A Tearful Goodbye

Today was the estate sale at my Dad's house. I hired an estate management company to run the entire process. I knew I didn't want to watch it happening, but I had to go there today for an hour or so to sign over the titles to both of my Dad's vehicles. It was pretty shocking to see a bunch of strangers (the street was lined with vehicles on both sides) looking through and taking all of the stuff that my Dad and step-mother had collected over the years, the clothes they wore, and the couches they sat on.
The estate person uncovered items I didn't even know existed and didn't remember from my childhood. It was really sad to see it all walk away. It sort of felt like losing my Dad all over again, but I know it was just "stuff".
I was lucky enough to intercept about 200 old photo slides from the 1970s and am having some of them converted into actual photo prints. There were pictures of my Dad at his various job sites, a trip to Disneylad we took in 1975, old Christmas photos, and who knows what else I will find when I go through all of them. I'm glad I got these memories before they were sold to a stranger!
I will share a story that brought a tear to my eyes today. (It was the first of many that have flowed since!).
My Dad's next door neighbor for 30 years, an sweet old man named Mr. Johnson, moved to Florida several years ago. His nephew, in his early 30s, now lives in the house to keep an eye on things. Today when I was at the house, he was there and looking through some things in the kitchen. I saw him buy a pie plate for 50 cents. When I asked him if he was going to make pie, he gave me a brief and somewhat shy smile, with a tear in his eye and said, "no, your mom used to make me pie". That did it, the tears came. It even brought a tear to the eye of the lady running the estate sale. This young man wanted to buy a pie plate to remind him of the sweet lady who used to live next door that would make him pie. Priceless!
The actual house is up for sale and it will soon (I hope) be all over. Although I miss my Dad every day, I will be thankful when this whole process is over and the estate is settled.