Today at the Thrift (!!)

Gentle reader rejoice with me as I give an account of the DEAL OF
THE YEAR from the Thrift Shoppe. It is taking amazing restraint not to rub my hands with glee whilst typing. I have a smirk/smile/euphoric expression in place that will likely STAY in place for a few hours.-------------------- *



On my third waltz through, I saw a monitor with blue and silver beckoning me. My subconscious recognised the reality before the rest of my brain as I walked over casually and heaved it onto my arms. It was not a monitor and keyboard as I am sure the pricer thought it to be. It was an iMac. I paid $9.99 for it. Oh lovely lovely thrift. It is not for me. It is for the home of he-who-I-never-obeyed for the use of a lovely child I know very well. I plan to charge him $100.

------------------- !!

On the other side of things, the reason I was on my third go through is that I came face to face with a man I like very much. We are fellow magpies who met at the since defunct Consignment Store in town. A Tim Hortons sits on the site these days. I was able to furnish my Father's new abode in the days when he was on the lam from his atrocious elder abuser wife. About $1500 bought everything from toasters cutlery and bedding to chairs, tables, wall units and bedding as well as two televisions and a computer. This were all almost new high end brand items. My co-hort was tempted to open a consignment store of his own but rising real estate prices impeded this. We just chat when we see each other. He has not been around for awhile. I asked him if he was still buying and selling and he allowed as how he was just buying these days as he was busy. Busy doing what I asked? Busy with treatment for bone cancer. BUGGER anyway.

One very good thing is that he was able to have a bone marrow transplant with himself as a donor. It was a stem-cell thing and it was done in Vancouver General Hospital.
He looked like someone on Prednisone and his mood was that flat affect you get with people in a prolonged state of shock. His cell-phone rang and we parted but you know.... he will stay in my thoughts. Likely I will be seeing him professionally soon.

A Swell Dame

It is another sad farewell. A person in their 90's passing on is not unexpected, yet in some instances it is quite too soon none-the-less. My dear client just departed was so very alive. She had a life-force you could feel.

When I met this woman, it came about in conversation, that I had grown up 2 blocks away from her home. She knew who my family were, all the Aunts and Uncles. We lived in *Shannon* district in Vancouver; just up from Marpole. Four of my close relatives lived in a 3 block area, one just across the street from where my client lived. Back in those years, *Shannon* was not the inner-city next to the Granville freeway, it was quaint and lovely with tree-lined streets. The neighbours were all long-time residents and people mostly all got along with each other. We knew the names of everyone on our street, both sides long, and they knew us.

"Carrie" had been married and widowed by the age of 35. She was an only child and had no children of her own. Once widowed, her father began to worry about her future. Carrie was comfortably well-off even before her husband's estate was settled on her. She did not work of course, but she did the rounds of Country Clubs and golf courses. She was the life of any party, and a grand hostess. A swell dame.

Under pressure from her Father she did indeed remarry in her late 40's. There were children from a prior marriage, but that did not bother her. Until later. When husband number 2 died, he wrote his will in an ambiguous way which, under legal (very expensive legal) scrutiny, left half of everything Carrie owned to his children. Half of everything Carrie had possession of, half of all she had inherited from her first husband and her father, was legally bequested to these children of his who wished immediate dispersal. They got some cash out of her and a legal promise for half of the proceeds of the sale of her home when at last she would sell.

Carrie had no plans to sell and continued to live on happily until she was declared legally blind.
Suddenly she was visited by a Doctor she did not know in her own home. Not many weeks later she was informed she was incompetent to make her own decisions and her home was put on the market and sold in record time. Her large Art collection contained many family pieces. Some of them were large sculptures.

What did not sell at auction for a song, went to her step-kids, against her wishes. A few cracked sculptures came along with her to the small 2 bedroom apartment in assisted living chosen for her. This was a huge change from her 4000 square foot home, and she was mad as hell for about a year. She told everyone who had ears to make sure to make their wills with caution.

Carrie did settle in eventually to live another 3 years in that place. She brought elegance and happiness and endeared herself to all. She was a great friend and a charming companion and enriched the life and soul of the place. Carrie is not replaceable. It is a terrible loss.

Her obituary somehow did not manage to catch her joy and spirit. It had several lines duly chronicling in black and white those step-relatives of hers. I am certain they believe they did what was right and proper under trying circumstance. No doubt they are congratulating themselves on a job well done as she lived on much longer than expected.

SO: listen to Carrie. Be sure to make a Will, an iron-clad will before you re-marry, and choose your Power of Attorney with great care. It may seem trivial at the time, but as years go on, the entitled need to be protected against. You think you won't care, but in my experience, most people care deeply.

Farewell Carrie, you were a swell.