One of my favorite activities on a Saturday morning was getting up before sunrise and jumping into my Grandpa’s car for an epic adventure – the treasure hunt of yard saling (and is it saling or sale-ing – i’m not sure!)

My Grandpa Joe made this regular, common activity feel like an epic adventure. It all started with stopping at McDonald’s or Winchell’s if I was lucky. We’d go over the paper and at one point, he had a laminated map of Tulare, California. He had it ALL MAPPED OUT. The best places, how early we needed to get there. He would narrate the adventure of course, getting you amped up, and there was not more exciting than having the job of being “the lookout” for a good yard sale sign – one that wasn’t on the map. He’d turn the car so fast, you’d think you were chasing a wild animal down.

But my Grandpa turned pretty competitive the moment a yard sale was in sight. He’d trash talk about how he would get the best deals and not to get in his way. He’d even park you right next to a bush to slow you down as he sped walk over to the driveway where the goods were spread out.

I would giggle as I stumbled out of the car to race him – teasing him to not take anything I wanted.

We would arrive back at his house, where I was told ‘Now don’t get me in trouble with Grandma. She don’t like me going to yard sales.” And sure enough, she’d tease him “Joe – what in the world. You did not need another tool box!” He would respond with a long winded reason why he did, you always need more tool boxes, for all the new tools he is going to get from the next yard sale after all.

My Grandma Ima Jean would have a spread out for sandwiches (she always had the best sandwich bar spread with pickles (this is the best way to store pickles btw), olives, Cool Ranch Doritos, BBQ Chips, and if we were lucky – pie!)

Childhood bliss – watching my grandparents flirt and fuss about yard sales and pies, while I ate a sandwich at their kitchen bar. https://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/gms/d/mesa-huge-yard-sale/7716796045.html

I don’t know that I purposely did this, but every fundraiser for our adoption has brought up sweet memories of my childhood. Memories I hope to pass down to our child. I hope to tell them about how we held the largest yard sale EVER because people loved on us in such a big way and donated so much more than we ever could have imagined.

I can’t wait to tell our kiddo how my Grandpa Joe called me this last week to ask about what kind of stuff I was having at the yard sale and how, maybe he could shop from Texas and my parents could bring him some good stuff on their upcoming trip to visit them.

In the back ground, I could hear my grandma – “Now, Joe!”