'We're coming back, folks, so don't worry about us' -- Oso area resident (VIDEO)

ARLINGTON, Wash. -- A year after the deadly mudslide that buried the Oso area and took 43 lives, doors are opening again and people are thriving.

The Oso General Store just reopened its doors to the community a few weeks ago.

"A lot of people are very happy about it being back open," said local resident Carol Peterson, who works at the general store.

"Everybody really came together after the landslide and we are slowly getting back up on our feet. But we're really getting there," added Preston Dowell.

A few miles down to the road in Oso, there is a daily reminder of just how far they've come.

"Just seeing it, it's just, it's hard, it's hard on everybody," Dowell said of the slide site.

Peterson said, "It's still kind of hard to drive by there cause it's like disheartening to see that disaster and there's no way to fix it. Like, it is there."

It sits there like an old scar, and it's not going anywhere anytime soon. But neither are the local residents.

In Darrington, Brooke Alongi opened a new leather shop. Right next door, Michelle Bradley is waiting for the paint to dry in what will soon be Darrington's newest restaurant.

"Darrington is such a small town, that it's nice to see new life and new businesses opening up," Bradley said.

Perhaps the path to closure is to reopen.

"People are moving on. You have to move on. Not saying that we don't step back and think, cause everybody thinks every day."

"We're coming back folks, so don't worry about us," said Alongi.