Saturday Mornings
I can remember being around 7 or 8 years old and looking forward to Saturday mornings with my mom. During the Summer months, we would grab a morning paper and a biscuit (don’t forget the orange juice) then head out to the addresses that read “Huge Two Family Yard Sale!”. For some reason those keywords “two family” stood out because it meant great things for me…dolls, doll clothes, doll shoes, doll hair accessories, doll furniture..EVERYTHING DOLLS! Not only was I excited about yard sale hopping with my mom, I was equally excited about us having our own yard sales. Our customers consisted mostly of people we already knew around the neighborhood. We’d team up with my Great Aunt and cousins(because we lived next door to each other), hang signs on Main St. and Ledbetter Rd. Sometimes we’d even run an ad in the local paper, but overall, the signage worked just fine. There would be dresses hanging in trees, pant suits hanging on car windows, and denims covering small card tables. I’d sit there and listen to to latest “grown folk” gossip and greet customers. We’d laugh because my mom and her cousins would always be interested in what the other had for sale and nine times out of ten they’d end up selling their merchandise to each other. There was a great chance that my cousin would be going home with my mom’s apple print kitchen curtains in hand and my cousin’s set of 4 drinking glasses would show up on our table that evening filled to the rim with “red” koolaid. Those were definitely the days.
A few weekends ago, Z, my husband, my mom and I had a last minute yard sale. There weren’t any sausage biscuits, no orange juice, no dolls, no gossip, not even a morning paper. However, there was that summer morning, signs on Main St. and Ledbetter Rd., dresses hanging on cars and friends we knew around the neighborhood. My great aunt and cousin were both there and somehow we still ended up purchasing each other’s merchandise. These were some of my old memories and new ones I’d created with Z and Stephen. Summery, Saturday mornings.
