Cleaning at B's - The Gift of Time

I've cleaned for B for a long time.   I love B - I wouldn't even know where to begin this post, but just to start and say, I love B - we share a bond that I know will continue well beyond this realm. Somehow, deep down I know this will be true.  I was referred to B from one of my other client's. B and her husband were happily retired and they needed some extra help with the chores around their large 2500sq ft 2 story home.  B and her husband only needed us once a month - as it was just the two of them.  My friend (who was my partner in "grime" back then) and I visited them and came to wonder, how and why they really needed us? Their home was spotless - remember the notorious Wendy's "where's the beef" commercials? Same could be said of their home, "where's the dirt?". 

   We scrounged around and found a tidbit of dust here and there but really, if this was the scenario at my own house, I'd never have to clean.  It was obvious, B was just "neat" and impeccably house proud - I have learned that she used to clean houses with her Mom since she was 5 years old - some habits just never die.  We were needed, they said, because it was getting harder for them to do the heavier things, like vacuuming and mopping. Fair enough.
  We cleaned for B and her husband, M for about 3 years.  One day, B's daughter called us out to the blue, frantic, "Could you come immediately, my Dad is in the hospital, he only has hours to live, could you help us out?".  My friend who received the call replied immediately with a resounding "yes, we'll be there" and called to let me know right away. Saddened to hear about B's husband's fate, (we really liked M) we were more than willing to prep the house for the onslaught of relatives that would be arriving in the next few days.  True to form, the house really was in great shape, but we wanted to be there for them - it was the least we could do.
   It's been 6 years since M has gone; the years have just slipped by - and B has coped pretty well - rheumatoid arthritis, a nasty fall while in Florida, never ending dental issues, a hip replacement and a small accident in a taxi cab has kept her from truly enjoying her retirement, post "being married" years. She's a trooper though. B has 4 children, a daughter on the West Coast and 3 sons in Ontario.  The youngest son is closest and is always on call. She tries hard to remain independent. 
  When I come to clean, its always a visit to remember. With only the CFRB to keep her company while alone, she is always extraordinarily happy to see me ! This, I take great delight in - we embrace each other warmly and I know I am so welcome there.  She has such an inviting personality - I know she is lonely and having my company is so anticipated by her. 

I think to myself, "where in the world can one have a job where your employer is so ecstatic to see you?". Name one company, one workplace where this is so?  
  When I am there, we talk - and yes probably more than we should - for some reason when we're together - the conversation never ends - she's not to blame either - I take full responsibility for this too - I do love to talk as my friends have testified. She is always apologizing for keeping me; for being so selfish - but I am selfish too - I want to talk, to engage with her - we try to keep it to a minimum but once we start, there's no turning back.  

My children and husband know that when I go to B's: not to expect me home until late.  It's a ritual almost.  Many times she would have a Greek salad waiting for me from her favourite Italian delicatessen - I love those Greek salads and what was meant to be only 20 minute break would last for 3-4 hours.  I know, we don't have "off" buttons! There's so much to be shared.  She is 75 years old at the time of this post - so much information and life experience all packed within one vibrant shell of a human being that is coping with the grip of aging - the slow and steady "falling apart" of things that once worked and served her well.    She is a mentor to me. She shares with me her life moments of raising children - her triumphs, and her failures - a lot about her failures and the mulling over of "if I could do it again, I would", sort of thing. She reminisces about her relationship with M, her parents from the old country, of Slovakia and their trials, their hardships, their mindsets and their influences upon her life while growing up in Timmins Ontario. 

Almost everything about her past, I have heard about and I listen in with the eagerness of a small child learning a new story. I try to gather as much of her as I can and try, try to remember, to hold onto it all because I am learning; learning from all those experiences. She talks of her love of singing in the choir at her church and how the music had ministered to her soul. How her soul rejoiced in the music!.  How she loved directing the children's choir and how she and her closest friend whose life was cut short too soon, had loved that time in their lives.  B has shared so much - and I know that had I worked anywhere else, there wouldn't have been the "time" for any of this. Any of this collecting and gathering of B's life - her story which is now a part of mine.
  I have, with my cleaning have had the chance to get to "know" people so personally, I hear their history, I see how they live and come to know how their history has shaped them. I learn their "story" and how glorious their stories are  - B's life is a one of many triumphs and struggles - she is an average suburban senior, one of millions in Canada, who happened to be a wife and Mom to 3 children in diapers under the age of three and to one more 4 years later - who raised these children, worked in real-estate as a mortgage broker, cared for aging parents... would anyone in corporate Canada know their co-workers on such a level?   Has anyone any time to really talk or share on this level with members of their own family? Who has the time?  I know I am blessed with this line of work - B isn't the only client/friend that I know like this, there are others in my circle who I know in this way too - I am blessed to have had this time, to get "know" my clients and their stories, to know them as close friends..
     Maybe this is odd to you.  In a world, where "time is money", who really can afford to spend "time", to squander time like this? Yet deep down, I know this has been the right way, the God-given expected way to spend our time with another.  I know its been time not wasted nor in vain - this is God's way, this getting to "know" one  another. It's a gift and it is liberating. Our souls get the chance to dance - to commune - like it is between the members of the Trinity.
     I am just a cleaning lady, no degree, no real "desired skill set" in today's forward moving, fast paced and competitive market place and yet, my company is 'desired" by those whom I serve and especially by B.  Like Jesus who talked and where Mary chose to listen at His feet, I too get a chance to hear Jesus speak to me. Through my client's stories, those who are willing to share with me their life experiences, I learn. And I listen and I spend the time, because I know, hidden within these moments  lies the blessings, the gifts the Lord wants to share with me - in our times of sharing and just being with one another; this is true communion - this "being time" to coin a phrase by Madeleine L'Engle. This being time - it counts.
  B and I are convinced there will be a bench with our names written on it waiting for us in Heaven - God knows we'll need it, and for His sake he will need it too - too much chattering will probably be irksome for Him and we'd probably disturb the peace up there! Heavens inhabitants, will be like, "is there a quadrant in some far off sector of the universe to give to them, they never shut up!!". I know B will probably arrive there first but I am sure she will be anticipating the day I arrive too. I know I will be happy to resume just where we left off, just like it was and is when I come to clean for B.