The Estate Sale

I come from a long line of traders. My grandfather, Willard, worked his way up from rag man to cattle man. My Dad, Ward; one of his nicknames was Trader Horn. My Uncles Virgil and Ralph could wheel and deal with rest of them. This knack, or talent, or just plain old urge, runs deep in my blood. It is in my cousins as well. It has rubbed off on my husband, too. Although, his Dad was cut from the same cloth as mine. My sister-in-law and I have an annual sale and have sort of started competing with each other for "finds". (There is no competition. She rules.)

Dad, Uncle Virgil, and some of the cousins.. and little ole me.

Uncle Ralph and Aunt Ila taught me how to treasure hunt. That is what I called it. They called it picking junk. One of the first major scars I have gotten is from digging in the old dump behind my Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house for bottles and accidently kneeling on a fat broken piece of whisky bottle. No stitches, but the scar is still quite bold some forty-five years later.

I have learned from the best of them. Wish I had paid a little more attention. Wish I could ask them advice.

And then I was asked to help with my aunt and uncle's estate. Apparently, I am a trustworthy individual. I did not volunteer, but I did accept the job.

This adventure began just about the same time I started a new job at nights. I had forgotten I am not as young as I once was when I signed up for the job. Used to be able to work double shifts and still do more.  So, I got the keys and went over to evaluate the situation. Wow. There had been a major shuffle done after my uncle went in the medical care facility. Things were piled up willy-nilly. The house was in pretty good shape but there was still food in the cupboards and stuff like that. It was hard to see the house that used to be my aunt and uncle's home change into a vacant property.

Burned a lot of cardboard. Bagged up trash. Started finding treasure. I think I found twenty heads worth of permanent curlers and papers. What we thought was a Barbie doll case was a wig head case. Did my aunt really read Robert Jordan and Stephen King? Found my grandma's bible. Found my uncle's army photos.  A porcelain top cabinet. Yoga mat. Video games. Baby stuff. Baby stuff????

Many people wanted to buy the truck. Many people wanted to pay two dollars for an antique railroad lamp. Many people stopped to talk about how they missed seeing my uncle sitting on the porch and exchanging waves. The gal who set up my aunt's lifeline came by. The fellow who found my uncle after he had fallen on the porch stopped by. They didn't know that both my aunt and uncle had passed and were sorry to hear it.

Before the sale, I was cleaning out the bathroom cupboard, pulling out towels and medical stuff. Towel, towel, ...twang. Twang? What goes twang in the bathroom?

Sold a bunch of paints to a little girl who will grow up to be a great artist someday. Shared stories. Saw old neighbors, met new.  Held hard on prices of certain items (the railroad lamp). Sold and sold and sold stuff. Someone wanted to know how much an old empty peanut butter jar was. A plastic one! I told him it was his lucky day, it was free. Next time I saw him, he had found another jar. Told him I had to double the price now that he had two! I was surprised that people wanted what I would have called junk (and I have an idea of the difference between junk and treasure, mind you!) and they paid for it!!! But the beautiful dishes and glassware sat admired but unpurchased.

I love this part. There were parts to this whole ordeal that I hated, but I love the people. Lots of these people love the treasure hunt just as much as I do. We were all from the same planet.
It was a successful sale, one of the most successful sales I have had the privilege to work. But I am just the niece and cousin. It wasn't my stuff. Still, I am pleased that my husband and I were able to help and happy with the way things went. Even though I had to quick buy a bank minutes before the opening of the sale and almost lost my first few customers. Even though we had some rain, even though for all the fun it was, it was hard dang work. Even though some guy got really mad that we wouldn't sell the railroad lamp for two dollars, and he accused me of lying and doing the old bait and switch and you can't trust anyone. Made his wife put down her stuff and left. He is not one of us. Feel bad for him.

The controversial Railroad lantern