She spotted it in a museum in Silver City, S.D., in 1978, when she was 28.

"I said to myself, 'If I ever see one of those, I will buy it.' " LeGrant says.

When she got back home to St. Petersburg, Fla., she found one.

"I bought it, my first antique. It soaked into my brain when I went back there and saw that one piece," LeGrant says. "I found that piece and realized that (antiquing) was the kind of lifestyle that I would like.

That lifestyle turned into a career, first as a dealer and now as owner of Patty & Friends Antique Mall, the oldest antique mall in Florida.

The mall's two remodeled houses - chock full of antiques and collectibles - sit side by side at 1241 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. St., divided by a small parking lot posted with welcome signs. Inside, 59 antique dealers showcase a sea of unique items - paintings, pottery, porcelain dolls, chandeliers, chests and cabinets, jugs, jewelry, toy jets and more - paying LeGrant a 10 percent management fee on each item sold.

"We're giving people a place to go where they can buy things from the past ... things that their grandmother had that bring back memories and make them happy," LeGrant says. "We want them to think about the good old days and own a little piece of it."

***

A visit to her grandmother Florence "Ma" Burke's, in Silver City the summer she was 12, ignited LeGrant's desire for a life enveloped in the things of the past.

"I was like a kid in a candy store there," she says. "I asked, 'What is that? What was it used for?' I wanted to know everything about the things there."

Ma Burke, LeGrant's maternal grandmother, was one of the town's first settlers. She owned the only gas station and the general store, ran the post office and started the town's volunteer fire department, LeGrant says.

Ma Burke died almost 20 years ago, at 94, but her entrepreneurial spirit and love for antiques lives on in her granddaughter.

The discovery of the curio - a desk and secretary all in one, with an American Indian carved into the top - signaled the beginning of LeGrant's career in antiques.

LeGrant became an antique dealer at Patty & Friends Antique Mall just after Patt Kennedy McBane opened its doors in 1981. LeGrant began by packing up her children and exploring yard sales, flea markets, estate sales and antique shops. She picked out pieces that stood out to her either to sell to others or to keep for the family.

"Every piece that you find, that you keep and store for your grandchildren to tell their grandchildren about, is so interesting," LeGrant says.

The stay-at-home mom turned antique dealer had her first sale, a 1930s scale, at Patty & Friends.

"I was moving in and instantly sold a big, old, metal scale. I thought to myself 'Oh, this is easy. Great, I've already made some money,' " she says with a chuckle.

She stayed at Patty & Friends, becoming more and more expert about antiques, and became owner and manager in January 2005.

Patty & Friends buys and sells both antiques and collectibles. An item that is handmade and is 100 years old is deemed antique, LeGrant says. However, some antique dealers argue that an item that is 75 years old is also an antique.

Each dealer is responsible for putting accurate information on their items. If a customer has a question about the pricing of an antique or collectible, LeGrant and dealers consult a tattered copy of Schroeder's Antique Price Guide.

"We have our good days and our bad days," says dealer Lilly Hammargren. "Things sometimes sell as soon as we bring them in and sometimes they stick around for a long time before the right person comes in."

***

LeGrant's passion for material memories follows her home. Throughout her career, she has searched for, stumbled upon and almost missed antiques that she now cherishes. Antique and collectible clocks, hutches, tables and chairs adorn the rooms of her house in the Pinellas Point area.

A carousel horse from the 1920s announces LeGrant's love of collecting to visitors from the bay window in her front room.

"Not many people have room for them (carousel horses), but I make room for my antiques," she says.

Her favorite pieces are early Americana.

"I love corner cupboard cabinets, painted furniture - anything that has to do with how they lived pre-1850," she said. "It just makes me feel good to live with these antiques."

A four-year search for an apothecary cabinet - a cabinet used in pharmacies - ended right back in St. Petersburg, in a dealer friends' garage.

"I searched everywhere. I looked online, told my northern dealer friends I was looking for one, and I found one right here in St. Pete," she says. "I was talking to a dealer and he said, 'I have one of those in my garage.'"

Her 36-drawer, red-painted favorite antique is a rare find.

"It is a step-back apothecary cabinet," she says. "You can find the cabinets with all of the drawers, but to find a cabinet with a cupboard connected is unusual."

An unsigned Shaker chair is particularly close to LeGrant's heart. The Shakers, a religious group started in the 1700s, made and signed furniture and other items to sell to those who didn't practice their way of life. LeGrant's chair is unsigned, which means it likely was made for one of their own.

She spotted the handmade chair early one morning at a yard sale. It was advertised for 50 cents, severely underpriced.

"I've never had it appraised because I don't want to be tempted to sell it," LeGrant says. "It's the memory. I look at it and it's the memory that means something to me."