From the Heart
As the pages of the calendar turned to April, my mother would begin her spring cleaning. Now her version of spring cleaning and mine are on two entirely different levels.
Mom would wash down the painted walls in every room. She and Dad would wrestle the venetian blinds into the bath tub. Every throw rug would be washed. Every doily would be re-starched. The sheets would be hung on the clothesline in the back yard to get that real scent of spring. Forget the laundry sheets. They were not invented back then. Mom actually still calls the sheets … the bed clothes.
Me? I take off every item on my furniture and dust every nook and cranny on them. I seem to never put the items back just the way they were before I started. I call it creative rearranging. My goal is to somewhat (?) clean and give the room a new look.
My way of cleaning … refresh and renew.
On Friday, I began the spring ritual. I started in our bedroom. About an hour into cleaning I looked into a basket of cards and notes.
Let’s just say I got a bit sidetracked.
I keep every note and card that my husband gives me. Every special occasion he writes me a poem. Some are cute and funny. Some remind me of why I married him. They hug my heart.
As I sat on the floor taking a stroll down memory lane I just felt blessed and content. My heart did a spring happy dance. As my husband would say, there was “good stuff” in that basket.
I found old pictures tucked into my worn out, tattered and well-loved Bible. There was a picture of me with my ventriloquist dummy, Danny. I was probably about 14 as I was wearing the eighth grade Recognition dress that my mother had made me. Yes, I still have Danny tucked into an old suitcase … somewhere.
About an hour later I realized at the rate I was going I would have my spring cleaning and refreshing done sometime in the fall.
Those old memories are quite the hindrance.
I often wish to be more of a minimalist when it come to my home but in my heart I know that will never happen. Every time I read a sentimental note from someone I put it back in the basket. It’s just hard for me to throw anything away that has a string fastened to my heart.
I found a journal in which I wrote my thoughts in 2001. I am sure I will be writing a column about what was written in that journal. I had no idea what my life would look like some 18 years later. All I can say is WOW!
Well, the bedroom did get a good dusting and my heart got a good hug on Friday. Let’s just see how far I get before I turn the calendar to September.