Yes, I said garage sale

I had a garage sale on Saturday. I know...I know...I said I would never have one again but this time with clearing out two houses, it seemed to make sense.


My initial plan was to move my things into my parents house by the summer (yes, this summer) and put my house on the market. Well, with the real estate climate the way it is and with TWELVE houses for sale on my street alone, I decided to hold off on listing it. Which, in turn, caused me to hold off on moving.

And I guess part of me was holding off on clearing out their house. I kind of felt like, once I did that, that I was accepting that they were gone or something. About a month ago, I put these living room chairs on the tree lawn that were about a hundred years old and not worth selling but I cried all the way to the curb and back.

I was talking to a friend about how difficult it’s been to decide what to keep and what to get rid of. There are some things that I know I want and will use and others that I don’t necessarily think I will need but am struggling with selling. My mother had a very kitchy sense of style that doesn’t always jive with mine.

She suggested that I take pictures of the things that I know I won’t use so that at least I can hold onto the memory. I thought that was a great idea.

Now, I could just give away things on Freecycle.org but let’s face it, I’m not that generous. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve offered up a Reebok Step, clothing and a table and I even asked for and received not one, but two, antique sleds for my Christmas display in the yard. But this is just SO MUCH STUFF.

I lucked out because there were two other sales going on down the street so we had a ton of traffic. I advertised it in the paper from 8:30AM-3PM and OF COURSE I had "early birds" who showed up before I had even opened up the garage door.



My friend, Michelle,and her beautiful grandchild Milah, kept me company.



This is one of the little boys who live next door. I LOVE him!

I guess I did okay money wise but the best part of the day was that so many old and new neighbors stopped by to say hello. Everyone talked about how much they missed my parents and they shared their memories.

I heard from the woman down the street who said that she was so young when she had her son that she had no idea how to be a mom but my mother showed her how.

And the girl who used to walk her dog past the house when Dad would be sitting out front, monitoring the goings on of the neighborhood. She would wave and he had this special wave he would send back.

There was another woman who had lost her son and Dad painted a picture for her as a tribute and she talked about how she had it prominently displayed in her living room.

We know how much we miss our loved ones but rarely do we stop and realize how the loss of them affects others. I found myself in tears by the middle of the day but I couldn't help but feel the love that these people had for my parents and it felt like a warm hug.

I think I'm finally ready to go home again.