My brother posted this on Facebook on Thursday and I shared it:
Art Van has been close to my Parents’ house for my whole life! My Dad used to read in the paper about the annual tent sale in the summer and he would ask my Mom if she wanted to go on a date. He was taking her to Art Van to eat free hotdogs at the tent sale. He always told us that one year, instead of hot dogs, they had bratwursts.
I think my Mom went with him once and they ended up buying furniture. My Dad always went to the tent sale by himself after that. My Mom came with me to buy furniture for Sean and my first and our second apartments. I still have the same furniture some 15 years later! Well, it’s paid for!
I still have the same couches and they are beginning to wear because Sean is grown now but I’ve never sat one them. I have the same dining room set and Charlotte is the only broken one chair. Hi purchased my bedroom set when we moved into our second apartment and I am currently trying to sell it on Letgo because it doesn’t work out for a disabled person anymore.
My Mom was bummed out to hear that they were closing but neither one of us have any money to buy closeout furniture at the liquidation sale. As if she handed me my tea, I asked her, “ Where are you going to go on dates, now?!“. She smiled slightly as she thought about my Dad and the tons sale.