Cleaning Day
Way, waaaaaaay back, I worked at a preschool called Casa Montessori.
It was a small, simple, quiet place run by two women.
Carol and Hope.
Carol was a talker.
A ! ! go, go go, do, do doer ! !
& I realized that the moment we met,
which was fine.
I was fresh out of college and my head brimmed with a million, conquer the world, oh yes I can ideas.
We clicked instantly.
YaY.
During my job interview, Carol informed, I would be working with Hope.
Hope was not there at that time, but !! she’s nice, !! Carol assured,
I would meet her soon
& I thought, cool.
! Let’s do this, Hope !
Oh, Hope.
Hope wasn’t quite as yappy as Carol.
In fact, they were different as night and day.
Hope kept her thoughts to herself.
She was gentle, but determined to run a tight ship.
Her Montessori teachings were embedded in her heart
& yes, the children and I could giggle and laugh and sing
but …
shhhhhh.
Not too much.
Tenderly stern, was who Hope was and how she approached her career.
So.
There I was
& there she was.
Trying to connect on the fly.
Me, the newbie, getting to know the kids and adjusting to Hope’s steadfast ways.
Not really sure if I was doing anything right ?? or anything wrong ??
because Hope held everything within
& she rarely smiled.
Oh, Hope.
According to Carol, all was ! swell !
I was the perfect pick for that position.
It was destiny !! she’d happily exclaim.
Destiny brought me to their preschool and into their lives.
But Hope never said much.
Ever.
She would do her thing every day and I would do mine.
The youngsters in our care were always happy though,
so …
I’ll see you tomorrow.
I don’t remember the hows or whens of it all, but now that I’m older, I think Carol knew Hope and I needed some kind of breakthrough.
Yeah, we worked well together
but …
there was always that wall.
Hope wouldn’t let me in
& I was too intimidated to allow Hope in
& so,
Carol decided we MUST have a CLEANING DAY.
The preschool desperately needed a washing, she declared.
Would I mind coming in on the weekend to help her and Hope shine the place up ??
Uh.
Er.
Sure, I reluctantly replied, as there were a thousand things I’d rather not do.
Sure.
Funny thing, Carol didn’t show up on that we sooooo need to scrub morning.
Nope.
Something suddenly came up
& IF she would be there, it would be late.
Great.
Just. GREAT.
Now I would be stuck with non-talking Hope alllllll day long.
Thanks, Carol.
Yes.
!! THANKS Carol !!
That infamous, bucket in hand Saturday goes down as one of my BEST. DAYS. EVER.
Hope and I had two choices.
Silence
and things would stay the same
or
Talk
and get to know each other.
We chose talk
& talk
& talk.
Turns out we had an awful lot in common.
Turns out, a beautiful friendship blossomed.
Turns out, Hope was one of the most generous, sincerest, kindest women I have ever known.
I was gifted many lessons from that tiny, pleasantly tough, little lady named Hope
& I’m pretty sure the feeling was mutual.
Because, it’s true.
It is so true.
You never really know someone until you take the time.
To talk.
To wonder.
To share.
To allow in.
Turns out, it’s easy….
Thanks, Carol.
Thanks, Hope.
I am forever and ever and ever grateful,
we tried.
