sometimes...you win...I adopted 3 aunts and an uncle at the beach...

sometimes a picker will do anything to shop a sale early...
in Manzanita, there is a small area that is gated off...
and they were having a neighborhood sale at 9 am on Saturday...
in Portland...a neighborhood sale that is advertised at 9am...people are setting up by 7:30 am...
Manzanita is NOT PORTLAND...
so...
we were driving around this neighborhood at 7:30...not a soul to be seen...
no shoppers...
no homeowners...
no stuff...
not even any seagulls...
so...
we looked at each other and said
"now what?"
i am persistent...
I kept driving around...
finally...
a garage door opened...
she was from Portland...
staying with her family...
yep, she said...
this is the beach...
they MIGHT all open at 9 am....
she had nothing that we wanted...
gads...
so...as I drove around in circles (this was NOT a big area)...
finally, a door opened...
they had stuff...
they were older (70's or 80's)
my husband went up the drive and asked if they were open, he told them we had cash...
they said come back at 9.
He told me that - I almost cried...
cuz he said they had some black and white photos...

I like black and white photos.
it is only 8:15.
I drove around for 5 more minutes...
I go back to see them.
I go up the driveway.
I tell them that my husband saw stuff that I would like.
I said can I look but not touch.
she saw that I was desperate.
she let me look.
she said I can't buy til 9.
it is 8:20
we come up with a plan.
If anyone else comes to shop early, I am a relative helping with the sale.
this was their idea, not mine (wish I had thought of it)
so we helped.
we moved tables (I shopped but didn't touch)
we moved chairs (still shopping)
and I got to look through the photos...
told them I was staying til 9 to buy them...
started call them Aunt Jan, Aunt Janet, Uncle Jim, and Aunt Sista (really their names, I added the aunt and uncle )...
they brought my husband coffee while we waited and chatted...
Aunt Sista was one of 11 children, she was the last surviving child...
I hugged her.
they were the sweetest people that I have EVER met garage saling...
some time during our "adoption" and hugs, the black and white photos disappeared...
someone pulls up and asks if they are open, they say no, 9 am...(it is only 8:50)...

at 8:55 the local book store owner comes and they all know him, he asks to buy a couple of books...
they decide that 8:55 is close enough...
he buys his books and then leaves...
they bring my black and white photos out of hiding and sell them to me.
I had mentioned that I really, really liked this very old bible that they had wrapped up...
I wondered if it was for sale.
It was great great Aunt Ruths bible.
they gave it to me.









my finds...


my newly adopted family...

I did not buy a lot that day...

but the memory of my newly adopted family will live with me forever.
I never had any aunts and uncles, my parents were only children.
for a brief moment, it really, really felt nice.
I couldn't have chosen nicer relatives...
it was worth the wait...