Meant To Be

I had a nagging feeling all morning to go to Lander to check out the thrift shop. I battled with myself. I rationalized that I really didn't need anything to justify driving 75 miles, yet the urge continued.

After eating lunch with a friend, I decided to make the drive. I arrived in Lander an hour before the thrift shop opened, so I wandered downtown. I found a fabulous knitting book, The Complete Book of Knitting, by Barbara Abbey in a second-hand book store for $3.00. Even though it is a 1971 copyright and the photos are black and white, it was bargain because it has directions for a lot of knitting stitches. I was happy as I continued meandering down Main Street.

I went into Neat Repeat and found three new skeins of yarn, listed as twenty-five cents a skein. That was a good deal, but the skeins were on sale for ten cents each. Wow, now I was really happy.

I ventured to the Methodist Church Thrift Shop: a great place that always has wonderful bargains. It is my kind of thrift shop - clean, well stocked, and reasonable prices. I found some spools of thread (10 cents each), an Eddie Bauer dress made out of sweatshirt fabric (it will be yummy for winter -- fifty cents). I was ready to check out when I looked at the bulletin board by the cashier.

The board listed the larger items in the storeroom. I was curious and asked to see the sewing machine. I have a Bernina, but I really hate to use it to make my rugs. The denim strips are hard on the machine, and I thought if I could only find a machine that simply sewed a straight stitch and a zigzag, it would be ideal.

In the dusty storage room the machine sat on a table. I slowly turned the machine around and looked it over.

Bobbin case, check.

Pressure feet, check.

Electric cord and foot pedal, check and check.

I cautiously asked how much they wanted for the machine, and the lady shyly replied, "Five dollars."

Hmmm, did the machine work? She assured me it had been checked. When I saw that the plastic grocery bag included needles, the cam case (yes, this machine uses cams to determine the decorative stitches), and instruction book. I told her I would take it. Since it was all there, I thought it was worth a gamble.

When I got home, I oiled the machine generously because it looked like it hadn't been used in years, threaded it, and held my breath as I stepped on the foot pedal. The machine hummed and produced a lovely, even stitch.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and this is the best gift I could have found for myself: it was simply meant to be.