Four and a half years after Daniel's sudden passing, things about it still surprise me. Sometimes, I can't believe it happened, and I expect to enter his room and find everything as it was, as if the entire thing was a bad dream. Other times, I am surprised at how we continue to live our lives, almost as if he still travels with us, and is still a part of everything we do. Sometimes, it feels as if he and my father still are a part of everything we do here.
Yesterday was one of those days. Our daughter has wanted an oriental rug or two, in good condition, for her new home. Of course, as a new homeowner she can't afford, even with the great prices on oriental rugs in this economy, to go out and buy them new. She and I have, therefore, been watching Craigslist for them. It has been an exercise in patience as many of them are quite large, and still quite expensive. The day before yesterday, I found an ad on Craigslist about fifty miles from here from a family with seven reasonably priced small oriental rugs. I forwarded the link to my daughter who was excited, but who also had to work her second job yesterday. One of the things we have learned about Craigslist, is that if you want the item, you need to be available to proceed almost immediately.
With my daughter working, my eldest son and I called the seller, and arranged to travel there and arrive at about lunchtime. The traffic was far worse than we thought, but we still arrived just five minutes past when we had indicated. In short order, we bought all seven small rugs for a very good price, rolled them up and my son placed them in the backseat of my car.
The trip was sunlit and beautiful with all the Spring flowers in bloom. This is a trip Daniel would have enjoyed. My Dad would have appreciated oriental rugs so reasonably as a casualty of someone's simply redecorating ! Why, my father even had bookmarks like oriental rugs !
When we finally got home, I vacuumed the front and back, and aired them on the back deck railing, and readied them to give to my daughter today. She was very excited when we told her we went and got them, as she could not yesterday. She can use the ones she wants and then I will likely sell the remainder of them here. If she uses them all, that will be just fine. Once again, many of the things families need are possible without spending a fortune, especially for those who are willing to be patient, and are willing to do a little bit of work, in terms of travel. I am sure both Dad and Daniel would approve !
