My favorite moments of the garage sale, the smile on children’s faces when they found something they liked and their parents bought the item or we gave it to them.
· The happiest shopper, a 7 or 8 year old boy who
got a ceramic penguin bank for $1. His
Mom so happy that he found the penguin and that she could purchase so he could
put in his room. The boy carried the bank the entire time he was in our
driveway, he had both hands around the small item close to his chest, like he
was guarding a life long treasure. His younger brother got a Beanie Baby, he
was not as excited with his find.
· An older gentleman stopped on his way to Chick a Fila. He said he saw the Yard Sale sign and pulled
into the subdivision. He was a tall man, his body a bit crooked, he walked with
a cane, he had thick Khaki pants and black suspenders, his head full of
white hair. He said he was from South
Carolina and enjoyed looking through other people’s junk. Interestingly he
bought two metal lunch pails, one with the TVLand logo and one with the Cox
logo. I commented, “Are those for your grandchildren?” he quickly answered, “No, they are for me,
for my garage.” So from one garage to another, the circular journey of stuff
goes on and on and on.
· We had shoppers from India, Peru, Honduras,
Guatemala, Mexico, Colombia, North and South Carolina and Cameroon. I got to practice my Spanish all morning. We had
shoppers with babies in car seats, babies in strollers, lots of families came
in “troques” or pick up trucks. Several families walked from across the street,
the ladies experienced shoppers, they all came with umbrellas as the sun yesterday
was extra hot.
·
We learned about Peruvian Ceviche recipes and we
were invited to attend services with an Indian family at a Sihk temple in
Roswell.
·
The clothes items, the best sellers and went fast.
·
The best items sold, a brand new pair of
Samsonite luggage, my 25 year anniversary gift from Cox last July. The suitcases were nice, but they weighed 14
pounds empty and I did not like the combination lock mechanism. A young couple that came in a brand new
sliver Ford 150 bought them up right away and were very happy with the
purchase.
· My favorite shopper a little tiny Guatemalan
lady, she was a Grandma, 84 years old. Their group had three generations,
Grandma, Mom and the girls, Miranda and Carolina, 5 and 3 years old. I wish I had taken Grandma’s photo, her name Troberia, which is very unusual. She looked like she had just come down from a
village in the Guatemalan mountains. Her
skin was dark olive color, her hair a stunning jet black, she had a long braid
and her smile an invitation to give her a big hug which I did. We had a wonderful visit for the 10
minutes they were here. She showed me the
wooden crucifix which she wore as a pendant, as she held it in her small hands she
spoke of the Espiritu Santo and her faith and the Father’s Glory. I felt like I had known this little lady all
my life. She was a delight.
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| Yard Sale @ Winterhaven Court |
The last shoppers of the day, an 82 year old
lady, Dotty and her special son, Stefan, 42. He was full of joy and energy,
once he knew my name, he said Elena
about 15 times in the 10 minutes he and his Mom were here. Stefan picked up a
pair of prescription eyeglasses that once belonged to my DAD. They were reading
glass, thick glass, thick brown rims. Stefan was overjoyed that he could see
clearly or so he said. He kept looking
at books and then at us and was really happy to have the found the glasses. The
glasses had been in a night stand drawer next to my bed since 2003, the year my
DAD died. The mother commented to Cindy
that Stefan was developmentally challenged, she added “he can’t read or write
and he loves books with pictures.” Before I knew any of these details, Stefan
picked up a children’s Bible that was written for a very young audience, every
page full of colorful pictures. Stefan held the book up high in the air and commented with joy, “I like this book, this is a special book”. I
don’t remember all the items Dotty selected, most were picture books for Stefan.
When we packed the items in a box and Dotty got ready to hand over the $12, Cindy and
I both told her to spend the money on an ice cream for Stefan. She started
crying. We all got hugs, the Dotty hugged
us, Stefan hugged us, it was a special way to end the garage sale.
·
As we packed the items not sold in boxes ready
to take to the Goodwill on Sunday we realized that a decorative item that was
on the $3 table was missing and neither Cindy or I had sold. It was a small sculpture figurine of a
large breed dog. He must of made his way to someone’s else home via a quick
grab. Oh well, demographics even in the garage sale size sampling, represented
by all types ranging from amazing Mother’s like Dotty to thieves who
will go nameless.
·
The practical lesson for this first experience: schedule
the garage sale during spring or fall. By 10AM it was very hot and humid and there was no way to shade the driveway. Other than that it was an interesting and fun.
The life lesson, the exercise of
letting go of items, selling them, sharing them, donating them, wonderful ! Everything that matters in life is in the
closets, shelves and garage of our hearts.
And even that space needs to be managed and cleared out a times.
