Goodwill Middletown Store and Donation Center

Me and my mother pulled into the parking lot and had a glorious feeling of excitement fill our hearts as we realize it was the same goodwill that my recently deceased father took us every Tuesday for the half off deal for active service members. Originally we had just been in the mood for some light thrifting and started looking around town for some places to shop. We both hadn’t been there for awhile and I figured it had been taken down by now, replaced by a fast food chain or something of the sort. We hopped out of the car and rushed to the automatic doors that honestly took a very hot minute to open. When they finally finished their last bit of creaking we stepped inside and were embraced with a combination of fluorescent lighting and a strong smell of moth balls and a little B.O. which is ok and we could look past that as all the memories of our family’s outings here came flooding in. I looked to my right and saw the book section! I LOVED that place as a kid, Although it use to be on the back wall if i’m remembering correctly. I would just stand and look at all the spines, old and new, thinking about all the journeys they had been through (if they had been through any at all) and the previous owners experience with it. My father loved books and encouraged me to read as much as a I could during my adolescence because he stated it was the building blocks of everything else in our world. As I was being entranced by all of the different colors and sizes of the books my mother called me over to come and look at a shirt that reminded her of dad. It had kittens with beach sunglasses and tropical shirts printed all around it and looked exactly like something my father would’ve worn while he was still with us. I looked up at my mother while she was holding it and i haven’t seen that much light behind her eyes since my father passed away. I browsed that section some more in search of any other shirts that would possibly strike the same reaction within her as the Hawaiian kitty shirt did and suddenly the power flashes off, I look up and see everyone looking around in confusion trying to figure out what just occurred, then the lights turn right back on! Now in reality it was probably only 3 seconds or so but to me it felt like forever. I swear that when I looked up I saw my fathers corpse staring right at me. He looked exactly like he did the day we buried him, the same Navy blue tux with the pocket halfway not stitched on (i tried to talk my mother out of putting him in this but she said it was his request and she didn’t have the heart to go against that), His hair slicked back to reveal his skin starting to rot on the edge of hairline, His lips sewed shut with thread, but the most prominent thing was his eyes. Physically he was very obviously dead but his eyes they just looked… alive. I blinked and the lights were back on and I was in disbelief of what i just saw. I was so shaken i genuinely couldn’t move. I was in like a trance of just remembering my fathers eyes that looked like there was still a heart beat and a life behind them with his skin rotting away around them. My mother came up to me and tapped my should which made me break from whatever spell i was just put under and jump a little. She asked if i was ok because i looked a little frazzled and i told her i was fine just a little dizzy. I guess she just summed it up to me still having a fear of the dark from when i was little and i don’t have the heart to tell her otherwise. After all of that i suggest that we left because i wasn’t feeling well and my mother very hesitantly applied. She knew i never really felt bad and something was up but i just couldn’t bring myself to tell her what i had just saw. I don’t think i ever will. On the other hand though! the service was amazing and the place has a amazing atmosphere created by the staff that was working there! Almost felt like old times.

We have gone to this goodwill for years, and always found the store to be well organized. We have become customer friends with Alicia who we feel is the best ambassador of goodwill. Alicia is always bubbly and always ready to help, and what an energetic bunny never stopping to make each individual’s experience in goodwill a great one. Kudos to Alicia.