Garage Sale Mania

This past weekend I helped my parents do a garage sale at their house. They are selling the house that we all grew up in and are moving to a new house. We sold everything from rooster clocks, to roller blades. We had windshield wipers, bathroom vanities, and even doors. The most fun part was going through everything in the house and deciding what to sell. My dad is sentimental and didn't want to sell anything. My mom hates clutter and wanted to get rid of everything. There were a few things that my mom put in the "sell pile" that my sister and I later retrieved and put back in the attic. Hopefully these items will make the move and not be found out by mom. It was interesting to say the least. Having to put a price on things that have memories attached can be difficult.

For instance, we had our old kitchen table for sale. I thought this should be priced fairly high. This is the place where my family, for 20 years met each day to eat and bond. This table had seen Elton history in the making. I sat at this table the day I started junior high and high school, the day I left for college, and the day I got married. My sister Sharon had experimented with countless meals and served them to us at this table. Janna had set and cleared this table all through out her childhood and adolescence (this was her family chore). My little brother Richie had to sit at this table for hours because he'd refuse to eat what was put before him. This is the table that my Dad worked so hard to fill with food for his family. This is the table that my mom sat at and did homework with us for years and years. This is the table where we dyed easter eggs, carved pumpkins, and wrapped Christmas gifts at. This is the table where we celebrated every birthday. This is the table which we would hide under when we were seeking shelter from a much deserved spanking. When we first moved into that house 20 years ago, this was one of the first pieces of furniture we purchased because my parents believed it to be a central ingredient to a close knit family. Time around the table. That table was for sale this weekend. We had it priced for $15. All the chairs, except for one, have been broken and discarded. Two days of the garage sale and no one wanted that table. We ended up giving it to someone for free after the sale was officially over. I decided that no one could afford to pay what that table was worth. That table is priceless.

Anyways, all in all it was a productive event. The only hitch was when a customer wanted to by the scooter that Parker had grown fond of. Parker looked at the customer, started screaming, and then ripped the sticker off the scooter. When people would inquire about the scooter, he'd say, "it haf no sticker, see?" No sticker, no sale. We ended up taking that scooter home with us. I still owe my parents the $3.