Many generous people in our community drop off donated items at my home. Don’t even always know who is doing the dropping. Could be clothes, household decor, toys or linens.
They do this because it helps them clear out their homes. And they also want to help others in the process.
My friends and I will send the donations to the refugee center. Or we will sell the items at our frequent garage sales with the proceeds supporting the refugee center and its programs.
It’s not always junk. Just things people no longer need or want.
Sometimes I receive things and I’m not even sure what they are.
There was the time my friend and I put aside a “camera lens” to see if her friend’s son would be interested in buying it. He was a photography buff.
We handled the lens more than once. I said to her, “It just seems so light.”
She agreed.
I think it was my daughter who finally set us straight. It wasn’t a lens but a coffee cup designed to look like a camera lens. LOL. You can google images.
I’ve had a few chuckles sifting through the boxes over the years. Like the time my friend, Lone, sent over some bags. She was donating a beach towel of mine!
My other friend received bags from two different families and found two shirts of her son’s and one of hers.
We’ve gotten valuable gold jewelry donated by mistake.
The sorting of it all can be overwhelming at times but it’s needed. Definitely needed.
One time I found a hand-written note. The donations were from a friend who was helping out a lady clear out her late husband’s belongings. I can’t remember if it was an expression of gratitude or what but I was glad I could return the note.
Or the photograph of my Australian friend and her daughter, who was a toddler at the time, taken when they lived in India.
Yesterday, a friend dropped off a bunch of bags in preparation for her move back to the U.S.
I sent her a text thanking her.
I also had to add, “And thanks for your son’s wallet loaded with Malaysian money as well as U.S. bills!”
You never know what you will discover.
This is where I veer off topic a bit.
I would later find out that while I came across this wallet my daughter had lost hers at school.
Called me from school to let me know. Was upset. The wallet had been our Christmas gift to her. So that bothered her but it was more about the contents. Which included her grandfather’s funeral card, a note from her Dad and photos of her loved ones.
We are pretty sure it’s been located so that’s good news. Waiting for confirmation.
But isn’t it strange that I found a wallet and my daughter lost hers at the very same time?
Weird.
Back to topic.
If you are donating items don’t forget to check those pockets. The pages. The bags. The everything.
Off topic.
If you do lose something-even if you aren’t Catholic-a prayer to St. Anthony won’t kill you.
When my daughter called to tell me about the wallet I said, “Say the prayer.”
She replied, “I will.”
I asked, “Do you know it? Say it out loud to me now.”
She said, “St. Anthony, St. Anthony, please come down. Something has been lost and must be found.”
I then let her off the hook. The telephone that is.
Hope you all find everything you are looking for this week!
JBM
Just Being Mary 