#87 Garage Sales

Continuing with the 100 life-enriching little nuances series ...

Photo by eastlaketimes

In the late 90s, one of my sisters and I combined efforts to do a joint garage sale at her house. She has a two-car garage, lives on a busy street and has plenty of room for parking -- so it was perfect. My dad, my grandma, and my niece pitched in over the three day span. We sold a lot of stuff, but I think I enjoyed the time with my family more than anything else.

My niece was probably seven or eight years old at the time. She had two kitties -- a black one, named Blackie, and a blond one, named Blondie. They hung out in the garage with us during the garage sale, often snuggling up together in a pile of clothing we were trying to sell. Whenever a customer would see Blackie and Blondie together, they would fuss over them. We did too.

Dad opened the doors for us on one of the days since neither my sister or I could be there right away. I pulled up a couple of hours after he opened and saw him sitting in the garage behind the card table we had the money box on, sipping his cup of coffee and reading a book. It was rare to see Dad sitting around without a cup of coffee in his hand. We talked computers, family history, sports and weather like we usually did.

My sister helped customers, negotiated prices, and sold a ton of my niece's toys and clothing she had outgrown, prompting my niece to object because she just didn't want to let go. I felt her pain. I sold some items I didn't really want to let go either, but I didn't really have any use for them any longer.

One of the funnier moments happened when my niece opened the money box one day. Her eyes grew big as she tried to comprehend her cut of the wealth.

We made some money, did a ton of work, and had a great time as a family sitting together for hours at a time without any other agenda. Sometimes it's nice to step off the hamster wheel.