A couple of Saturdays ago I was looking for a cooking pot and Frank and I were passing a thrift shop and I suggested that we stop in and see if they had what I wanted. We browsed around for a few minutes and the owner of the shop suggested another shop that might have the item. So, we went over there and again no luck so we went to WalMart and bought a new one. I have never really shopped at thrift shops or garage sales and so this was a very different experience for us but walking in those shops took me back to 1963! I was about thirteen years old...
I was taking accordion lessons (don't laugh, they were quite popular back then) and my lessons didn't quite work with my parents work schedule so I often had to wait an hour or so for someone to pick me up. After an hour of lessons I sure didn't want to hang around the studio and listen to other kids murder their songs! There was a little thrift shop next door to the studio and so I would often wander in there looking at their stuff.
After a couple of weeks of going in there, I got to know the ladies that ran the shop. As I remember, it was a fundraiser for a local church. Anyway, I started offering to help sort through the items that were brought in. Some items needed to be cleaned, mended, ironed, folded, etc. I remember one job was to cut off all of the buttons from shirts that weren't good enough to re-sale and then making bags of rags. One week they needed help setting up a new window display and I soon found that I loved arranging items for the window display. I couldn't wait to change the displays each week. It became very important to me to be there for "work" and was a good experience for me.
I enjoyed doing my little volunteer project and helping out. I had been taught by experts to give service - my parents. This was one of my first opportunities to really do something productive to help others. Sometimes we get so caught up in our lives that we forget that giving even an hour or two a week can help others. I think I need to do that again.
1 comment:
Hey Jeannette,
It's been a while since I checked your blog but I thoroughly enjoyed catching up on what's happening with you guys. This was a fun entry and I learned something new about you. I knew your sister-in-law Nyla played accordian but I didn't know you did! It must have been what attracted Frank to you - right? Just kidding! What a sweet story from your younger years - I'm not surprised to hear how helpful and organized you were even back then.
P.S. It was great to catch up with you at the game last week. BTW - our score this week against Butte wasn't a heck of a lot better!
Love ya' !
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