The Unmade Bed and Other Things

When DeRay and Eddy are home,

I cannot stand it until our beds are made each morning.

With them gone this week,

my side of the bed has not been made once.

If it bothers me to have an unmade bed,

why don’t I make mine when they are gone?

Because no one sees it?

DeRay doesn’t care.

I care.

I’m a puzzle.

Do we only do things for appearances?

If no one sees an unmade bed

does it matter whether it’s made or unmade?

My project while they have been gone

is to clean the kitchen cupboards

and polish the wood with lemon oil.

It turned out to be a bigger project than

I anticipated and I struggle to get it done.

Several weeks ago, Billie asked me to come to her house

to watch a video of her 90^th birthday party.

When I spend every morning with Eddy,

fix dinner every day and try to keep up on the housework and laundry,

it’s hard to find time to do anything else.

With them gone, I made up my mind to go down to Billie’s

to watch the video of her birthday party.

We set up a time for 9:30 Wednesday morning.

I rush to do my stretches and get the lemon oil

on the cabinets so I can rub them down,

then finish cleaning the kitchen when I got home.

At her house, the “cleaning lady” met me at the door.

All the time we were watching her delightful video,

the hired lady was cleaning away.

I felt a pang of envy.

I guess I was just tired because normally I consider housework

therapeutic and healing for the soul.

Emily, her daughter, who bought her house

so she could continue living in it,

works as a counselor for a school;

Her husband, Bob, works from his office in the basement;

while their three kids are in school.

I think it’s smart to hire help when both parents work full-time.

Billie worked full-time and served as Relief Society President

while her children were growing up,

after her husband lost his foot in an airplane accident.

So she certainly deserves the rest.

This past summer she had a hip replacement.

She is a trooper and I admire and respect her very much.

What a party for her 90^th birthday.

Just her numerous posterity performing and sharing birthday greetings.

Above the video was a photo of her 80^th birthday party.

So many people.

She had five kids;

And I don’t know how many grandchildren

and great grandchildren and great greats.

If I were to celebrate my 80^th birthday next year with my posterity,

we would have 15 people.

I raised five children also.

How different our lives are.

I hope that’s OK.

I came home and finished cleaning the kitchen.