A Failed Yard Sale Saved Me $1,500 - By Guest Blogger Jessica Anzai

We are proud to welcome our first guest blogger, Jessica Anzai, to the Nipco Nation blog! We strive to share everyday women's stories - the good, the bad, the ugly and the hilarious. Jessica is a Bra in a Box customer turned online friend and was graciously willing to share a touching experience she had in her life following the passing of her mother:

I tried selling a baking tin for .15 cents at a yard sale last spring. It didn’t sell. I was trying to clean my garage out, since I had just moved everything from my aunt’s storage in central California. Time for spring cleaning. A ton of stuff was my mom’s, back when we lived in a mobile home. The yard sale proved that a lot of stuff was junk, and I ended up only walking away with about 60 bucks. The baking tin, along with other leftovers, were thrown in a box and sat in the corner of our garage for the next 10 months.

Last week, my husband and I decided to work on the garage again. We bought a shelving unit at Lowe’s and lugged it home. While I was prioritizing which containers were honored enough to have a spot on the shelf, my husband was throwing away the yard sale stuff from the year before. He picked up the baking tin and tossed me a stiff dirty sock.

“What’s this?” he asked.

I slowly pulled a gallon-sized plastic bag out of the black sock. In the bag was a foil rectangle. I unwrapped the foil and found a paper folded tightly around an envelope.

And in the envelope was $1,570.

Tears started streaming down my face as I picked up the letter and read it out loud:

“to Diane,

You are so dear and special to our hearts! Please accept this gift from the raffle.

We love you, Dolores + the rest of the JCF gang.”

Back in 2011, my mom had to leave work due to her cancer. When she came back, her fellow employees from John C. Freemont hospital surprised her with some money to help her out. I had no idea this happened. She just kept it hidden in her kitchen in her mobile home, tucked away in a sock in one of her baking tins. And it stayed there for seven years, and I almost sold it at a yard sale for .15 cents.

I called Dolores later that day and heard her story and side of things. I am so thankful that my mom’s friends were there during the hardest time of her life.

There will be no more yard sales for awhile. And as for cleaning the garage…my husband and I are now more motivated than ever! ~