It was the biggest estate sale of the year. The home of local business owners was being dismantled and contents dispersed following the demise of the surviving spouse. I had met her a year or so ago at the funeral of her elderly neighbor, one of our church members. She was a very refined lady who was mourning the loss of her friend. Now she was gone.
When we entered the home, I gasped. The high walls of the rustic back entrance were covered in folk art, signs, pictures, and memorabilia. I saw the wooden cutout of a cow that would look cute in my kitchen, but it would be cheaper tomorrow when prices would be slashed. The rooms were filled with a glut of beautiful, framed art in large dimensions, stacks of handmade quilts, gleaming copper pots, boilers, and cookware, as well as rugs, books, lovely tables and every manner of decor.
Other than picking up a kitchen tablecloth, I was so overwhelmed that we left without much. The next day, unbelievably, it had almost been picked clean, except for buildings outside whose entire contents were offered for bid. Besides the cow, which was about the only thing hanging on the wall of the entry, I picked up a piece of artwork my eyes had chanced upon. It was a print of an old painting that looked just like our youngest granddaugter when she was about a year old! It was so much like her it made us laugh and we couldn't resist it.
Now I smile every time I pass the picture that is now hanging in my hall. It makes me even more eager to see her when we go down to their house in a couple of weeks for her fourth birthday! Seeing Maddie and her 6-year old sister on Skype recently made me miss them even more. The birthday girl's amazing red hair has grown to shoulder length and floats vapor-like around her darling face. Be still, my heart! Big sister's golden curls peeked out from a knit cap over a feathery scarf she wore in her play. Sweet babies!
When I asked for a birthday present suggestion from their father, he suggested an iTunes card. She loves to play with an old iPhone and is very good at the games they put on there for her. Such sophistication! I hope she likes the everyday plaything I bought for her today besides the fancy card! She is joining the electronic world like her older cousins, leaving an old-fashioned Mimi to poke around estate sales, ruefully dismissing antique doll furniture, teddy bears and doll collections as proper gifts for today's pre-schooler. Maybe I will just get them for myself!
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