I woke at 6:58 even though I was not expected to arrive until 8:30am.
Let me tell you how the prep for Dad’s estate sale went using Linda G Hill’s SoCS prompt for today:
“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is ‘zip, zero, zilch.’ Use one, use ’em all, bonus points if you use all three. Have fun!
We started the prep at zero items organized, priced, or sorted, but by 2:30 pm, we had made a significant dent in the work ahead. My brother recruited three helpers experienced in estate sales to help us, and by the time I arrived around 9am, Dennis and my brother Kevin had a handle on all the garage stuff, and Vivian & Becky, Dennis’s wife, had already started sorting and pricing stuff in Dad’s room.
I walked in, not knowing zilch about any of our helpers or estate sales, but I had my own ideas. We made our introductions and got to work. They shared their thoughts and I did the same. Since they had a handle on sorting and pricing, I set about bagging all Dad’s clothes, jackets, hats, socks, and underwear for donation. That way, I didn’t see or care about what they were pricing my parent’s items, which was for the best, really. Every so often, they asked my opinion, which I offered, and I asked my brother’s opinion sometimes too.
At first, it was overwhelming and sad, even though I knew it had to be done and I thought I had no attachments to their things. However, I went home with a few items, some for comfort, some for sentimental value. I donated four bags of clothing to the Leukemia Society, and before we left for the day, we had zipped through one bedroom, two bathrooms, three closets, and made a huge dent in the office and the garage. Not bad for day one!
Some items, like this one, I took home to figure out the value or if it is a collector item.
Originally, we were going to hire an estate sale company, but after interviewing two of them, they both said we don’t have enough stuff to warrant their services. So, we are doing the work ourselves. Thursday afternoon, I’m hoping Vivian and I can go over and tackle the kitchen. We are hoping to have the actual sale in the next two weeks, then we can put the house on the market. Of course, it’s a daunting and emotional task, but thank goodness we have Kevin’s church family willing to aid us in getting the job done! I am becoming friends with some of my church family but I don’t know them well enough to ask that of any of them. Kevin is VERY involved with his church and these people know him very well, thank goodness. One of my kids, or maybe two of them, will be coming next week to mow and clean up the back yard. I only wish Dad was here to tell us if he’s proud of the way we are handling the situation.
Twisted Trunk Travels 
He’s proud. Most definitely
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Thank you for saying that. 🤗💕
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He is great. Proud feeling. You well doing it’s!
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Sending you big hugs as you go through this. I can only imagine it is bittersweet for you as memories come back and small things will make you cry/tear up. I teared up reading about it. Happy Sunday Kim 🙂
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Thank you, Jay-it’s all part of the healing process I suppose. ☺️
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🤗🤗🤗🤗It is. But there are going to be memories come to you that will be such a blessing because it is something you have forgotten. Enjoy them. 💛
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I was hoping that I had not missed it, but you said in the next 2 weeks or so! I was happy about that. I know that dad will definitely want to go by and check it out! Has Sean been by or is it too hard? I definitely understand those feelings. Praying for God to give you the string to get through this see is always with you! That is very nice of the Keven’s friends at his church to help! By the way, how was singing in the choir for the 1st time last Sun?
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It was great but today was even better! We had the bishop, our old pastor Philip, and every other pastor who has been at our church in the past because today we celebrated paying off our $9 million debt!! We sang How Firm a Foundation, and it’s still in my head! After all that we had communion and I had to lead the choir down…very nerve wracking but it was good. After that, we had the commissioning of the new Stephens Ministry members and leaders! What a day!! They ask had a dinner in the fellowship hall afterward, but I forgot to RSVP, so we had our usual family dinner, but with a special guest. David’s long-time friend Tim Brown was in town and came to dinner 🤗
Sean has not been by while we’ve been working because he was camping this weekend p, but Chris and Josh are going to go by and clean and mow his backyard this week. It’s so nice of Kevin’s friends to help, they want to go back tomorrow and do some more! We may be done sooner than we projected! I will definitely let you know when we have it!! Don’t expect a lot though. Your dad may enjoy walking through the garage though. 😊 There are a few pieces of furniture, some Knick knacks, and a lot of kitchen stuff, so maybe there’s stuff you’d like to see. Tell Christina to come too if she wants!
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