While visiting my mother in Garden Grove CA I was introduced to her neighbor across the street. We did a lot of tourist things together and I was confident my mother was in good hands with a good neighbor if the need arose. A few weeks after my return to Texas, he called me and asked if I wanted to come back and help him pack up both of his houses. He was moving now that his lover, guy friend had died, and didn’t want to have to deal with it. He flew me in, I stayed at Mom’s across the street and in two weeks one home and a cottage were packed up, cleaned up, and ready for the moving trucks. As we waited for the arrival of the truck, he looked at me and said, Connie, you can have whatever you want.
To say the least I was stunned! Having packed up these remarkable collections gathered from the world travels of a famous musical couple, just WOW.
My mother had it crated, and shipped to my ranch in Texas. Not long after, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer, which is rare and has a low survival rate. I eventually lost my ranch because I was so sick from chemotherapy and radiation I could not function, much less work for income. These beautiful pieces went into storage until I could land myself right side up. It took over 5 years, and I have moved numerous times and lost almost everything in the battle to live. But I did it. 6 years later I am in a small condo, in Michigan, caring for my 86-year-old father who has advanced Dementia.
I don’t know much about the couple that collected these items. I know he was a jazz clarinetist who traveled through Germany to perform with various groups and solo events. I could not find anything while googling, since I don’t know their names. I also know that the wife dealt with breast cancer because I found many articles clipped regarding promising research. I believe it was she who dabbled in collecting these beautiful items during their world travels. And even perhaps, these were meant to land with me, given my own personal experience with breast cancer.
Included in the collection are hundreds of pewter pieces, numerous pepper grinders, some with and without the matching salt shaker, nutcrackers, and the most beautiful custom table and bench set made of old church pews you will ever see.
I also picked up a unique collection of vinyl records from the mid-80s I found at a Texas place that I flipped. I suspect the previous owner was a DJ as these are not the average records. Some are 45s and some are 7 inches, those are also featured here.