It can be fun and rewarding
There are just not enough hours in the day. So much to do, so little time to do it all. I would love to have a 48 hour day. Hmmmm I wonder about the logistics of that tho. But the days just seem to fly by. The older I get the faster they go.
Today I got up early to help an elderly lady clean her home. Every Spring a bunch of us gals get together and plan a house cleaning for someone, usually an elderly lady, who has trouble getting around. Last year we did for Polly. While Polly is a smart, joyful bundle of energy when it comes to her spirit, physically she has problems. Then again, she's in her 80's. Who doesn't have some physical ailment by then? She gets around with a cane and has trouble reaching and cleaning especially things up high. She blesses us so much with her presence we wanted to do something special for her.
This year we did for Effie. She too has a cane and gets around a bit slower than she used to. She's in her 70's and has been a widow for many years. She was a hard worker in her younger years, a single mom to her two children after her husband died way back in the early years of her marriage. Now that her children are all grown up and older than I even, she lives alone with her small dog, and it's a struggle for her to do any major housecleaning.
So to Effie's we went. We dusted, we washed, we vacuumed. We did windows, floors and even all her curtains we washed, dried and hung them back up for her. The biggest thing for the elderly beside the cobwebs up high is moving the furniture to clean to vacuum behind it. Another thing they usually appreciate greatly is us doing their windows. That can be hard for them to get the windows up and out or take the screens out to clean.
Today there were seven of us. We just went to work and in about 2 1/2 hours sat down to a nice lunch that another elderly lady made for us who couldn't help in the cleaning. It was her way of helping us out.
We had a great lunch, fellowship and satisfaction that we were able to do something useful for another. Effie was so grateful and relieved. Her house smelled so good when we left. Her eyes and the big smile on her face said it all. I remember last year when we did this for Polly. She talked about that day for months.
We had so much fun doing this we were already talking about who would be next on our list. We're thinking maybe of not waiting until next Spring to do this again, but maybe get together sooner to bless another. I mean what's 2-3 hours of time in comparison to being able to bless the socks off another and whose joy over this will last for months?
That's why I wish we had more hours in a day. I'd do this more often if I could. Nothing to me is more rewarding than helping another by doing something so productive for them and knowing I helped in some small way of bringing a smile to a weary face.