8/22/24

And so this week’s moment of happiness despite the news.

Michael’s antique cash register is going to be on stage, in a play. Maybe several. And I know this would make him very, very happy.

Since Michael’s death, I’ve been on a cleaning bender. Make that a cleaning/straightening/clearing out bender. I want room in my rooms! I want space in my space! I want to open up a closet or a cabinet and be able to see clearly what’s inside, with room to add more if needed. I want to not feel crowded. I want…well, to breathe mostly. With all that’s happened this year, I’ve felt the walls closing in on me more than once.

Michael was an old time radio fan. He got his start in writing with old time radio drama. He fell in love with the genre soon after his father died, and his passion just kept growing. It didn’t take long before he decided to try writing them himself, and he had quite a bit of success. Some of his shows were internationally produced. He moved through the years from a gigantic closet full of cassette tapes of radio shows to flash drive after flash drive of mp3 recordings. And he collected old time radio paraphernalia, which takes the form of tabletop radios to full size floor model radios. These are scattered throughout the house. One is an RCA Victor radio/record player console, complete with the display protective covering on the turntable.

And many of them were gifts from me.

One oddity that stuck out was a working cash register from the early 1930s. I bought it for Michael for a Christmas present. He loved it, and often, when he walked by, he would hit the Sale button, just to hear it ring. There were times I’d pass by and notice random numbers sticking up in the glass display. I’d hit the Sale button too, just to make those numbers go back down, only to find more up again soon after.

A few of Michael’s radios are now in our off-site storeroom. A couple of the tabletop models have made their way to St. Vincent DePaul. But the cash register, the console, and one floor model radio were listed on Facebook’s Marketplace and CraigsList. I wanted to find owners that would love them as much as Michael did. I don’t love them as much; they deserve to be with people who really appreciate them, and Michael would want them with people like that too.

I mostly picked these three to sell because of their size and placement in my home. The cash register sat on top of the floor model radio, and they’re right in front of a window. Because of their placement, I can’t reach the window to open or close it without getting out a stepstool and climbing up. I would like to be able to reach the window with ease and without the threat of falling and breaking something – mostly me.

For a couple of weeks, there was no interest. Then one man stopped by, looked at all three, told me information I already knew, and invited me to his house to see his clocks. No. He left without purchasing.

Then I heard from a woman who was interested in the cash register. We went back and forth several times, and she mentioned that she was buying it for her brother’s business, which is to supply props to theaters for plays and productions. I swear I felt Michael lean over my shoulder, his breath in my ear, to read that email.

Because of his love for radio drama, Michael also loved the theatre. One of his favorite jobs, before he was downsized, was as an accountant for the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. The job came with the perk of tickets to the shows, and we saw so many productions. On his lunch breaks, Michael would go to whatever theatre was having a rehearsal and he would sit in the theatre seats and listen.

It was one of his happiest jobs, surpassed only by his most recent, at the Milwaukee Area Technical College, where he was able to do accounting amidst a place of education and dreams. Well, teaching for AllWriters’ was right up there too.

But now…his cash register could live on in the theatre.

I told the woman about Michael, about who he was, and about what happened. At first, I thought she was shopping for the actual theatre where the play would be, and I told her I’d be happy to lend the cash register out for such a purpose. But then I heard about her brother’s new business. And she heard about my husband.

I understand what it’s like to start a new business. And so I leaned forward to read more closely too.

She called me the next day. “I talked to my brother,” she said, “and we’ve decided we need to get this cash register. Even if it doesn’t work out for this particular production, we want it to be on stage as many times as possible.”

I’ve had mixed feelings about selling these things, and I won’t sell them unless I feel like they’re going to places that Michael would approve of, and where the beloved items can be happy. But I turned over the cash register with a content heart.

The radio it sat on is still here, so I still can’t reach the window without a stepstool. But the window is fully exposed and the sun flows in. The cat now has room to jump on top of the radio and look out a new window. He’s happy. I’m happy. And I believe Michael can be happy too. The cash register is a star.

And I can breathe just a little bit easier.

And yes, that helps. Despite. Anyway.

The cash register, sitting on top of the radio and blocking the window.
The radio.
The console.
The console with the doors open, to show the turntable and the radio.

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