A Dead Woman’s Hat

For the estate sale, I arrived at about 9:30AM which is 30 minutes after the estate sale started. It has been a long time since I have been at one of these. The last one was in Wilmington, NC where I got an empire couch stuffed with real horse hair and my dad got a German coo-coo clock. Time passes and memories fade, I look at this event with fresh eyes as if I have never done this before. The house is located in a residential neighborhood on Von Phister Street.

I walk into a beautifully architected but tremendously run-down house, cluttered with all sorts of everyday items, perfectly displayed and priced to sale. I wonder who has lived here and what is their story? As any modern wanderer would do, I check in with Zillow and the app tells me: an “Amazing opportunity in Key West! This mid-century home is 9510 sq feet lot in a prime Mid-Town West location.” The house is priced at 1.7 million US dollars and Zillow pictures look way better than what I am seeing here today. But I agree that for someone in-the-money and with a vision, this would be a spectacular property complemented with a lanai and a tropical pool.

As I step around the clutter avoiding eager shoppers jockeying for interesting finds, I realize that I am walking into some dead person’s life. I am speculating that a couple lived here at this address and for a very long time. I am further assuming that as they gotten older, they no longer paid as much attention to the structure (it definitely needs a face lift), but they continued to accumulate stuff, so much stuff – stuff everywhere!

Based on the items that the shoppers are sifting through, I ascertain that it was an elderly couple that lived here for a while and the husband was a military man – I support this guess because I am looking at a white US Navy hat.  I also guess that the husband “went” first. The Navy hat is carefully protected in a glass case giving it an air of respect but there are no other manly items around the house. Conversely, female items are spilling all over … stuff … stuff – stuff everywhere!

I step into a walk-in closet full of dresses, sweaters and hats, two eager women are trying things on. What a strange feeling to be in a dead woman’s closet and to observe others trying on her clothes! I look upon a shelf and grab a couple black hats. I try them on and look in a mirror, they are nice and only $3 each. So here I am taking someone’s memory with me, a piece of someone’s life, a Dead Woman’s Hats.