The Saviour Is Coming!

Yes she is – on Friday. Lucy usually arrives around 11:00 and stays till about 3:00. She gathers up the vacuum hose and starts int the bedrooms. From there, she moves on to the living room and dining room. Then she grabs the bucket of cleaning products and heads for the bathrooms. She finishes in the kitchen. By the time she leaves, everything shines and the whole house smells wonderful.

I Love Lucy. Our affair began back in the late ’80’s. I was working full-time as a high school administrator and my house was, as they say, getting away from me. I could barely keep up with the cooking and laundry, never mind what was behind the sofa or on the window sills. I fond Lucy through a recommendation from a friend. She showed up one day, almost tiny, with very little English. But boy could she work. She didn’t even stop for lunch!

I didn’t see Lucy often because I was at school when she was at my house. But quickly she became part of the family. She befriended the cat, and she learned what treasures not to touch in the kids’ bedrooms. Who knows what else she figured out from our garbage, our laundry, our wine bottles? There’s a lot of trust with somebody who knows your house so intimately.

Lucy stayed with me for several years, through a divorce and two moves. She was a rock. Then I met my new husband, Peter, and moved to the country. Despite Lucy’s loyalty, she could not drive all that way north to clean my new, big house. She was offered a cleaning day by Peter’s daughter, Andrea, who lives in the city, and she took it.

Meanwhile Peter and I decided that, since we were retired, we could do our own cleaning. And we did. Peter found an old string mop in the garage and started washing the floors; I did the bathrooms and kitchen. We took turns vacuuming. But it wasn’t high on our list of fun things to do. Really, what retired person can’t find something more exciting to do than clean?

When we decided to move to the city last year, we figured we would have a smaller house with fewer rooms, and we would just carry on cleaning them. But then, one day I was babysitting our grand daughter Agnes at Andrea’s house and, lo and behold, there was Lucy! After we hugged, I blurted it out. Honestly I just couldn’t help myself! Did Lucy have a free day? Of course I was Not Even Thinking about stealing Andrea’s day back…

But, fortunately Lucy did have an extra day. One of her older clients was about to move into a retirement home. I was thrilled. I hadn’t even had to resort to subterfuge! We made our arrangements and I went home to tell Peter. He was hesitant at first but encouraged by Lucy’s history with me and with his daughter. Surely we both couldn’t be wrong.

Lucy arrived on the assigned day. Her English had improved considerably and she was able to speak up. The first thing she noticed was Peter’s old string mop. “What is that?” she said, horrified. “You don’t want me clean with THAT??? You need Good Mop. I buy you Good mop and bring next time.”

On her next visit, Lucy brought us a new, high-tech mop, with a gadget that spins the water out of the mop head. Peter was crestfallen. I heard him tell his buddies: “I’ve been told that My Mop is no longer Good Enough.” After sulking for a while, he began cutting off the strings and using them to tie up his tomato plants.

Things have settled down now; Peter and Lucy have developed a mutual respect. I even hear them talking once in a while. As I spend my free time writing Christmas cards, putting up decorations, and baking cookies, I feel blessed because, in all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I don’t have to worry about the cleaning. I know that Lucy will be here again next Friday, wielding her high-tech mop.

Sue