2 Days Before D(eparture) Day: Salvation Army, Parties & Cherries

We brought all the furniture down so that it would be ready for pick up.



The Salvation Army came this morning to pick up the furniture that we did not ship to Hawaii and was not sold at the house sale. We were a bit worried that they would not pick up everything because we had so much. Everyone told me that the Salvation Army is very selective and they were. They do not accept anything that is broken, torn, has animal fur or is bleached by the sun. Everything we had was accepted except for our antique sofa because the backside was sun bleached. Ah well... our daughter and little KC can use it until they send it out for bulk pick up or give it away.


The cherries are ripening as we get ready to leave. I was so happy to pick some to give to a friend of mine who is a wonderful cook.

The afternoon was spent at our little "Girlfriends Club" (teachers) retirement party for reading specialist, Carole. It was a party Martha Stewart would approve of; everything beautiful and coordinated and creative at Fran's house. I was extremely impressed. Most important was seeing everybody one last time before we leave. I feel like I've spent a lifetime with these friends. We reminisced about our good times, our hurts, our laughter, our friendship. As Gerri dropped me off at my house, her tears nearly undid me. She said, "I guess you shouldn't cry because it's good bye but smile for having had our friendships happen."

I told her that it's probably part of my Asian upbringing that won't allow me show my tears very easily. When I visited my grandmother in Japan for the first time during a college trip, she told me that when she sent her daughters away after the war because they were unable to support them, she didn't cry and kept a stoic face but in the privacy of her own home, she clutched their used kimonos to her chest and cried until there were no more tears left. The time for my tears will come later...