yhe noise is people searching for little pieces of plastic lego – or in many cases, a memory, happiness, peace…

“There`s so much going on right now in our world and I have customers from everywhere,” says Owner Andrea Klima, “all kinds of demographics and they can all agree that LEGO is relaxing, it`s fun, there`s not stress involved unless you`re stepping on one in the middle of the night.”

“People come in smiling,” says Andrea’s husband and veteran, Jason, “whether it`s a birthday party or they`re shopping, we make sure they`re treated well and they leave happy and you can`t find a lot of businesses, especially as the owner of a business, where you can have that.”

Andrea and Jason opened this store in Dallas about seven months ago after opening their first in Plano two years ago, and it all started with a visit to the Bricks and Minifigs store in Hawaii while Jason was serving in the military.

“My wife she goes, you know if you get out of the Air Force, let`s do this,” says Jason. “Ten years in, you kind of have to make that decision whether you finish out 20 or go ahead and get out and this was perfect and they were tired of me missing Christmases!”

Since then – it`s become something so much more than a place to buy, sell and trade LEGOs.

“It`s not easy to get out of the military either,” says Jason, “to transition into civilian life it was a lot harder than I thought it was gonna be […] a lot of it was this, it keeps your mind occupied and it was interesting that a lot of people would come into the store and use this as their therapy and I completely relate.”

For other veterans still looking for their lego pieces to build their civilian lives – he has some advice.

“That civilian feel is tricky, it`s weird, but it`s doable, just wait until you find what – find what you`re passionate about.”