Good Idea, Questionable Decision

Almost a year ago, some close friends were looking to hold a garage sale to raise money for their pending adoption.  They live in a townhouse not too far from JPug and me but it wasn’t a great place to hold the type of grand-scale garage sale they were hoping for.  Our subdivision holds a neighborhood garage sale each spring that gets a decent amount of traffic and we weren’t looking to sell many (if any) items ourselves so we offered up our garage and driveway for their cause.

They collected items from friends, family members and complete strangers both near and far…enough that the collection completely consumed our entire three-car garage, except for the two spaces where we park our cars.  As JPug and I perused the house to find items to donate, we settled on a couch and armoire (among other things) from one of our extra bedrooms.  Our line of thinking was pretty simple, the couch and armoire which turned the extra bedroom into an ever-ready Wii room would eventually be a nursery.  The opportunity presented itself to help our friends sell bigger-ticket items while getting the items out of the house without having to load them a truck and drive somewhere to donate.  As long as our friends could get the items out of the room and down the stairs…they were free to sell them to the highest bidder.  The items did sell that day along with many others that provided a huge boost to the couple's adoption fund.  JPug and I truly couldn't have been happier for our friends.

Fast forward nearly a year and the once ever-ready Wii room is a heartbreaking shell on the 2^nd floor of our home.  Completely empty…it's a constant reminder of our unsuccessful process.  I’ve had the door closed for months and rarely go in the room unless I have to.  Hopefully one day it will be filled with fresh paint, a crib and a growing baby but for now it’s out of sight and more often than not, out of mind.  At the time of the sale, I had no idea what the process had in store for us and didn't think twice about donating the items.  Looking back, I can't say I would do anything differently but I'd be lying if I said the emotions tied to the room weren't painful.