Lesson from an estate sale

   This weekend, my siblings and I will be having an estate sale at the house that had been home for my parents for 49 years. We've been going through the stuff since February.   It's been a roller coaster of emotions as memories of my parents resurfaced. 
   If you watch the show "American Pickers", you'll have an idea of what we faced.  There's been the dismaying discovery of items that have decayed to the point of uselessness, 3 dumpsters full so far.  On the other hand, there have been some very cool surprises: documents that pertain to our parent's and grandparent's immigration from Holland in 1956, familiar pictures that have been rediscovered, and newspaper clippings that have introduced me to aspects of my parent's lives that I didn't know.
   Pop never threw anything away that could be used again.  And he picked up things that other people threw away that he felt could be used later.  ie: In the corner of the basement, hung an WWII uniform and the Honorable Discharge papers that had belonged to a neighbor.  I called his grand-niece and offered it back to the family.  It turns out that without the discharge papers, he had been ineligible to be recognized as a Veteran.  This was the first year that a flag was placed on his grave on Memorial day!    We have no idea why that uniform was in Pop's basement, but what we do know, is that now it's home.
   Mom was an avid reader and  a linguist.  She spoke fluent Dutch, French, German, and English and got by with Spanish and American Sign Language. The house is full of books, in all those languages.  There's even a Bible in Chinese and several books in  Hebrew.  Who knew?
   As I've worked at getting ready for this sale,  I've had time to think about end of my life.  What will be left when I leave this life?  Stuff? or will I leave a legacy in the lives that I've touched?

   Matthew 6:19-21 ¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.