I am so depressed tonight I can hardly move....hardly breath.I am back in Chicago and dealing with the aftermath of the estate sale.
I feel terrible.
I feel like I've betrayed my father.
The real estate agent showed me a picture of the dumpster I rented for the estate sale people...It was a 20 foot dumpster and overflowing with things.....I believe they threw out many old things dad had saved because it didn't bring in the threshold amount of money they want to make per item. Old magazines, pamphlets on old products.....even many small old items.
Dad saved everything...he saved things not for himself...but for the future...for me...for the grand kids......for the moment when someone....would appreciate what he saved of history and the times.
Estate sales are not about history or appreciation.....What you have is a group of people...looking for ways to make money....if an old pamphlet or vintage tool...doesn't meet a monetary standard...then out it goes to the dumpster....it has to bring in money ...or else it's not worth their time.
Today....I am dealing with a second tier of people who thrive on making money off my need for speed and closure on my parent's estate.
This is the remainder person...who comes in and boxes everything up....and scurries off to sell more things........your things....for pennies on the dollar.
It's not that I want thousands of dollars for what my dad saved....but I want a good home and respect for the items which he cherished ....instead .....everything is just a commodity......but it's the middle man--- who has the time and leisure to go on ebay or sell things online--who will make a fortune in comparison to what you were paid.
It is a greedy business...it seems everyone makes money except the original owner....and I am so glad....at the last minute ...I packed out more of dad's stuff.... we took a whole truck back home....because the old and cherished things he had saved for me and for his grand kids....would have gone poof in the hands of estate sales people.
They wouldn't have cared about my grandfather's straight razors...or his tools....it's all about moving ....moving the merchandise out for as little as possible to someone else who will collect as much as possible.
I am sorry things my dad saved were probably thrown away.... many things were small and interesting ......I wish I had years to research things leisurely...I wish I had half a house to store all the things....I wish I lived only a few miles away so I could protect and sell things in a way that would honor both my parents.
I have been working so so hard going through things....I am exhausted ...... yet there's little time to ponder and cherish....there is only....we must clear this room or this space or this portion of the house.
I'm sorry dad....what I saved I'll cherish and try to pass on in a more thoughtful manner.
You worked so hard to save the past....I'm sorry the circumstances won't allow me to cherish all that you did.
You were an amazing guy,,, dad....I always knew that....and everything I touch reaffirms that.
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