Sunday Snippet: The Yard Sale and Memories Edition

So, sister PJ had a 2-day yard sale this weekend and I went to help out. It was a neighborhood event, rather ill-timed, I originally thought, because the main drag to her lakeside home was closed to through-traffic Saturday for a town-sponsored mini half-marathon. Folks coming on Friday had no problem getting to her neighborhood, but yesterday, they had to figure a workaround to get there. As it turned out, hardcore yard salers figured it out, and crowds were great both days. Gorgeous early fall weather helped our cause–we had sunshine and blue skies and a lovely September breeze.

I confess I’m not much of a yard sale person. I’ve only ever had one and it was in conjunction with a very, very organized neighbor when we lived on the other side of town. I was younger and I had stuff, but not as much as my sister had for this one. We participated in a couple of barn sales up at the lake when we first bought our cottage, but truly this is not my bailiwick.

That said, it was fun hanging out in sister’s garage and driveway, chatting with shoppers and watching at least 20 years of sis’s stuff leave to the tune of 50 cents to $5. I especially got a kick out of the kids (little ones, tweens, and teens) who came through with their parents. BIL charmed them all by gifting stuffed animals and books  that needed new homes. PJ was just happy to see that her kids’ toys would be loved.

The very best part, though, was the memories–PJ had things from our sister Kate’s old room. My two older sisters were incredibly close, and when PJ and BIL moved back to town from California and built a huge home on a local lake, they turned the rooms over their garage into Kate’s place. She had filled it with lots of feminine ruffly, shabby chic (remember shabby chic?) decor–quilts, frilly pillows, a white iron bed, chintz, and other pieces of painted furniture. It was her getaway spot–a little place where she could just be Kate. We lost Kate to evil cancer in 2014 and for both PJ and I, it is as if a piece of ourselves is missing.

Kate’s grandson now rents that upstairs space as he gets his start in life, and when he moved in, all of Kate’s things went into storage so he could make the rooms his own. A lot of the shabby chic went in the yard sale. PJ and I didn’t weep, but we might have gotten a little misty as we saw her pillows and flower pictures and the white bench with the chintz cover go away. It felt a little like the end of an era, but also like the beginning of tucking those warm memories a little deeper into our hearts and minds.

PJ also had a ton of jewelry that she put out on trays for people to peruse. When I got there yesterday she handed me a little silk bag that included some anklets she thought I might like to have (I do!) and two rings that our mom wore always. One made from her baby spoon that she wore on the middle finger of her left hand and Mom’s fairy ring that she always wore on her index finger. Mom had beautiful hands–long fingers and perfect nails–and my clearest memories even 36 years since she passed are those two rings on her hands. PJ’s had them with her all this time and now it’s my turn. My hands are freckled and old and my fingers aren’t long and elegant like Mom’s were, but I love having these little pieces of her. Thanks, sister!

Gratitude for this week: good time with sister at her yard sale; brother turned 69 last Sunday and he’s still with us; Son safely home from travel in England; several boat rides–it was lovely on the lake; finished an editing gig and am ready to start a new one. 

Stay well, stay safe (time for flu and covid vaccines), always choose kindness, and most of all, mes amis, stay grateful!