I did manage to get to the thrift store yesterday.  Whew!!  I was having some sort of withdrawal, I don’t realize how much I miss it until I’m not able to get there.  

I found American Eagle skinny cords size 6, a Lawrence Steele top ~ made in Italy (New designer for me).  A Young Versace cape for my youngest, Samantha.  Yes this fall my 7yr old will be wearing Versace, lol.  I find that highly amusing.  The cape was new and less than 10.00 :).  A Moda International tan hooded sweater in a size Large, Oh and an Escada button up top for me.  I LOVE Escada the fit is wonderful and no way could I afford it if it weren’t for finding that name in the thrift.  The new finds haven’t found they’re way to my website yet but if you’re interested in anything feel free to contact me here or at http://nayaudo.com.  

On to the other parts of my life.  Being a Christian is a huge part.  I love the Lord.  I am amazed daily that Jesus died for us.  I’m also amazed at how God works.  I know there are people who don’t accept Jesus as their Savior or even believe in God.  I was probably one of those people not too long ago.  I mean I grew up knowing that Jesus died for us, to save us from our sins, but I didn’t “get it”  If you’re a Christian and reading this you’ll understand what I’m saying.  If you’re not I’ll try to explain that I didn’t fully appreciate (understatement) the depth of Christ’s love for us, the love of The Son and the love of The Father for us.  Christ lived a sinless life and died a horrible, terrible, painful death so that we could stand in his righteousness and be recognized by The Father as one of his own.  It can leave you breathless.

I know many people have testimonies, I love hearing them.  I have a few as well.  My most recent one is about this past year.  I was diagnosed with clinical depression.  I fought the recommendation to take medication until I realized I was in a scary place and no matter how much I prayed or hid in church that I needed something and some people that God himself led me to.

About 3 years ago a therapist who worked with our son Thomas in the past called me out of the blue.  She was looking for special needs contacts/phone numbers on Staten Island and Brooklyn and called me. I hadn’t spoken to “N” in about 6 years.  I gave her what I had, we chatted and caught up and she told me if I ever needed her to call her.  I always like N.

Fast forward 2 years.  Thomas is falling apart due to medication changes that were necesarry for his physical health.  He was in and out of the psych hospital and we couldn’t find a new medication to prevent his behavior from escalating.  Then his out patient psychiatrist tells me he took a position to be on staff at a hospital in NYC and couldn’t see Thomas anymore.  He recommended another psychiatrist to treat Thomas, “Dr. L”.  I was confidently told by the previous doctor that Dr. L could absolutely treat Thomas.

Dr.L was very nice and extremely compassionate in treating Thomas but unfortunately we had exhausted most medication options and residential school was the safest option.  In the meantime I was spiraling into depression due to the constant strain and stress of trying to keep everything and everyone together.  I was desperately searching for a therapist.  No one would call me back.  I couldn’t understand it for the life of me.  One woman did call me back…a week later.  A week later!!  I was so mad I told her to forget it that I called her a week ago.  

I tried seeing a counselor from chuch but it didn’t work out.  One afternoon as Thomas was being discharged from another hospital admission I called N for advice on handling the residential portion of Thomas’ schooling.  We discussed things and I told N I wasn’t doing very well.  She mentioned something about meeting for coffee, I asked her why would we do that?  N answered, “Menay I thought you needed a therapist? ”  I jumped up off my couch and almost yelled, “I do need a therapist!!!!”  N is now my therapist.

After a disastrous appointment with a family physician who it seemed couldn’t wait to prescribe me anti depressants after speaking with me all of 5 minutes I decided to call Dr. L and ask him if he would treat me.  He said yes.  Dr. L is now my doctor.

I firmly believe with all I am that God placed those people in my life to help me.  He put them right in front of me so I would trip over them and they have both helped me tremendously.  God is amazing.  He’s amazing that He gives you what you NEED.    Even when I need to find Escada at the thrift 😉  

It’s summer time so unless my younger girls suddenly develop a thrill for the thrift I’ll be limited on my trips to my various favorite stores   It’s not like I need to go, I do have plenty in my wardrobe to keep me properly clothed for most occasions, I even have inventory to sell. (http://nayaudo.com) but I still LOVE to go.  You seriously never know what will be there just waiting to be discovered.  I miss getting lost in the racks, going through each item hoping the next will be a hidden treasure.  Ok…I must stop 🙂

 

Instead I shall talk about my husband.  I love him,  I’m not afraid to say it to him or to anyone else.   We’ve been together since we were 17 years old.  High school sweethearts if you will.  I met Tommy when he was sitting on the stoop of a local store.  It was a Sunday in the Spring.  He was trying to change the shoelaces on his sneakers by burning off the old ones.  They were tied together so much they kept breaking  I asked, “Do you always burn off your shoelaces?”  He looked up at me and I remember almost swooning at his green eyes which were bright green against his olive toned Italian-American skin.

 

Tommy answered, “No, I had to tie them together”.   I think we made small talk I don’t really remember.  I just remember those eyes.

 

The following September, Tommy started attending the same high school as me.  He was asking around for “Menay”, however I went from being a brunette to a blonde.  Tommy is describing me to people  and everyone is saying, “Yes I know her, she’s blonde, white leather jacket…” and Tommy is correcting them saying I had brown hair.  (But seriously now, how many Menays are there??) Finally, Tommy’s best friend yelled at him that brown hair Menay and blonde Menay were in fact the same person :).  

 

We became fast friends, we enjoyed each other’s company so much and we laughed.  He could always make me laugh.  Tommy used to draw comic strips of all his friends.  I had a starring role in quite a few.  In fact in one comic, Tommy declared he would marry me.   I dated other guys, he dated other girls but we still remained friends.  We were afraid to date each other for fear we would ruin our friendship if things didn’t work out.  Finally we just went for it and got together and became a couple.  We had the usual teen angst break ups and “I need space” baloney most very young couples go through.   Looking back it’s so silly.  Only now do we look at each other and shake our heads.  

 

We dated until we were 23 years old then Tommy proposed.  In front of The Christmas Tree at Rockerfeller Center.  Of course I said yes.  We were engaged for two years until I graduated college, we were married on November 12, 1995.  And the rest as they say is history.  

 

 

 

 

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am a married SAHM to 4 children, the oldest is special needs.  My Thomas will be 17yrs old very soon and has a multitude of diagnosis’.  First off, it blows my mind that I am the mother of a 17 year old young man.  Thomas is the main reason I am who I am today.  He changed me.  He changed me for the better and in that respect I wouldn’t change my life but I would change his if that could be possible.  I would want him to have every experience every other 17 year old would have, but then again God didn’t want or plan it this way so I need to embrace all the experiences he has had and will have in his life.  My son is loved by the staff at his school and truely liked by his peers as well.  If that isn’t wonderful and a blessing I don’t know what is.

Thomas does not live at home, he attends a residential school.  Residential means he lives there.  Again, this wasn’t in mine or my husband’s plans, but it was/is God’s plan.  I believe that with all my heart.

Before we arrived at the point where we had to decide that a residential school was the best option for Thomas and our family, Thomas was my yardsale/thrift buddy.  We had a great time finding and searching around yard sales together.  Back then my girls weren’t too interested in yard sales (even today 2 out of 3 girls still aren’t thrilled with the thrift~go figure).  Thomas would always ask, “What do they have at the yard sale Mom??”.  I’d give him my standard answer, “You never know what we’ll find, right Tom?  It’s a yard sale not a store”.  And he would nod in agreement.  We had a quiet peaceful time together.  Usually the people hosting the various yard sales would recognize that Thomas is special needs and fall over themselves to give him whatever he was looking at, no matter what that item was.  Even if I protested they would insist.  It was sweet and my son always said “Thank you”.

I haven’t even touched on what an enabler my son is.  Anything I picked up and looked interested in Thomas would come right next to me, “You gonna buy that Mom?  Mom that’s nice!!  You should buy that!  You gonna buy that?”.  You couldn’t help but smile and lightly laugh as many times at a yard sale you pick up things just to figure out what they are, not necessarily to buy them.  I would quietly answer, “No Tom…I’m just looking, we don’t have to buy everything….I don’t need one of those”  This scenario was the same if we were in a thrift store, church bazaar, Goodwill, flea market, etc…

I miss these time with him but I’m thrilled to have the memories and to have a son who loved the thrift as much as I do.

Hmmmm, I often ask myself that, “Why do you adore the thrift?”  Sometimes it’s difficult to answer especially when I’m in the mall with my daughters and I’m bombarded by all the new, lovely clothes lined up so nicely all according to color and size unlike most thrift stores where shopping can literally be a treasure hunt some days.  Then it hits me, I adore the treasure hunt.  I love getting lost in the search.  It is a version of therapy for me to shut out the outside world and get lost in the thrift.  My oldest daughter once said to me, “Mom!  Have you seen your face when you’re going through the racks??”  I had to laugh because of course I haven’t seen my face, lol!  Apparently I’m quite serious and intense, I’ve had a close friend say the same on a different occasion.  

I know the thrift isn’t for everyone.  I’ve noticed many people don’t have the patience to scour the racks or they are simply not happy in that environment.  That’s ok~serously because I’m very happy there and I’m also more than happy to do the searching for you, just let me know what you’re looking for.  I have no problem hiding a squeal when I find that vintage Coach bag (just this past Saturday) or that pair of Diesel jeans (again, this past Saturday, size 30 by the way).  I’ve got a great poker face only when it comes to the thrift.  Any other time I’m an open book ;).  Call, text or email me we need to talk about what you need me to find.  In the meantime check out my website.  The inventory changes every few days.  www.Nayaudo.com