Who'll give me 5 dolla, 5 dolla....going once, going twice, SOLD!

My focus the last few months has been cleaning out Mom and Dad's house, sorting through the trash and separating out the treasures, and preparing for the auction.  Monumental task, for sure.

Let's see...starting in December 2016 when Gary and I were in Wooster for Mom's heart valve replacement surgery....

Every three weeks or so we made the trip to Wooster from December until the end of May when Mom died. Each trip was about 5-6 days, including a weekend so we could fill the trash cans to put out for Monday's pick up, then re-fill them again for Brian and Melanie to put out the next week.  That routine continued with a trip over, several days there, then the trip home.  During that time we visited with Mom at either the hospital or Woodlawn or Chapel Hill.  We sifted through some of the obvious things...the pile of food on the floor in the corner of the kitchen.  The refrigerator.  The piles of newspapers and magazines piled around the Ugly Chair.  The piles of papers and empty tissue boxes around her chair at the dining room table.  The counter tops in the kitchen.  

In early January she took a turn for the worst, and ALL of us went to Wooster, prepared for a funeral.  She bounced back, recovered, and returned to the rehab center.

In February we moved her to Chapel Hill, her new home.

In March we took her to a doctor's appointment and Dr. Sardar set monthly goals for her.

In April she had fallen and the appointment with Dr. Sardar was more difficult in transportation plus we could see that she was failing and just didn't understand his recommendations.

In May she was unresponsive again and taken to the hospital where she died after we saw her on Mother's Day weekend.

Each time we visited we cleaned out more things.  Little by little.  

Unfortunately the dents were just that..little.

After her death the big clean out happened, and it took a toll on our summer time.

Total stats:

Five weeks in Wooster for Gary and Beth

Three weeks in Wooster for Megan and Matt

Four weeks in Wooster for Cooper

Two weeks in Wooster for Hilary, Blaine, and the kids

130+ bags of clothes to Goodwill, Faith Christian, and a group connected to Greta's church for a clothing drive

Two dumpsters filled with food from freezers, food from the fruit cellar, trash, trash, and more trash plus leftovers from the auction

Numerous boxes of books taken to Books in Stock for re-sale

18 boxes of books donated to Rotary/Kiwanis for their book sale fundraiser

Bags of newspapers and magazines taken to the recycling center behind Buehlers for donation

4 boxes of fabric donated to Mary O. for Quilts of Valor and kids quilts for the EMTs during emergencies

Depends donated to Blaine's grandmother

A U-Haul loaded with items for Pulaski, Pyrmont, and Frankfort

A covered trailer loaded with items for Pulaski, Pyrmont, and Frankfort

Our Escape plus Blaine's truck plus Matt's SUV loaded with items for Pulaski, Pyrmont, and Frankfort 

The man behind the meat counter at Buehlers knew us as "Melanie's friends, the Simmonses" who needed boxes, boxes, and more boxes.  After a while we didn't even have to ask.  He just knew what we were after and filled up our cart.

As we sorted through items, there was always the thought that 'maybe somebody will want this and buy this at the auction.'  As I stood and looked at the boxes and boxes of things lined up in rows in the back yard, along the side of the house next to Melanie's and in the tent next to Kurt's side yard, I wondered why we didn't pitch more.

As I listened to Mark ask for bids, particularly on the downstairs furniture, and sell Dad's recliner for just $1 and the treadmill for just $1, I became very sad.  

Later, when it was all over, Hilary told me to look in the back yard and see what we needed to clean up the next day. I was shocked at what was left.  Boxes and boxes of items in somewhat organized piles...everywhere.  Bidders had bought boxes for low amounts and picked through for the items they wanted...and left the rest.

Clown pictures.

Dishes.

Glass plates.

Pitchers.

Books.

Placemats.

Dad's collection of shot glasses.

Things I thought people would want to bid on and see as treasures for themselves....no interest at all.   Left behind in the yard.

Now not everything was like that.   

Marleen bought the four lamps to use in her house and in her sister's house.

Melanie bought the corner china cabinet from the bottom of the stairs which fits perfectly in her dining room.

A couple from Mansfield bought the treadle sewing machine to refurbish to send to Haiti so women can learn to sew.  They also purchased nearly all of the bedroom furniture and had a good reason (I assume) for doing so.

Some of the 'treasures' made their way into the baskets of Amish women to be re-sold in antique or collectibles stores in Amish country.

The instuments were treasures and brought higher bids.  Some of the jewelry did the same.

Dad's '41 Chevy brought $7000 which was much more than he had paid for it.

And the house was sold for our reserve amount to a young mother, her boyfriend, and her two children.

But the entire process left me with a different perspective of auctions.  I had been to several auctions; in fact, I have bought several items at auctions.  In recent years, however, I didn't need any particular items, had no place to put them, and no time to attend a Saturday event since I spent most Saturdays through the years either at games (when Gary was coaching) or grading (when I was teaching at Ivy Tech) or watching grandchildren.

If someone doesn't want the item, there will be no bids.  

What someone deems a treasure, others may think of as trash.

I often thought on Thursday during the auction and on Friday and Saturday as we were cleaning up the yard and sifting through the boxes once again, what would Mom have thought about this?  She thought everything in her house was SO important. We were never to touch any of it.  She thought people were peering in her windows to see what she had and would break in to steal her china or her stereo or one of the clown pictures.  What would she say to know that one set of china was left in the backyard, unsold?  No one wanted it.  How would she feel if she knew that Gary tossed many of her clown pictures in the dumpster? No one wanted them.  The stereo in the living room is still there.  No one wanted to buy it.  

Really this blog entry is about two things.  One is the time and energy we spent since December in Wooster, cleaning out everythng in the house and preparing for the sale of the chattel (I still do NOT like that word) and the property.  The other is about my perception of auctions and the value we place on things.

What have I learned?  

I need to clean out drawers, cabinets, and closets of unwanted, unused items and just get rid of them. 

When I think about gifts for others, I may just go with gift cards from now on since items I think might be useful or helpful or cute or interesting...may not be for the recipient and just sit on a shelf or in the box, never to be used.  Waste of money!

Spending time with family and friends is more important than focusing on material things.  Mom's things were the most important to her.  She yelled that at Dad.  She said that to us.  She needed her house, her things, her possessions.  Those were her life.  Not us.

As I pulled items still in boxes off the shelf, took clothes still with tags off hangers, and packed up books that had never been read, I thought about how much emphasis she had placed on having all of those. But she never wanted to be with us.  She never wanted to see the grandchildren or great-granchildren.  All of those important things to her.... many of them were placed in trashbags and taken to Goodwill, in boxes to take to Books in Stock, in boxes to place in the yard for people to pick through and leave to eventually be tossed in the dumpster.

Yes, it was really worth it, wasn't it, Mom? All pf the important, precious items that were worthless to others and tossed in the dumpster.  You could have spent time with Dad, going to festivals, traveling to Indiana, making memories instead of focusing so much on one more vase or another piece of glass or 6 sets of china that no one wanted.

Who'll give me 5 dolla, 5 dolla?  How about 4?  3?  Anyone give me a dolla for this box of treasures?  No one?  Let's move on.