Change ~ "... the worst day of my life!"

One of our vendors at Mixie's is leaving.  She has had her shop for about 12 years and we have been friends for a long time.  B. is 93 years old!

B. was a doll maker long before I met her.  Some of her dolls were in her showcases at her shop, directly across from mine.  She was so good at making dolls that she won Blue Ribbons at the State Fair.  But those days are gone and her family is helping her to close her shop.

B. also sold jewelry.  She had nice rings reasonably priced that she bought from a jeweler she knew.  She also had lots of costume jewelry to sell.  But those days are gone.  The jewelry she wanted to keep has been taken home and the rest has been bought in bulk by several of us vendors who sell costume jewelry.

B. also sold glassware and collectibles.  But those days are gone too.  Lots of figurines like clowns and animals passed through her shop and into the hands of vendors who bought what she didn't want to keep.  Lots of things were packed into boxes and will probably end up at Goodwill.

Her many showcases have been sold to vendors who have already resold them or have them up for sale in their own areas.  Other furniture, like bookcases that held the figurines are gone.  The place is almost empty.

Through all this, B. has sat in her chair and mourned.  She has been very angry at how quickly her family has acted in closing her shop and I have heard some harsh words spoken.  Because B. had become forgetful, she doesn't understand or remember why she has to leave.  Even with all the thoughtfulness her family used in trying to prepare her, their explanations counted for nothing as she watched her shop being dismantled and her inventory sold right out from under her.

B. wanted to hold on.  B. wanted to fight to keep her shop.  "This is the worst day of my life" I heard her say.

Although B. had spoken the last few years about giving up her shop, when the time came, she wasn't ready.  She feels betrayed by family and friends.  Next week she will be at home and a new shop owner will take over her space.


       

How could I possible resist this????

... or in my bookshop at the antique mall!!!


~ Grammarly.com

Book Addiction!

This so reminds me of my bookshop; except that my shop is much more organized.  However, I really don't have enough room for all the books I have, so I have some extras laying on shelves that have no room for them.

My books are in alphabetical order by author.  At least the fiction and historical romances are.  The rest are on shelves dedicated to their subjects.  For instance, I have shelves of bios, history and politics, health and medical, cookbooks, sports, and so on.  These obviously cannot be placed in alphabetical order...  I have no time for that.

I bought a tall bookcase from a vendor who is leaving at the end of the month.  I placed it in a conspicuous place and put children's books on the shelves.  I sell very few children's books...  parents don't encourage their children to stop and look at books.  It's a pity.  Surprisingly, soon after I placed the book case and filled it, a young girl who is being looked after by one of the vendors, came by and asked if I had any kids' books!  I pointed her to the books and she bought THREE of them!

Yes, books can be an addiction alright.  I just finished my 37th book of the year!  Maybe, I'll end up with 60 again...  :)  I LOVE TO READ!

Your Kids... My Kids?

Love it! 

Fear and Trembling...

This morning, soon after I arrived at my shop, G. came to my area in the flea market... "I have it... the doctors are going to do a biopsy but they are sure I have cancer... it is in my left lung...that's why I have been hurting so much in my shoulders and ribs."  The words came out in a jumble because G. was trembling so hard, she could hardly speak.

I put my arms around her and pulled her close to me... and she wept...

G. lives in her car much of the time...  Sometimes, she can stay at a friend's house.  The friend is a vendor here at Mixie's like I am... G. befriended me some months ago when she asked if I wanted to buy some jewelry she was trying to sell so she could put gas in her car. It was wintertime.

G. has grown children but I think she is estranged from them, although I have seen her daughter once with her in the flea market.  Mostly G. is on her own.  She is thin as a rail and appears ill... I don't think she eats regularly either.  She probably has issues that keep her from utilizing the county welfare system.  I don't know.  I've helped her in small ways and she has always been grateful.  She has had a hard life from what I can tell.

Yesterday morning, she came to me and announced that she had finally gone to the doctor who sent her for an MRI... she was to get the results the next day...  "Please pray for me"...  And that I did.

Today, after she had calmed a bit, we talked about the possibilities... what might happen... her fears for her children...  And I added, her fears about herself.  "Let me know what happens... Let me know if I can help... do you have someone to go to the hospital with you?"

I said, "You have to fight this."  "Yes, I will", she said.  I said, "You have to fight until God says it's enough..."  "I will", she said.


Lord, if it is Your Will, bring healing to your daughter.  Mind, body and spirit.  She is so frightened... Comfort her and be with her in the days ahead.  Let her recognize Your presence and be at peace.



Photo Credit: Angie Ryg

This is Soooooo ME!

Back in the Day ~ Listening to the Radio

My parents had a radio very much like this one when I was a child.  I remember it well.  It had been placed in a corner of the living room next to the sofa where my Dad sat.  His favorite spot.  He would sit there reading his newspaper and listening to the radio.

On the other side of the radio, next to the radiators that heated our home, was an old hassock.  When there was a program that I wanted to listen to in the evening, you would find me hunched over the hassock as close as I could get to that radio so I wouldn't miss anything being said or played.

I was not allowed to touch the knobs of this radio...apparently I was considered too young to master all the intricacies of locating stations, etc.  The radio had several bands, including a shortwave band; and since it was wartime (1940's), I remember my Dad listening for news of the conflict from wherever he could find information.  I still remember one time hearing the fanatical and screeching voice of Adolf Hitler, though I couldn't understand a word he said.

My Dad listened to boxing during this time.  I remember the fights with Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott and Billy Conn, because I was right there, hunched over the hassock listening.

On Saturday afternoons, my Dad would turn on the Metropolitan Opera program.  I wasn't too interested in that music, mainly because I couldn't understand what was being sung, but I remember it in the background of whatever I was doing in the house that day.

Of course, there were lots of other programs that we listened to...  I recall Amos and Andy, George Burns and Gracie Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, Ellery Queen, The FBI in Peace and War, Baby Snooks, Gangbusters, Dr. Christian and soooo many others.  You can look here for a long listing of some of those 1940's programs.

The old radio finally gave out and my brother, who had begun working at Miller and Rhoads or Thalhimers (don't remember which) gave my parents a new console radio/record player for Christmas in the late 1940's.  He was so proud of himself that Christmas. I don't think we had a record player before that time, though I vaguely remember a child's record player in the house at one time; but I think that was later in my early teens.

It's amazing how a photograph can bring back so many memories.