No more spider walking

This is the "spider-walk" wall.  The best wall in our house for doing our favorite gymnastics trick.  

But today I went across the street to our neighbor's estate sale.  We hadn't seen her much in the couple of years that we've lived in this house.  When we met her for the first time she just smiled and smiled at all the girls, but didn't really have words to say.  Today I went looking through all her lovely things and came upon this.

Every room was packed with her old dishes, clothes, enough fabric to open a shop, and a very large number of mustard colored swivel recliners.  I spied the legs of this bench hiding underneath her old silk blouses and vintage shoes.
And as soon as I saw it I thought, "It belongs on the spider-walk wall."  It could probably stand to be re-cushioned under the fabric, but the fabric itself is in great condition.  So there she sits, prohibiting the spider-walkers.

Looking back through someone's life is a bitter and sweet thing.  She had a dozen ornate lamps.  Rooms just overflowing with quilts and afghans.  Things precious to her that she probably made with her own hands.  And little by little, swarms of people come rummaging through, taking bits and pieces of her collected life.  It all tells a story of a precious lady who eventually could only smile and couldn't find her words.  I'm excited about my bench.  But I also feel it's worthlessness.  How quickly our collections will scatter.  Even our minds become scattered.  Our lives are a vapor.
I wanted to cry for her, going through her lovely scarves and necklaces.  Hmmm, sorry, must be an emotional week. :)

Anyway, she was a precious lady and I have her beautiful bench.