A real gift

 A few years ago, when I was still able to push a vacuum around, I took a fit about having to do it.  "I am so sick of this, I won't do it anymore and I don't care if our place looks like a dump!" I raved. 

With that, I stepped out the front door for some reason -- must have been divine intervention -- and saw a darling woman putting a vacuum cleaner and other stuff in her trunk at our neighbour's place.  "Hi, do you work for T.J?" I asked.  "Yes, I do.  I clean his place every two weeks."  I jumped.  "Can you clean our place?" I begged.  

And so I found my angel, Marie-Tess.

The first time she came with a partner and they took five hours to clean our place.  That's 10 hours of cleaning!  And I thought our place was relatively clean!  Guess not.  They moved furniture, cleaned every book in every bookcase, swabbed it, polished it, scrubbed it, waxed it, polished it -- you name it, they cleaned it.  That was the best $500 I had spent in many years.  After that, she came every two weeks and my house was spotless.

I was very happy.

When we moved to Cochrane, she kept coming.  After the move, she unpacked 45 boxes, broke them down and got everything ready to take to recycling.  Today, she was here for the second time since the move and finished unpacking everything.  After two trips in a fully-loaded car to the recycling, she said, "Now I am going to clean your place."  What??!!??!!!  And she did.

How can I have found an angel like that woman who helps me move, unpack and clean?!  She has been sent by God, I am convinced, but I pay her very well so I remain her best client.  Oh, and did I mention she is only 40, has five kids (the youngest two) and two grandkids?  Oh, and did I also mention she sings while she works?  The most wonderful woman I have met in this line, or any other.

I must also tell you that her heritage and culture are not Canadian.  She is from the Philippines and that tells you about her work ethnic.  I have had many cleaners over the years and the Canadian ones are the worst.  Culture, culture, culture.  That's the story.