The Emotions Behind Every Estate Sale
It wasnβt long after my grandpaw passed away that the need for an estate sale came up in conversation between my dad and his brothers. It was evident that my grandmother would not be returning home and there was no need for their house to sit empty yet full of their things.
I had many conversations with my grandparents about hosting their estate sale someday and offered to help offload that part of the process for my dad and uncles.
My mom was a tremendous help in the process and I am so grateful for her availability and willingness to assist. She discarded the food and cleaned the house prior to sorting and separating.
At one point, I remember thinking that hosting this sale would be a piece of cake. The house was small, the furnishings were simple, and the timeline was short.
I was ill prepared on the emotions that are behind every estate sale.
It was harder than I had expected. I did this for a living and now I realized why clients hired us to complete this service for them.
Two instances stand out.
One afternoon, I helped a gentleman load my grandparents bed on his truck. We talked about his renovation project and how he and his wife were moving to a farmhouse. This bed would be perfect for that. I thanked him for his purchase and waved as he drove away.
The sight of my grandparents bed going down the road on the back of a pickup brought tears to my eyes however. βThey will never be sleeping in that bed againβ, the thought kept ringing through my mind.
Fast forward to the days leading up the sale and I was in the bedroom hanging up clothes in prep for customers. I grabbed a stack of pants and started to organize them. My grandpaw always wore this particular style of pants, the cargo kind that you can turn into shorts. A man always dressed and ready for the day and always strutting around the house in his fun cargo pants.
βI will never see PawPaw walking down the hallway wearing these again.β
Tears welled up in my eyes.
I prayed for strength for the coming sale and for composure. I was hoping to avoid sobbing all over customers as they bought my grandparents things and/or boring them with stories and memories.
While the estate sale went very well, I came home and told Raymond βI am so glad we do this for a livingβ. Not having the years of experience of hosting sales and greeting customers would have made that weekend so much more challenging.
We sold roughly 95% of the things in their home and now when I walk in to see it clean and empty, I sigh a huge breath of relief.
One less thing for my family to worry about.
I am grateful for the opportunity to honor my grandpawβs legacy by setting up and hosting his estate sale. He would have been so proud! βFer Fer, it looks greatβ he would have quipped.
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Thrift w/me: part 6 at the Salvation Army Family Store in Gastonia, NC