In preparation of selling our home and everything in it, I gave notice at work and began the task of getting rid of the last 40 years of “things” we both had collected.  All our household items that were not passed on to Josh and Liz, our children, who by the way, thought what we were doing was insane and that we wouldn’t last but three months before giving it up or killing each other.  Not to wander too much off the subject but most of our relatives and friends pretty much agreed with them.  The exception was my 100 year old mother-in-law, my dad and step mom.  Dad’s mom and dad were the Gypsies in our family and lived on the road whenever they got the chance.  When I was little, I remember them driving off towing their trailer to all parts of the country.   It was never something I pictured myself doing but it did look like a great adventure!

The difficult task of deciding what would stay and what would be sold took up all my waking hours.  John was still working so most of the job fell into my hands and the task was difficult at best and sometimes heartbreaking.

The first piece to leave was our grandfather clock.  It was the first piece of furniture that John and I purchased together.   Seeing that grandfather clock being carried out of our door after owning it and moving it from home to home for so many years brought tears to my eyes.  The lady that purchased it was thankful and overjoyed to get a grandfather clock priced far below its value.  Her joy took away some of the sting of its departure from our home.  From then on things moved steadily out the door.

Estate Sale and Garage Sale seem to mean the same for our Woodlands area neighbors and offers were made that were so low that donating would get us more than selling the items that were all in excellent condition.  That was a lucky break for our donation recipients.  Many of the really nice antiques and household items not sold for the price I was asking ended up being donated to Jesus Centers and the Montgomery County Women’s Shelter Resale Shops.

Two of the items, hand hooked silk and wool Persian rugs were reluctantly sold to a nice Italian man and his wife who had just moved back to the states from Italy.  He bargained hard with me for several days and I finally sold them at a fraction of their original cost.  His offer to cook me dinner, anytime I wanted to come by, and visit my rugs at his house was what finalized the deal.  Although it was a ploy to secure the deal, his creativity won me over and I said a tearful good-by as they too left our home.