Memories ~
From Falls Church to Kilmarnock
© 2007 Abilini's Computer Services
Reincarnation of Eloise (2001)
Both
of my parents passed away in the year 2000. First my father in September and
then my mother two months later in November. After my mother’s funeral, family
gathered at mom and dad’s house and we reminisced about the many things that had
happened over the years. There were a lot of fun times and of course a few sad
times. Eventually, we had to have an ‘estate sale’ in order to get rid of the
items that no one in the family wanted. Most of the good furniture had already
been earmarked by mom for a specific member of the family (mom physically wrote
each child’s name on the back of each piece of furniture). The family was given
first option to buy the items not earmarked from the estate. Some of the items,
which were ear-marked or bought by the family, were: a red velvet couch, a blue
velvet love seat, a leather recliner, and a small convertible couch. A couple
items not bought, but rather sold, were: a plaid covered sofa, a converted
player piano (converted to be a regular piano) and several prints of various
birds and flowers.
In 2001, after officially inheriting the main house (you know lawyers take their
own sweet time), I cleaned it up, repainted the entire inside of the house,
purchased new appliances and put the house on the market (for rent, that is). I
received several offers, but most just couldn’t afford $1000 per month rent.
Then I got a call from a couple from Rhode Island. They were very interested, so
I created a webpage, documenting the entire inside and outside of the house,
describing the things that needed to be described, such as the fact that the
house has an apartment in which I live on weekends and that I would handle all
of the landscaping around the house, which included cutting the grass (7 acres
is a lot to cut). They wanted to come to see it, so I asked, “when are you
planning to come down from Rhode Island?" The reply wasn’t expected: “oh, we are
visiting my parents in Virginia Beach, we can be there tomorrow.” So, after a
brief pause, I suggested they come by in the morning and they could spend as
much time as they wanted, checking out the place. They arrived around 10 am,
and, after a 30-minute tour, they signed the lease and provided both the first
and last month’s rent. They planned on moving in September of 2001.
September 2001 arrived and while I was cutting the grass around the house, a
moving van came down the driveway and parked in front of the house. I waved to
the new tenants, Mr. and Mrs. Hinch, and the movers were directed into the
house. I continued cutting the grass when I noticed what was being brought into
the house: a red velvet couch, a blue velvet love seat, a leather recliner, and
a small convertible couch (looked like the same fabric, too). And when I saw not
one but two plaid covered sofas, I almost ran the lawn mower into the side of
the garage! I thought to myself, “Mom is back!” I laughed and finished cutting
around the house, and then I went into my apartment and had to call my sister,
Mary, to tell her about the items that were just moved into the house. She
didn’t believe me, until I sent her pictures!
The Hinches invited me in and showed me where they were planning to put their
furniture. They put the velvet couches and love seat in the exact same place in
the house as where mom had hers. The recliner went into the same location as
dad’s, and to my surprise, they put the convertible couch in the same place too!
I told them about the items that were sold or taken by the kids in our family,
and even told them about the prints. Then my tenants showed me the dining room -
I nearly fainted. Everything was the same as moms, right down to the picture
prints, hanging on the wall. Fortunately, they put their piano in a different
place but it was close to the same size as the one we sold.
As it turned out, and they pointed it out to me…. The picture prints on the
dining room wall were in the house when they moved in. I said, “I thought they
looked familiar.”