An Estate of Grace Sale | Deasa Turner

Deasa Turner, daughter of Martha Turner talks about the Estate of Grace Sale, celebrating the life and memory of Martha Turner.

https://stellanovafoundation.org/portfolio-item/an-estate-of-grace/

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Well, you've heard of Martha Tuner. She is the real estate icon.
Her daughter Deessa is having an estatesale featuring mom's dresses and shoes and rings
and handbags five dollars to five hundredand it all goes to a great cause.
Check out my podcast with Dessa Turner. It is exceptional. Lisa,

(00:22):
I just want to say I've learneda little bit about you. But I'm
going to show you a picture ifwe can get it up here. Can
you see that picture? Do yousee that where I'm in the made costume.
Hey, that's my acting debut communitytheater. Now, I know you
were the prop girl doing all thestage stuff since you were a little girl,

(00:46):
right, Yes, I was performingat theater and the stars as a
kid and the television as an adult. YadA, YadA, YadA. So
before we talk about your mom,your amazing mom, I just want to
focus on you because what you've donein your world is pretty amazing and you
are now a renowned artist. Andit all started with theater, right,

(01:10):
absolutely, absolutely, theater was thethe ignition to all of it. Than
the magic. It's magic art,theater, all of the above. I
agree. It is the hardest thing, but it's the most fulfilling thing.
It stretches your mind, it getsyou out of your comfort zone. It
is. It's exhilarating, right itis. So what you've done is taken

(01:32):
that background and turned it into justan amazing I was looking at pictures of
your glitter Glitter Bang Bang, whichis one of my favorite shows, Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang. Tell us aboutwhat you've accomplished there. You know,
I really I'm not a proponent foror against guns, but they are very
much a part of our world andwe look at them with awe or fear,

(01:57):
and I just wanted to relay thatin an urban landscape form. So
I did. I put guns.They're camouflaged within backgrounds. Unless you see
the peace in person and tilt tothe side, you wouldn't notice it's a
three dimensional firearm. So I reallywanted to play on that because it's just

(02:19):
everywhere, and I think it's apart of our today's landscape, good or
bad, it's there. It's thereexactly, and you have turned it into
just an incredible installment and incredible display. And you travel all around with your
art. And in case people don'tknow, your mom was a famous real

(02:40):
estate lady and we lost her.It'll be two years ago on Mother's Day
weekend, Yes it was, andshe's been gone for two years and it's
just been such a quiet world forme and I think many others actually that
were close with her, which wasa lot of people, a lot of
people. The Turner really you are. She is an icon absolutely, even

(03:04):
to me. I mean even tome. I always talk about, yes,
she was my mother, but thenshe was Martha Turner. So there
were the two sides to her forme to even recognize. Because when she
was in mode, which was ninetynine point nine percent of the time,
that's who she was and genuinely whoshe was. So she was go get

(03:25):
her and didn't stop. It's it'shard to be the daughter of a go
getter and yet you you you knowit and it is and that's just the
reality of it too. So becausethey you know, a go getter type
a personality. Just sometimes a littlegirl wants you to be home sitting holding
your hand and she's got to goright right right. I got used to

(03:46):
it. She'd be on the phoneand start snapping her fingers at me,
where you're gonna wear that? AndI'm like, don't worry, don't worry.
You know no. She was alwayson the go, which did give
me a really good base to understandit. If you want things to happen
in life, no matter what youdo, you can be the best baker,
the best donut maker, the bestbicycle repair person. Do it with

(04:10):
gusto and do it with joy.God sess you. I was just going
to ask you, what did youlearn from Mom that if you want to
do it, do it with gusto, no matter what it is. Why
not? Why not? No one'sgoing to do it for you. No
matter what you're doing, you haveto do it for yourself. No one's
going to say, here, whydon't you do this, I'll let you

(04:30):
do this, or I'll let youdo that. You have to create that
for yourself, and especially if youfind something you're passionate about. And with
Martha, obviously she was very verypassionate about real estate, but beyond that,
that enabled her to be passionate inother areas helping people, and I
mean things we never heard of.I have found out so much since her

(04:55):
passing people approaching me, things thatshe did for people, women, individual,
Julie families that no one knew anythingabout. She just constantly was able
to give back in her way,which was really amazing and mind blowing on
so many levels. She didn't justsit there and I go, oh,
I'm all this and fabulous. I'mall this because I've worked for it,

(05:17):
and I want you to have thisand you to have that, and you
need what let's see how to makethis happen. She's a doer. She's
a doer, and she would alwaystell people find a need and meet it.
So if you see in your townyou need whatever it is, whatever
it is, there's no nothing's beneathanybody. It's how you do it and

(05:38):
how you approach it. I loveit, and so what you're doing for
your mom, and I just lovethe sentiment behind this. And you're putting
on a really exclusive event on Mother'sDay weekend so we can kind of delve
into the world of Martha Turner.Yes, with the help of the Stella
Nova Foundation, we're presenting an estateof grace sale. Now what this is.

(06:03):
It's very strange for me and wonderful. It was two years before I
could even open a box of herbelongings when they came to me after her
passing. I couldn't approach it.I was too heart broken, and it
took me time to just think aboutit all. And then I started opening
the boxes and it was like ChristmasDay. Christmas Day. Everything I brought

(06:25):
out, I was just like,this is this is way more than I
can wear in my lifetime or employMartha. Really we had very different styles.
Although I'm donning one of her blazersand some jewels ring. She dressed
to perfection every day and enjoyed it. And she always told me when she

(06:46):
was a little girl that she dreamedof having a job where she could get
dressed up every day and be glamorous. And I think, you know,
she, you can get dressed upand be glamorous no matter what you're doing,
if that's what you want to do. And she better than any movie
star. I never saw the womanwithout makeup. She was never caught without
makeup. It was really unbelievable,better than a movie star, just always

(07:10):
ready to go. I always calledher camera ready, and as family we
always said, are you Martha ready? We're going with Martha, Are you
ready? Are you ready? Itwas a high standard to get to,
but for her, it was secondnature. And what's made her ready for
her day to be anywhere and doanything for anyone. I love it.

(07:30):
So how can can we get involvedin this? How can we participate?
Well, we will be at theMontrose Center May tenth and eleventh, eleven
to six on Friday and nine tosix on Saturday. And this is open
to the public, and it's theMantra Center at Bernard and Butte Street in
Montrose, and we will have allthe offerings set out. We have purses,

(07:57):
jewelry, clothing, scar shoes,lots of shoes. Women love their
shoes, right, Yes, wedo. She had a very important thing
that I did learn about shoes.If you find a shoe that fits and
you like it, please do buyevery color. Yes, I've been I've
been loving Donald Pliner lately. Soif hair fit, then I've got to

(08:18):
go. I wait for them togo on sale and get another beir Absolutely
absolutely. And let me tell youshe looked for sales too. It was
that was part of the She wasso hard that shopping or if you will,
for her, it was curating andcreating her look was a wonderful hobby
and something that brought her joy.I think in another lifetime she could have

(08:41):
been a fashion designer. I alsothought she could have been an MG and
movie star. I mean, therewas just so many, so many ways
she could be Martha. But shewas Martha because she was Martha Turner and
sold real estate and did it withsuch panache. And I know all the
ladies that work with her and thegentleman, but the ladies for sure.

(09:01):
You know, she encouraged everyone tobe their best and to always feel wonderful
and look fabulous. So it's goingto be a really fun event. I
couldn't imagine sitting on all this forthe rest of my life. It made
no sense. I chose a fewthings that reminded me of her. I
kept my dollhouse that she made me. Things like this. There were so

(09:26):
many wonderful things. I wanted toshare it with everyone and let that sharing
come with being able to give topeople that don't have access to mental health
care or treatment. And the fundswill be going to that, right,
yes, the funds are going tothe Mantra Center for mental health care and
for health care for the homeless,So two things we feel very strongly about.

(09:50):
And I know my mother did.We lost my father. He died
of suicide. So this was somethingvery very present in our lives always.
So this is something I feel verystrongly about and I know she did too
as well. So we want tomake sure everybody gets help if they need
help, because you need not suffer, and health care for the homeless,

(10:11):
I mean, how can that be? I mean whatever we can do in
this world to help. So hereI have this fabulous wardrobe from my incredible
mother who loved Houston, loved thiscity so much and its inhabitants in all
their forms. This is a goodthing and I feel good about it because

(10:31):
it's I don't it's turning something wonderfulinto something more wonderful, spreading a little
joy for everyone to have peace ofit. When you say a state of
grace. It's an estate sale,people, which I love estate sales.
This is going to be one ofthe premier estate sales. Mother's Day weekend.
It's a Friday and Saturday, right, correct, Correct, We're going

(10:54):
to get all the info up onthis so people can go and peruse and
buy shoes and shop until you dropand know that the money's going to a
great cause and it's going to kindof release like such a burden on you
because you'll be helping out so manypeople with all that your mother's done,
you'll get to continue. It isit's like, oh, I miss her

(11:16):
so and this this whole event hasbeen able to make me just oh,
just so I feel like I'm withher again. I have song through all
these things. And you know,wearing her Moni blazer right now, this
is her sale and the turquoise andthe turquoise and the rings really wonderful too.
It's beautiful. But she had youknow, everything went together with the

(11:37):
next thing wonderfully. So yeah,it's a great way to come out and
find yourself a treasure. Price rangesare all over the map, so there's
something for everyone. Five dollars tofive hundred dollars or as she used to
say, from twenty thousand to twomillion, or act on her commercial case.
You know, she loved to say. That's what I'm saying. The
woman did not always buy retail.She loved to sail. She was a

(12:01):
true lady, like we are likewe are, And she's looking at you
saying, I raised you properly.This is exactly what I was hoping you
would do with my stuff. I'mthinking that's what she's thinking, because she
used to say, where are yougonna put all this? Not talking about
her clothes. But I'm an assemblageartist. I'm always collecting nick knocks and

(12:22):
old toys and things to build.And I'd bring in another box and she
goes, where are you gonna putit? And I'm like, Oh,
I'll find a place. But whenI unpack these boxes, I'm like,
there's not my closet. It's notbig enough. He was such a big
personality. That was the thing.She just such a huge personality and the
wardrobe to match it. And Ilove that you've picked Mother's Day to honor

(12:43):
your mom, and a lot ofus moms will be out there to take
advantage of all that she worked sohard for to make our city like it
is, and we appreciate you fordoing this. It's been just a joy
to talk to you. Thank you. It's been wonderful talking to you to
you today, and I'm real excitedand I hope everyone comes out and we'll
all celebrate life together and fashion andfun at the Estate of Grace. I

(13:09):
love it. We'll get all theinformation up there for you. Thank you
for all you're doing. Thank youDana