Thursday, July 23, 2015

Six Sentence Story: In the Trunk

It was really the back of a minivan, but she called it the trunk, having grown up with that terminology; she really thought of it as a great big rolling purse.

It was always crammed with something, the tools of her housekeeping trade, reusable shopping bags, books or magazines picked up from the Monday lady (meaning the one she cleaned for on Mondays) who was going through her collection and getting rid of them and wanted her to take them to the donation center, cat litter and a spare cat carrier, sometimes groceries, all crammed together in a higgle-piggle even when she tried to separate and keep it in some semblance of order.

Today she pulled the beat-up old Jalopy (as she called it) into the parking lot where Pastor M would have a church service for the homeless and opened the trunk to retrieve the usual donation of oranges she brought to put in the bags each person attending would receive, but she also got out something extra special.

The Thursday lady had been going through her dress collection that included designer dresses and formals and was sending most of them to a resale shop.  Two were not the type the shop would accept, so she gave them, as she did all of her children's cast off clothing, to the housekeeper to be brought to this parking lot so that someone in need could use them.

Two very nice young ladies, whose families could never have afforded such dresses, would not have to miss their proms, just because they lived at the homeless shelter.

The lousy lighting in my bathroom doesn't do it justice!

The skirt is longer than it looks, tucked under the top, and it is intricately beaded.

Linking up with Uncharted Blog and Six Sentence Stories.



Today is

Berne Swiss Days Festival -- Berne, IN, US (Swiss food, dancing, yodeling, a stein-toss, and lots more family fun; through Saturday)

Birthday of Emperor Haili Selassi I -- Rastafari

Blessing of the Waters and Oyster Festival -- Whitstable, Kent, England (ceremony at Reeves Beach dating back to 1657, this event is held to appease the cruel seas and give thanks for its bounty; it marks the beginning of the community's annual Oyster Festival, which runs through Sunday)

Calgary Folk Music Festival -- Calgary, AB, Canada (one of Calgary's biggest and most fun festivals; through Sunday)

Emperor Haile Selassi I birthday -- Rastafari

Falconry Festival -- Haouaria, Tunisia (three days of celebrating the art of falconry, with breeders from around the world)

Flag Day -- Abkhazia

Gorgeous Grandma Day -- a day to celebrate those who age, date, and mate in style!

Great Texas Mosquito Festival -- Clute, Texas, US (Annual salute to the fact that if you can't beat 'em, and when it's mosquitoes, you can't, you might as well celebrate 'em.  There's something for all ages, including the Skeeter Beaters Baby Crawl, a Mosquito calling contest, and a Mr. & Mrs. Mosquito Legs Contest, plus games, rides, carnival food, and more; through Saturday)

Hot Enough For Ya Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays as the only day on which you may utter these words; any other day, and you will get high fived on the back of the head!;)

Lumberjack World Championships -- Hayward, WI, US (the world's greatest lumberjacks face off in the "Olympics of the Forest"; through Saturday)

Mayan Sun Festival -- honoring Ahau Kin, the sun god, date approximate

National Vanilla Ice Cream Day

Neptunalia and Salcia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god and goddess of the ocean and wide seas, celebrates Neptune in his role as god of irrigation)

Private Eye Day -- internet generated

Quilt Odyssey 2015 -- Hershey, PA, US (national quilt competition, through Sunday)

Remembrance Day -- Papua New Guinea

Renaissance Day -- Oman (celebrates the accession of Qaboos bin Said Al Said, 14th Sultan of Oman)

Revolution Day -- Egypt

St. Apollinaris' Day (Patron against epilepsy, gout; of Aachen, Germany; Burtscheid, Germany; Düsseldorf, Germany; Ravenna, Italy; Remagen, Germany)

St. Bridget of Sweden's Day (Patron of widows; Europe; Sweden)

St. Phocas the Gardener's Day (Patron of agricultural workers, boatmen, farm workers, farmers, field hands, gardeners, husbandmen, mariners, market-gardeners,sailors, watermen)

Warei Shrine Summer Festival -- Warei Shrine, Uwajima City, Japan (through tomorrow, includes "bull-sumo", a non fatal type of bull fighting, where the bulls try to push each other out of the ring)

Whitstable Oyster Festival -- Whitstable, Kent, England (celebrating the areas famed and protected oysers, Ostrea edulis; through August 2)


Anniversaries Today

Prince Andrew, Duke of York marries Sarah Ferguson, 1986
Coronation of King Mohammed VI of Morocco, 1999


Birthdays Today

Daniel Radcliffe, 1989
Michelle Williams, 1980
Omar Epps, 1975
Nomar Garciapara, 1973
Marlon Wayans, 1972
Charisma Carpenter, 1970
Philip Seymour Hoffman, 1967
Eriq La Salle, 1962
Woody Harrelson, 1961
Lamont "ShowBoat" Robinson, 1961
Edie McClurg, 1951
Belinda Montgomery, 1950
Don Imus, 1940
Nicholas Gage, 1939
Ronny Cox, 1938
Anthony M. Kennedy, 1936
Don Drysdale, 1936
Bert Convy, 1933
Arata Isozaki, 1931
Gloria DeHaven, 1925
Amalia Rodrigues, 1920
Harold "Pee Wee" Reese, 1918
Arthur Treacher, 1894
Haile Selassie I, 1892
Raymond Chandler, 1888
Samuel Augustus Maverick, 1803


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha! Ha!"(Single release), 1966
"The Gene Autry Show"(TV), 1950


Today in History

William Austin Burt patents the Typographer, a precursor to the typewriter, 1829
The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union, 1840
The Federation Internationale de Gymnastique, the world's oldest international sport federation, is founded, 1881
The Ford Motor Company sells its first car, 1903
Fox Film buys the patents of the Movietone sound system for recording sound onto film, 1926
Telstar  relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite, 1962
The International Whaling Commission decides to end commercial whaling within 4 years, 1982 *
Air Canada Flight 143 runs out of fuel and makes a deadstick landing at Gimli, Manitoba, 1983
Comet Hale-Bopp is discovered, 1995
Cape Verde becomes the 153rd member of the World Trade Organization, 2008
Patent law disputes between Samsung and Apple deadlock as the dispute addresses valuation of each other's patents, 2012


*Don't I wish that had worked!

15 comments:

  1. Quite a different take... enjoyed it!

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  2. ahhhh. True story! Love that! I have a feeling the trunk of my car would give yours a run for the money! Its a treasure trove of junk on its way to other homes!

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  3. You are terrific. Love what you do for others.

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  4. I love this. What a great story indeed. You did an excellent job.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  5. "Hot Enough For Ya Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays as the only day on which you may utter these words; any other day, and you will get high fived on the back of the head!;)" It's 8 degrees C here on the Isle of Lewis in the UK. Yes, it's summer. You'll get more than high fived if you say that to me today!

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  6. Love your story. You get a virtual high five for doing such a good job on your story and by helping others.

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  7. Glad to hear that, at least in this story, two girls won't miss the prom due to this woman's generosity.

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  8. Giving is a most satisfying way to live ones life. I loved this story.

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  9. What a nice story! Our school has a Fairy Godmother program where girls can donate their used prom dresses and girls who can't afford to buy one can pick one out for free.

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  10. I can so easily imagine the sparkle in two girls eyes as for once they got to have something very special, all because of one woman's generosity and another's desire to repurpose and help those in need! Bless you for all you do, Mimi!

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  11. oohhhh - pretty pink!!! my daughters would love that one. that was a nice story :)

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  12. The trunk is like a treasure box.

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  13. True stories like this make the heart happy!

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