…………..Jac and I were both collectors, and we have things we have purchased from all around the world. Things we loved…….However, there comes a time when you have to say enough……Everything we collected has a place….but….there are things that no longer worked…especially when we combined two apartments. Things had to go into storage. One of those things was a beautiful antique, farm house, hand painted hutch…. The solid hutch was made in one piece, and didn’t come apart! Jac and I decided to put the hutch into storage along with a “captain’s bar” from a ship. The bar belonged to her grandfather, her Mom’s dad, so it had great sentimental value, but it never really fit into our house. These pieces sat in storage for years along with racks of Linea samples. It was time for me to part with them. My family didn’t want them for one reason or another….mostly no room, or they didn’t work with their other furnishings…..Then I asked Angela and Chantal if they were interested? Angela said she would love to have it. It finally had a home……We set a date for her to pick it up. I told her it took me, my brother and his two strapping sons to get it out of my house and into the storage facility so she would need help. She said, “oh, Chantal and I can do it, we’re very strong!” I told her she was nuts!….The date was set, and she and Chantal drove up from PA in this large van/truck. I knew there was no way these two skinny girls and I could lift this thing onto a dolly let alone get it into a truck!!! I asked Lou and Franco if they would volunteer to help. They love the girls so they said yes….The five of us took off for the storage facility, with our masks on, and eventually managed to get this hulk of a hutch out and into the truck. We laughed so hard because we couldn’t keep the dolly straight going down the hall, and Franco was almost crushed!!!…..It almost tipped over!!….In spite of it all we actually had a great time!!…Then Franco and Lou had to get to work, and the three of us went to get something to eat. Of course the girls couldn’t go home empty handed so they filled bags with Linea samples I no longer wanted or needed. Plastic containers filled with sweaters from many different Linea collections were also piled into the back of the truck….Then off they went, with smiles on their faces, for their three hour trip back to PA….Angela sent photos of the hutch in her house…it looked great…..Eventually, I’ll empty the storage room enough to either down size or close it altogether….which is my plan……..The Captain’s Bar is still there!
