White cotton sheets sprawled on a concrete driveway, with an array of items placed on top, created a colorful display when I arrived to help a friend with a garage sale, last weekend.
At least a hundred people stopped by on this glorious day, next to a group of Sedona's magnificent red rocks.
Lucy, a short, gray haired lady, wearing a full-length black wool coat, limped up the steep incline with hesitation. She glanced up a couple of times to see if anyone watched her slow approach. At the first group of items, she stooped down to gaze at a framed painting of a passenger ship bucking against high waves. In the image, a small craft approached perhaps to steer the vessel away from jagged rocks beneath the ocean's surface.
I noticed Lucy wrench. Had she lost someone at sea, perhaps a father, a child or a friend?
She shuffled inside the garage, stopping at different tables exhibiting jewelry, clothing, books & more. After fifteen minutes or so, she selected a small, blue & green trivet & brought it to me.
"For my daughter. She likes things like this."
I asked her if she lived nearby.
Lucy's gazed up at me. "No. Visiting from
"Anybody can do anything," I said.
"Not me."
I placed the trivet into a plastic sack & handed it to her.
"Fraid all I'm going to do is . . . just die." Lucy hobbled down the driveway.
Grabbing my crutch, I sidled up beside her. "Hey, don't give up on life now. Okay."
Her bright green eyes sparkled in the late afternoon sun. "How much is a house in this neighborhood?" she asked.
As I gave her estimates, she smiled at me. "Might be able to do that."
"Why not?" I asked touching her shoulder.
Lucy turned, but I heard her say as she shuffled away. "Yeah, why not?"
# # #
The stories that many of the shoppers & others reveal to me everyday, real or not, swirl in my mind. At times, I wished they'd go away, but I know they have helped me survive traumatic events in my life. Today, I embrace them. They're part of me.
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