DAY (s) 13, 14, or WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING?
Missed you all. Sorry about that, but thanks Susan, for checking me! I had to go over to my mom's house and rifle through collect things for my yard sale. That's right - a YARD SALE. WHAT WAS I THINKING??? I was all into making it a pretty event with fresh flowers and produce and quilts and yarn, etc. And things were going well. It wasn't that I forgot about you all, it was more like there weren't enough hours in the day! My son came over and hung out with me and that was special. He'd just come off night shift and was wound, so he talked to my 'customers' and played with Harley and just entertained the hell out of his grateful mother. ANY time that I get with him is precious. And rare.
I'm warning you ahead of time - THIS will be one of those 2-kleenex posts. It takes an enormous amount of effort to put together a yard sale. I had NO idea. (WHAT WAS I THINKING?)
Scott helped me put the tent up and bring out some tables before dashing off to meet his T time. He even rolled a small refrigerator out to the tent and stocked it with water - just in case I got thirsty! (right hand corner) A good man - lest I forget to mention it!)
Do you see that snowblower? FIRST item to go! Andrew pulled out our ramps and loaded it into the customer's van, and everyone was happy, happy.
Can you see the glass horses? I grew up seeing this pair on the mantle - they were always just THERE. They aren't valuable, or at least I don't think in any significant way. But people were pawing them and going nuts! They were a wedding gift to my folks in 1947, and I just assumed that they were pressed glass, nothing more. Anyway, as they left with their happy new owners, I felt a pang of SOMETHING. I can't tell you what it was. This feeling continued and intensified.
My dad's waders and a few of the many fly and regular poles. People - HOTCAKES. They literally FLEW out of the tent. The lures - OMG. And the reels? Who knew? The dreadful sensation in my stomach grew as his 'stuff' left in droves. (nobody was interested in my dried home-grown gourds!) I felt like a traitor - like a bad daughter. How could I allow my father's precious fishing gear to go to absolute paying strangers?
The ice-fishing gear was no exception. I thought that there might be a fist-fight for ownership. I started thinking about my poor old dad - lying up there in that nursing home - so far away from his beloved streams and lakes. I was beginning to fall apart.
I started leafing through some books. I had not sold a single book - hard or paperback. This amazed me, being the lover of books that I am. (What the hell? Don't my neighbors READ!) Anyway, a small card dropped out from between the pages of an old volume. And suddenly, all of the angst and sadness and confusion that I'd been experiencing slipped away. I remembered a lesson learned and forgotten - a long, long time ago ... "There are no coincidences". Here is the reason that I held a yard sale - known before I knew -
You were 7 years old when you wrote this to me. I'd stuck it between the pages of a valued gardening book. I love you too, more than you will ever know. You are my heart.
love,
mom
5 comments:
Jody - You brought tears to my eyes with that last one. The little flowers at the bottom of the page -that did it.
What a lovely post. I had a yard sale once, circa 1985, when we lived in California. My across the street friend and I held it in her driveway. The first thing to go was my 15(?) year old Sony Trinitron TV, still in working order. For $25. I felt such a pang - it was one of my first new possessions after getting my first apartment. And it was a gift from my mother - tug, tug - and I have such memories of the day we bought it. Plus, if it sold so fast, then maybe I sold it too cheap! Second item to go was a bracelet. I was so horrified, after it sold, that I ran down the street, after the buyer's card and asked to have it back! And she said NO! So I begged. And she still said no. Then I begged some more and probably I started to cry because I still own that bracelet! Once I got the bracelet back, I returned to Marilyn's driveway and it started to HAIL - in summer, in California - so we shut down the sale. And I've not tried a yard sale since. :-)
I try not to have yard sales. I guess I too get sentimental making it hard to give up "stuff."
It was bad enough getting rid of everything to move to TX. We had to rent a storage unit for me to put some of my "stuff" in.
At least you had a lot of customers and they wanted what you were selling. Yard sales aren't the most fun and I usually forget all about the items that sold after a week or two.
What a cute little card. I'm glad you didn't sell that book!
I'm attempting to get stuff together for a yard sale now. omg, what a nightmare. I'll have to be sure to flip the pages before I sell, lol! You had my heart on the mommy note, geez, kids! Thanks for putting things in perspective, Elaine
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