BY SARAH NIGBOR Priceless memories outweigh garage sale remorse

Do you ever ask yourself why you agreed to something? Maybe it seemed like a great idea at the time, but when the time comes, you wonder what you were thinking. I reached that point this weekend as I lugged tote after tote of garage sale items into my mother’s hot garage. Why did we ever think this was a great idea? Maybe because it was born back in April when it was still snowing. My mother, kids and I are having a garage sale the second weekend after Labor Day. It’s been postponed a few times due to health issues, my surgery, the fair, etc. But now the date is fast-approaching and it’s time to get ou our duus and get this thing organized. This motivation, however, was di minished this weekend when faced with the sheer amount of organization and work this sale will be. Drill Sgt. Sarah came out and whipped everyone into shape. We cleared out the garage in record time, swept it, erected a few tables (thanks Uncle Ronnie) and covered them with priced items. We still have a few thousand more things to go through, but it’s progress.

My aunt tried to warn us, but we wouldn’t listen. She said it would be easier to put everything in boxes and donate it. Hindsight is 20/20, right? Especially when the kids are squabbling over who gets to use the orange price tags, or who will run the lemonade stand.

But anyway, here we are and the kids are convinced it’s going to be the best garage sale ever. I'm hoping it's not a total flop, because a lot of work would be wasted.

We decided to have a garage sale after my grandma died in April. As we began sifting through her belongings, we realized there was more hidden away in closets and drawers than we could have imagined. Shoes, dresser scarves, tablecloths, jewelry, trinkets, clothes, you name it, we have it in multiple. I also know where you can find about 1,000 Cool Whip containers in case you need them: In Grandma’s root cellar.

After the chaos on Saturday, the kids were motivated to go home and find more trea – sures to sell. The hard part is making them understand that you can’t price something sky high in hopes of making a huge profit. It’s not like a retail store where brand new things are sold. No one wants to pay $50 for a used fedora (Dawson). I highly doubt anyone will buy a pair of scuued cleats for $25 (Lin – coln). A plastic ring plucked from a birthday cake isn't going to fetch $10 (Carolina). They have lofty goals.

An added bonus of searching Grandma's house for garage sale treasures is finding old memories tucked away long forgotten. Like the old crank ice cream maker that we used to make homemade vanilla ice cream on hot summer weekends. Or my great-grandmother’s old butter churn that made my uncle extremely happy when we found it. My aunt found a 1906 auction bill from the Lundgren brothers of Salem Township, which ignit – ed a flurry of research on ancestry.com My mother is still hunting for her Ono Methodist Sunday school pins, but I’m sure they’ll turn up. I even found my old 4-H projects saved lovingly in boxes, projects my grandpa helped me complete. All of these things have brought our loved ones back to life, at least for a minute or two. If only these old treasures could talk.

So as I lament the mountain of work related to garage sales, the rediscovery of memories has been priceless. I’m not sure we’ll make mountains of money like the kids anticipate (they want a trampoline), but what we’ve found in the process has made it all worth it.