Virginia Found Goods

06/05/2026

I glanced at the letters on top of my medicine cabinet. I felt like it told the story of my life. My initials are leaning on Marc’s. I always leaned on Marc. If I knew nothing else, I knew Marc would be there for me. When we were in high school, we were at his lake house in separate cars for whatever reason. We were on our way home and Marc followed behind me. I pulled out onto the road and the driver behind me quickly started tail gating me. I pulled over to let him go by but instead he pulled over behind me. He came up to my window and started yelling at me. I guess he thought I pulled out too close to him, which I did not imho. I said nothing because before I could even address him, Marc was tapping on his shoulder. The guy turned around and said to Marc “I don’t have a problem with you, I have a problem with her (pointing to me). Marc said “well I have a problem with you because that’s my girlfriend.” The guy couldn’t get back in his car fast enough. Marc was an ox, a wrestler and football player with a lot of Jersey sass. My heart just melted. That definitely contributed to feeling so safe for most of my life. I feel safe now because I feel like he is still looking out for me.
Since he’s been gone, I can’t tell you how many people told me they prayed for me and my family. Recently, some people told me they are still praying for me. Thank you so much. I feel it. It makes a difference. A few months ago, I wanted to stop breathing. I felt so lost and broken. Every moment felt heavy. Days seemed like they wouldn’t end. I did not know how I could possibly live without Marc. Grief is so mysterious, it gives and then takes away whenever it feels like it. But I’ve also realized that I’ve experienced pure love for many years. What a special gift. “Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all”.

06/01/2026

Some days you’re the statue and some days you’re the pigeon. My day started as the statue (you know, getting crapped on). Starting a project is a project in itself to just set up and gather the tools. I’ve been figuring out how to maneuver big furniture for quite some time so I know some tricks. While trying to move the huge table top onto a set of horses, the leg of the horse broke. Ugh!!!! I stayed calm, and was able to get the table down without injury, to me or the table. I fixed the horse and got the table top on them to continue my sanding project. I consider myself the pigeon now because I got my projects done. As much as I would have liked to leave the table alone, there was too much wear, and not the good kind.

06/01/2026

05/30/2026

I feel like I’ve got a lot to catch up on. I am really torn between sharing and staying quiet during this new reality part of my life. I’ve learned a lot in the crash course I’ve taken in grief. I’ve learned that I have a lot to learn. I use to be an open book. Now I don’t know how much to share. This is all new territory for me. I’ve learned I have a lot to be grateful for, starting with my kids and friends. I’ve heard so many people tell me they continue to pray for me. That has to be the reason I have any strength at all. I am also grateful that my love for vintage is alive and well. I was afraid it wouldn’t matter to me any more.
I spent the last few days with my friends Darlene and Becky in the Outer Banks at Darlene’s beautiful home. The Ocean definitely has healing properties, so does friends.
I would do anything to wake up tomorrow and find it was all just a nightmare. I didn’t know about this underground life of grief. Now that I am a member, I’ve met so many others. Hearing other’s grief has made me count my blessings. It’s made me cherish my relationship with Marc even more. Marc truly was the most amazing person I’ve even known. A real blessing to me was so many people got to know Marc and see him in action. Hearing stories, after his passing, about his generosity and acts of kindness makes me so happy. I can’t wait to see him again one day. ❤️

05/20/2026

05/18/2026

I have a fun “vintage” story. Over the weekend, we held our monthly market. I was working at the front counter and a lady brought a set of four French plates up to purchase. I fell in LOVE with them. The picture of them do not do them justice. They were manufactured by the French company Limoges circa 1880. I asked the vendor for as much information she knew about them. I jumped online to see if I could find them and I could only locate one plate and it wasn’t in great condition. About an hour after the customer left, she returned with a question about an item at Virginia Found Goods. I offered to trade the item (priced 3x more) for the plates. She decided to keep the plates. Ugh, I was out of luck, or so I thought. The next morning, I received a call from my friend Edwana . She said “you are not going to believe this but I just found a set of the French plates at the estate sale this morning!” I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT!! She generously offered to split them with me and even gave me first choice. I was just tickled. But wait, it gets better. Edwana and I were so excited about these magical dishes. Edwana told a mutual friend Lisa the story. Lisa responded with “wait”, and sent her a photo of yet another set of these dishes!!! I couldn’t find the dishes across the globe and it turned out three of my friends had their hands on them. This morning, a gang from WBV went to an estate sale together and then went out for breakfast. We were all glowing from the glory of fresh vintage finds. I collected the plates from my friends and they just plain made me happy. 😊 Vintage life just keeps giving. ❤️

04/22/2026

43 YEARS

As I pull into my garage, I am always greeted with a sweet sight, Marc’s Fat Boy. His helmet and boots still sit on the seat. That motorcycle was my bargaining chip to get Charlotte. A few years back, we were down in Panama City Beach at a Bike Rally. He wanted to buy a motorcycle. I made a deal. He gets a motorcycle and I get a French Bulldog. He got the bike and I got Char…..temporarily. After a couple weeks, Marc and Charlotte fell in love and she became his dog. It was okay with me because in loving Charlotte, I got to see Marc’s sensitive side. I miss seeing them together. He use to take Char everywhere, including on the motorcycle. She loved it. After one of his rides, he would announce to me that I better watch out because he was feeling very manly Haha. I guess that’s what people feel when they ride a Harley. He loved that bike. After one of our monthly markets at White Barn Vintage, a bunch of us went to . Marc was going to meet us there. He walked in with his leather motorcycle jacket as he removed his helmet. I felt like a school girl as he made me catch my breath. He looked so handsome. At the time, he had just started watching the series The Sons of Anarchy. He referred to them as “his brothers”.❤️ He convinced me to watch it with him. It’s the last series we watched together. I agreed to make a trip to Sturgis with him this year. We were going to meet “more of his brothers”. It was not to be.
Today marks what would have been our 43 wedding anniversary. I hope you are riding a Fat Boy with your brothers in heaven my precious Marc. ❤️

04/14/2026

04/14/2026

Sweet Violets Vintage and Artisan Market this weekend April 17-18.

04/09/2026

Three months

Today marks three months since the worse day of my life. It’s also what would have been my Dad’s 100th birthday.
I remember when Marc left for college. His mother would not let us go to the same college. He went to Wagner College in New York and I went to Union County College in Cranford, NJ for our Freshman year. The Goethals Bridge stood between us. I thought I was going to die. How was I going to continue on with Marc in New York and me in New Jersey. To be honest, it wasn’t easy. I missed him so much. I spent many nights crying myself to sleep. I went there as often as I could. But I was sick every time I had to go home. I just googled how far away he was, 14 miles haha. It might as well been 14 million miles though. We had to do something about it, and we did. We eloped and I enrolled at Wagner College sophomore year. It was a magical time in our lives. It was the 80s in NYC. We were both out from under the houses we grew up in and we got to be together again every day. We had a crazy life together. It certainly wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies and we went through times that were downright brutal. But together, we handled everything that came our way. We probably battled more than we got to celebrate but there was always one constant, a bond Marc and I shared that never broke. That was until three months ago. I don’t even know how to feel. As a broken hearted teenager, I knew I would get to see him even though it wasn’t every day. Now I am a broken hearted adult that will never see him on this earth again. I just don’t know how that can be. He was so strong and full of life. We were just starting to actually live our lives. We had our heads down trying to fly straight our whole lives. Marc was only “retired” for less than two years. I put retired in quotes because he joked that working for me was harder. I would do anything to have him back. 💔