Ran into Jeanie Anderson at a yard sale over the weekend, and was reminded of an incident that happened a few years back when Charlie and me were having our yard sale. It was a beautiful day for it, too, sunny with low humidity. The early birds had already come and gone, and I’d just finished chatting with Claire Lambert, when who do I see walking up to our yard, but Jeanie.
My heart literally skipped a beat. See, I thought Jeanie was going to be in Dexter that weekend, visiting her grandkids. That’s what she told me, anyways, the last time I saw her. And because I knew she wasn’t gonna to be around, I decided to put the little picture she give me for my 60th birthday into our yard sale. Look, it was this dark thing in a dinged-up black frame. Some print of a painting, I think, with this old man saying grace, a small loaf of bread on the table. I just found the picture, well, so lonesome looking, you know? It’d been in my yard sale box for years, and since Jeanie was going to be out of town, I decided this was my moment to move it out.
But here she was, all smiles, waving to me, her birthday present on a table not six feet away. I wave back thinking, Geesh, I’m caught between a dog and a hydrant here. Well, Ida, it was eight years ago. Maybe she won’t remember.
I decide to head her off at the pass. “Jeanie! What a surprise! I thought you were in Dexter this weekend visiting your grandkids.”
“Oh, they decided to come here, instead,” she says. “I was on my way to the A&P for some cookie baking supplies, but saw you were having a yard sale. So, I thought I’d check it out.”
“Aren’t you something?” I reply, thinking, Do not look to your right, Jeanie. “You know, we have a craft table over there that’s got your name written all over it. Lots of great stuff.”
“Oh, Ida, you know how I love crafts. What, beside the exercise bike?”
“Yup,” I says, pointing to her left. “Way over there.” I’m thinking, while she’s gone, I’ll just mosey over and hide that picture, right? I’m on my way over to it when I bump into my friend Celina, who’d just lost her husband, Henry. So we commiserate about that for a while. Then I get nabbed by some fella looking for Nazi paraphernalia. I mean, come on! By the time get away from him, I look over and see that Jeanie’s cashed out (My niece Caitlin was taking the money, freeing me up to work the crowd), and she’s heading back to her car.
“Jeanie!” I yell, “come show me what you bought.”
“Ida,” she says, “I hit the jackpot. Look at this: two Barry Manilow CD’s!
“Oh, Mandy’ll love that.”
“Won’t she? I snatched up your knitting machine. And this kit for a macramé plant hanger.”
“Never been opened.”
“And here’s the best one. Would you look at this little picture! Isn’t it special?”
“It is special, with that nice black frame and all?”
“The old man looks so…serene, doesn’t he?”
“Interesting. I never thought of it like that! I guess he does look serene. Anyways, I’m glad you like it. Something told me you might.”
“Like it? Ida, I love it! Well, I’m off to the A&P.”
“Take care, Jeanie! Say hi to Bob for me.”
I’m watching her go, thinking, Wow! She has no idea. Goes to show, we give as gifts the very things we want for ourselves.
That’s it for now. Catch you on the flip side!
Hear Ida Tell It: Trash or Treasure?