I miss my cleaning lady & her husband.

In an effort to share more, I thought I would tell a little story.

I used to have a great situation with my neighbors. There was this retired couple, I will call them E and her husband D. They were very nice and lived on a fixed income. I paid E very well to basically to take care of me. Monday through Thursday, she would come over, make my bed, pick up any dirty clothes, reset the coffee pot and put any dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Then, on Fridays, she would do my laundry (including ironing my shirts), run & empty the dishwasher, dust, run the vacuum cleaner and mop the kitchen floor and clean the bathroom. It was great. She would change my sheets when needed too.

It was beneficial for both of us, I had a mom without the guilt and she made a nice chunk of cash for about 3-4 hours work a week. All were pleased with the arrangement.

Then, one day…

I had a great day at work, it was a Friday. I just landed a new big client. The partners took me out for martinis at lunch and we didn’t make it back to the office. On the way home, I stopped for more drinks. So, by the time I got home, I was pretty hammered. I park out front. The 16 year old son of one of the other neighbors comes running over to my car… “G… I have to tell you what happened… D killed himself today… and they think it was your gun he used… your door was open… the cops were here… they want to talk to you”

So, I run inside, my door was unlocked… I got back to my bedroom and open the nightstand drawer, a gun is gone. (digression… I collect guns, I have many. I keep all but one locked up, for protection) Also, there was a bullet hole in the wall of my bedroom.

I was shocked… I pour myself another gin, because I knew the cops would be there soon & didn’t want a DUI. Sure enough, within about 20 min, there was a detective at my door. He asked me to confirm that it was my gun. I described the gun & gave him the serial number. It was clearly my gun. He then gave the facts, as he knew them: Apparently, D had gone to the doctor’s that day, as he had been experiencing severe head aches for a while. He came home, got a hair cut. Went to the American Legion and had a few beers with his friends. He then stopped at another bar, and had a few more beers with more friends. E was not home, she was over at another neighbor’s place getting her hair cut. He got the key to my place. Went in and took the gun. Fired a shot in the wall, apparently to make sure it worked, then went back to his place, sat in his lazy boy and blew his head off. The 16 year old I mentioned earlier heard the shots and found him. I was not charged in any way.

I have felt very guilty over the situation. But, as time passed, I felt angry too. Angry that he decided to leave E that way… angry that he would allow a young man to be the one to find the body… angry that he breached my trust, taking my gun and using it to commit this horrible act…

I am still having mixed feelings about this event. But last night, as I was empting my dishwasher… I was missing E. Not just because I take care of myself, but because I considered them like friends… family.