This weekend, was one that I was dreading. I had put off having a garage sale- first because of the weather (rain and snow in April!) Then I was dragging my feet because of the idea of selling off Mike’s belongings was just difficult for me. It was like the sale of his shop equipment-losing him all over again.
Unlike the shop contents being sold, I haven’t been there as his machines and his knives have been carted away. Going through all of his belongings, putting a price on them? For me, that was unfathomable. But I finally decided that this weekend, that would be the time.
I set up a huge piece of plywood on sawhorses behind the carport, and started bringing out the boxes one at a time. By the end of Weds, I had a huge pile (at least six feet high) of items for the sale. Some, belonged just to me, but for the most part, most was his. I called all my friends and said “Can you possibly help me with the sale?” But no one was free and it was all up to me. I almost cancelled again. Then decided it was time to put my big girl panties on and just get it done.
I started Friday and people came, but they were looking for deals- something priced $5.00 might fetch a dollar or a dime! It was pretty strange that first morning.
Then there was a lull of traffic. A truck pulled up and I had just gone to get another box of priced items to put out and these were some of Mike’s knives that he used to repair for Coast Cutlery. I don’t know if I ever shared this on my blog, but besides being a custom knifemaker, Mike was also the only Authorized Puma repairman for the United States. Other knife manufacturers soon learned of this, and he was getting knives that needed repair from all over. Some of these knives would arrive with letters.In the letters, the person would be ascribing human qualities to this knife.
I remember one example vividly where the man said the pocket knife was given to him by his Great Great Grandpa, and they were fishing out at the lake one year, the knife fell overboard , and although he dove repeatedly looking for his friend, his friend drowned. All felt lost. Then years later, when he was fishing the same lake with his son, the son’s line snagged on the bottom, and when they finally pulled the line up attached to it was this knife! It was just amazing.Mike took all those stories in his heart and he did a superb job of restoring and fixing these knives. So I was pretty much close to tears once I finished the boxes containing knives sent to Mike by the manufacturer’s to use for parts and pieces.
So, to get back to the weekend, this truck drives up. Nobody else is here and the man see’s these knives and his face just lit up! He asked for a box and he bought them all, then he found some tools and bought those, and kept buying until the box was full!
He brought over the box and said “Can you make a deal for me?” I looked in the box and I saw my husband’s work and love, and I just started to cry. I was so embarrassed but I couldn’t stop. I told him that this was hard for me and told him why. And then I just turned around and hugged the gate with my back to him just emotionally caught up in this storm of tears.Kota was at the gate scratching, frantic to get to me. Then I felt this hand on my back. And I heard this man say “Miss?” I turned around and he was crying!
I told him, I am so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” And through his tears, he said that “no you don’t understand. Last week I lost my son. He was 27 years old and hit by someone who was texting while driving. he died instantly. And then we were hugging and crying together.
After a bit, he told me that he was from Salem (which is quite a ways from where I live). he said he was supposed to meet a friend for breakfast, but the friend never showed and while trying to get back on the I-5 he got lost and ended up “in the middle of nowhere!” He had just flipped a U-turn on the highway, passed my sign and swung in. He said as he turned into my driveway. He thought to himself, “what are you doing? You don’t want to go to a garage sale.” But, he said he felt drawn in.
Then he shared, that since his son passed away. He has found himself in places he would never go. But he finds, when he starts talking to people he meets during these times, that they too, recently suffered loss. He stayed about 45 minutes and before he left pressed money into my hand (he way over-paid for these junk knives) and he left.
Fast-forward to Saturday. I almost didn’t open up the sale. I had stumbled on the stairs and hurt my foot. Walking was really painful (turned out I had lost two toenails. But, I gobbled some aspirin and started my day.
Busy as all heck! I still had boxes and boxes of Mike’s stuff behind the carport, so I was just hustling and as soon as a table cleared, more stuff came out. One the things I found was his camera. It is a brand-new high end digital Canon camera with the works. He bought it before Jack drove him to Alaska that time. When I argued about him regarding the cost. He never told me what he spent on it- but I knew they were expensive and at that time, we really didn’t have the money. But he bought it anyway. When he got home (after he got out of the hospital because he came home septic over a no-seeum bite) I looked at the “pictures” he took. He stuck this camera out the window as they were traveling and took blurred photos the whole trip. I just threw up my hands and zipped my lips, but I was not happy.
As I pulled out this camera and looked at all the goodies inside, the price tag was still on it. So I just halved the cost and put the price, and then “firm” next to the price. So this truck drives up and this couple hop out. She was probably in her late 20’s and they came in. Friendly folk, just looking. I was sitting near the table where all the high-end stuff were displayed and she saw the camera case sitting there and literally gasped! LOL She ran over to her husband and I heard her say “Honey, she has my dream camera here!: He asked her how much it was and she replied, she was afraid to look because she knows how expensive they are. He told her to go look.
So, she comes back over and she picks it up, see’s the price and puts it down. I see the light fade in her eyes. So I said, “Do you like this camera?” She just turned to me and her eyes were dancing again. She told me that she looks at this camera several times a week on the internet, hoping she could afford one of them, but it never happens. She’s wanted one for a really long time. Then I hear myself saying- Do you have $200.00? If you have $200.00 and can give it to me right now, the camera is yours!”
She looked at me like I had just landed in a spaceship! LOL She said are you sure? I said yes, I am sure. It you have $200.00 the camera is yours!” She said she had to ask her husband and then I heard her tell him that for whatever reason, the lady just offered her a heck of a deal and if she had $200.00 and the camera was hers! He asked her if she had the money and then I heard her whisper (I have great hearing). This is really strange Brian. Before we left the house this morning. I heard God tell me to bring $200.00! I never bring that much money when we go garage sale chasing!”
As she paid for the camera, she was crying (at this point so was I) She said “you aren’t going to change your mind before I get to the truck are you?” I told her No, I stand behind my word and as she walked back to her truck sobbing in joy. I don’t know who she was hugging tighter, Brian or the camera! LOL I found my smile, my joy again. And went to fetch more stuff to put out.
Ok, I know this is a long post and I apologize- but it ain’t over yet and so go get more coffee and another donut! LOL
The last haul of boxes was everything that Mike used for his crafts- his woodwork, his whittling tools- does anyone even whittle anymore? All of the bits and pieces of knives, some broken some intact that he used for parts for these really cheap Coast pocket knives that broke if you just looked at them wrong. Puma knives, his early custom knives, His extra shop lights, his files (not computer) the tools. Just all of it spread on the tables. I just bowed my head and thanked Him for allowing me to make that one gal so happy and prayed that he would send someone along who might recognize the worth of the contents of the tables and give Mike’s life a new beginning.
No sooner had I prayed, this truck drives up. This gentleman hops out and I smiled, because he looked like a hippie. The long hair, very distinguished silver hair. Just his mannerisms reminded me of a hippie.
He came over first thing, shook my hand and introduced himself as Howard and said tell me about this- this looks like a man’s garage sale. This time without crying, I told him about Mike, what he did, what a nice man he was how I lost him and explained about his life basically surrounding the tools. After I finished, he said, “Well guess it’s time for me to go to work now.” (I thought he was leaving), and then he asked me if I had boxes? I said, yes and he told me to fetch “several!”
This man, this beautiful soft-spoke soul-bought everything that Mike ever touched, used or belonged to him. He bought it ALL! He kept peeling off Benjamin’s from his clip. And what was weird is as I was fetching more boxes to fill up with goodies and trying to keep track of the money coming through. He would be shopping again, and I noticed several times, he was leaving his money laying around! There were other people that had arrived, and so I kept giving him back this wallet, his money clip. Then I also noticed, he kept dropping Benjamin’s on the ground! I kept hustling to pick them up and return them to him.
It was crazy. In retrospect, I don’t know if he was testing me, or because he was a senior citizen he just loses his fortune as he walks the world? But I was hustling to keep him and his money together!LOL Every time I returned the money, or the clip of the wallet. He would thank me and then tell me bring more boxes! He bought me out! I don’t even have to open today to get rid of anything of Mike’s. The only thing he bought of mine, was my scrimshaw tools and two pieces of ivory I scrimmed long ago. One was of one of my cat and the other was of my horse Racer. Other than that, everything that left in the back of his truck belonged to Mike.
And here comes the really strange part of this miracle. He gave me his phone number and said if I run into anything else that belonged to Mike that I wanted to sell, to call him. Then he drove off. I’ve called this number several times. II doesn’t ring, no one answers and I hear instead of dead air, I hear tinkling of bells?
So it was an exhausting, exhilarating, emotional, sad and awesome garage sale. I think that when it comes to garage sales, not many people could say that afterward! LOL
Thanks for reading- and God Bless You All!
