“Yesterday, all my sorrows seemed so far away.” The words of the Beatles song echoed in my head as I drove away from our house which may prove to be the last time I’ll ever see it.
Walking into the door yesterday morning with my dear son Greg to finally witness what was left after the fourth and final day of the estate sale was heartbreaking.
My comfy chair, the chair from which I wrote every word of this blog (except for the past 10 days), the chair where I laughed, the chair where I cried, the chair where I lived, and the chair where I sat, and on occasion suffered Life’s challenges and sorrows. The chair. It sat in the dumpster.
No one bought my perfect condition, mauve colored velvet, definitely outdated, Flexsteel recliner chair, surely overpriced at my insistence of $100, more appropriately priced at $24. And now, it sits in a dumpster.
Goodwill, the Vets, and the thrift store, all turned it down. I offered it to son Greg. Not interested. No room. I offered it to dear friend and neighbor Jamie. Not interested. No room.
Goodbye chair. Goodbye chair. And the chair represented it all, letting go of that life, of that time, of that house.
The estate sale people’s cars were scattered about the lawn as they carried lifted and hauled the remnants of our lives outside to go into one of two trucks and then the dreaded dumpster. They worked so hard.
A number of items didn’t sell including our 1902 Baker Rhodes player piano and all the music roles that go with. Not an offer. Anyone want it? Pay to have it removed by tomorrow afternoon ($250) and its yours. The Italian leather down filled sectional. I had an offer that I refused for $350. Maybe I should have taken it.
The 10′ long hand made table crafted from wood in our yard in 1923 by a craftsman from Dayton’s, all made with wooden screws with six chairs will be picked up today to go to a consignment store. Thanks to friend Jamie, who lovingly coordinated it all for us. Thank you Jamie.
The money? Not one-sixth of what we had hoped for, a mere pittance for our lives, the quality we demanded, the unique design we sought, now all lost to the whims of a terrible economy, conservative buyers in tough economic times. We never counted on any return from the sale into our travel budget. Good thing.
The five estate sale people worked so hard. They cleaned, they scrubbed, they vacuumed, they washed everything in site. It looks nice for the new people. When I returned in the afternoon to pick up the cable boxes, they were still there, almost done. It looked great. Thank you, Jason, Nadine, Jessica, and all. You worked so hard.
Tom quit smoking yesterday. I took his car to have it detailed, free from smoke residue, making the drive to Scottsdale more pleasant for me beginning tomorrow, Halloween, the final day in the month’s long countdown. Between son Greg and dear friend Chere, I had transportation during the four hour period the carwash had Tom’s car.
Chere and I spent three hours together yesterday, working out, having lunch, running errands and commiserating over the years we have known each other while wishing that Life would have allowed us more time together. What is more important than love and friendship? Sitting in the newly cleaned car, I cried when we said goodbye.
Finally, back in Tom’s car, now alone, I returned the cable boxes only to discover that I was two boxes short. I found one in Greg and daughter-in-law Camille’s SUV (which Tom drove to work yesterday). Today I have to go back to the house one more time to look for the missing cable box. Ouch!
Besides, I need to walk around the yard and say goodbye to our three pups buried in the yard. How did I forget? Bart, run over by the mailman at five, BenBenBen, died from Cushing’s Disease at 12. And them my WorldWideWillie who passed away 18 months ago from cancer.
I wrote a blog for Willie during the last 17 days of his life, from his perspective, a real tear jerker that helped me heal. We had over 500 followers. How did they find it? They came from all over the world. They cried with me. We named this blog in part for Willie…worldwide…
More goodbyes today, the road tomorrow. I’ll write along the way relieved that this sad part is behind us, finally allowing ourselves to experience the joy of the adventure that lay ahead and… “all my sorrows seemed so far away.” Hello, world. One more day.