Slick 60's

I went to a garage sale today and there was a lot of woman stuff there. I made an off the cuff comment about a lot of girley stull there and the man said that his wife passed away about two years ago and he finally got to where he could sell off her belongings. I understood exactly what he was talking about because I went through the same thing when I loss my spouse and my mother. He had a bicycle sitting over against a tree and it looked brand new. I inquired about it and he told me that he and his wife had bout two new his and her bicycles and she died before she had ever rode it the first time. It had been kept in the house and was totally new in every respect. I ask a price and he said he would talk fifty dollars for it. I paid him for it and we started talking about it and he said that she had paid 250 dollars for it. It was a Schwinn bicycle with 12 gears and the shock tube front fork. The bicycle was no doubt the best buy of the day for me. I also bought a few other various items from him for including a leather purse that looked as if it had never been used for three dollars and a teddy bear cookie jar also for three dollars. The man and I became good friends and I could feel his pain. He and his wife were in their late fifties when she fell dead on their kitchen floor from a blood clot.

I remember a story my mom told me when I learned to ride a bike....

A little kid was riding his bike
His mom was on the front porch watching him
He would go around and around
He came around a said
"Look ma ! .. No feet ! "
He went around again
This time he said
"Look ma ! No hands !! "
Next time he was walking ...
He said...
"Look ma... No teeth"

Have fun Michelle ! Sounds like you got a good deal

good deal on the bike. I hate that it was in the situation of a death of his wife though. that is sad.


a few years ago when I was 32, I returned from my overseas deployment to Bahrain/Kuwait, I went to an estate sale and bought all the furniture I could fit into a UHaul trailer. I bought dressers with mirrors, a desk, hutch, table, washer/dryer and a few other items for $400.00. All the furniture was Ethan Allen rock maple from the 1960's and it matched 4 small pieces I got from my parents when I moved out of the house at 18 when I joined the Coast Guard.

I Worked For An Auctioneer Here In Topeka For Years Sorting Estates From Basement To Attic. Along With Uncovering All Kinds Of Treasures (And Junk) I Would Often Hear Heartbreaking Story's From People About Loosing Loved Ones. Once I Found A Mans Wedding Ring And The Old Guy Broke Down Crying, Saying It Had Been Lost For 7-Years. It Had Rolled Under The Bed Where He Had Been Sleeping All Those Years...

Shadow wrote:I Worked For An Auctioneer Here In Topeka For Years Sorting Estates From Basement To Attic. Along With Uncovering All Kinds Of Treasures (And Junk) I Would Often Hear Heartbreaking Story's From People About Loosing Loved Ones. Once I Found A Mans Wedding Ring And The Old Guy Broke Down Crying, Saying It Had Been Lost For 7-Years. It Had Rolled Under The Bed Where He Had Been Sleeping All Those Years...

I know It must have made you feel good to put a smile on the old mans face. I have no doubt that ring was worth more to him than anything else in the world at that moment. I know the feeling, I have a few things of Alan's that I wouldn't part with for any amount of money.

Hey Michelle, did you end up going back and looking at that Bronco we saw in Salina ?

Alan Mclennan wrote:Hey Michelle, did you end up going back and looking at that Bronco we saw in Salina ?

No, I never made it back. Kinda of wish I had though. I would love to have another 78 or 79 Bronco.