Hello!

You might want to grab a cup of coffee for today's long post. I have a story to share and this post is one that I've wanted to share for a while now.

In April, I received a phone call from a man in a neighbouring community who said he found my blog on the internet. He said that he was looking at my picture on his computer screen had a story to tell me. (I instantly thought… "That's it! I'm getting off facebook!" LOL) He went on to say that he was a 73 yr old man who's wife had tragically passed away at their home in Arizona. After a few months of red tape, he was finally back in Canada and he needed to get their home here ready to sell.

I listened as he went on to talk more about his wife. She was an avid paper crafter and loved to stamp and make hand made cards. He went on to say that she had a room in their basement FULL of paper crafting supplies and most of it had hardly ever been used. He spoke very lovingly of her and he knew how much her hobby meant to her. He said she would spend hours making her beautiful cards. 

I was a little confused as to why he was contacting me so I explained my business and what I do with Stampin up!. He said he understood but he would like help in finding a home for all of his wife's things. He did not have any family members that could take all this stuff form him, I talked to him about Kijiji and he explained that being 73 yrs old and living alone, he did not feel comfortable with strangers coming to his house to buy things from him. He also said he was not physically able to move this stuff up from the basement himself. 

I was moved by his story and I had a feeling I was talking to a nice man. I agreed to come and take a look at  what he had and we could talk about how (OR IF)  I could possibly help him. My friend and I went to visit his estate home and we were overwhelmed to say the least. He was right, there was a ton of stuff! My first instinct was that this was too much for me, I couldn't imagine how I could sort through everything to help him sell it. You see, she had mostly individual rubber stamps, very unique stamps purchased from all over the United States. Definitely some beautiful things!

He told me he would like to get a "set price" for her entire collection, as he knew it was in his words "worth something" No doubt!! He asked me to think about it and if I was willing to help him, we would settle on a handshake. 

I left his house that day and I was overwhelmed. I had so many things on my mind, like "This is a huge task, Do I possibly have the time to take this on?" But I also kept thinking about his dear wife and her hobby. He just wanted to find a home for all of her things, and I bet she would have wanted that too. I asked myself many times… "Why did this happen to me? Why did he find little ol' me?" Something was telling me that this happened for a reason and I felt in my heart like I should help him. There was a chance I could take this on and NOT get him what he wanted …but I wanted to try.

After spending a little time at his house organizing and contemplating how to tackle this task, I decided it would be best to move it all to my home and spend more time organizing and getting ready to have a sale. My husband and I loaded up both our vehicles a couple of times and spent the entire weekend getting it all in our basement. Take a look at why I was overwhelmed….

Oh my… what had I gotten myself into? All of these bins were full and NONE of this was in my family room to start! Would I ever have a family room again??

WELL…..

I am thrilled to say that after many many hours of organizing, sorting and pricing everything I held 3 successful sales and most of her precious items have found new homes. There were 17 plastic drawer units and I've sold them all and I just have these 3 bins left!

  

The man was thrilled to have this all taken care of and now he can list his house. He is so grateful that his wife's things have found good homes. 

My heart was warmed by the huge support I received from all of my friends who came out to help me organize the items, run the sales, and shop from her wonderful collection. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me help this man with this enormous task. I am deeply humbled to have had this opportunity to once again see how this wonderful hobby we all share can bring us together. 

I am so blessed to have met so many wonderful people through my Stampin up! business. 

In closing of this blog post, I'd like to share with you a few pictures of this lovely lady's cards. I found these as I was sorting through the bins of "stuff" and I will return them to her husband so they can be shared with her grandchildren. Each one tells a story of her style and it just warms my heart  to see how wonderfully creative she was. God bless her.

 

 

 

 

 

I truly believe that there are angels among us!

Hugs,