Mrs. Rose

I had just moved to town and was feeling homesick; missing my family very badly. Unfortunately the apartment complex that I moved into didn't have a laundry room, so I had to go to a laundry mat. Shaking my head at the realization that washing was one dollar and seventy- five cent, and drying them was going to take an additional dollar. Apparently you need to sell a kidney just to wash clothes, but my pocket was weighed down by a roll of quarters I had picked up at the bank the previous day.

Being wrapped up with the chore at hand I didn't realize the woman sitting in one the chairs on the other side of the row of washing machines. She was a neatly dressed lady around seventy or so; her hair was silver with a few streaks of blond here and there. When she looked up I noticed that she was crying. I thought to myself what on earth could be wrong with her, and there was only one way to find out.. go ask.

"Excuse me ma'am, I couldn't help but notice that you were crying."
"Oh my I'm sorry, I didn't notice you walk in young lady."
"May I ask what's wrong, is there anything that I can do for you?"
"So nice of you to ask, but I'm afraid not dear, I just recently lost my husband Bob. We were married for fifty- two years, and he died in his sleep a week ago. This is our laundry mat and I'm too old to run it by myself, so the only choice is for me to close it down.
"You don't have any children that can run it for you?"
"We were never blessed with children unfortunately."

I sat there and talked to Mrs. Rose for about three hours that day. She told me the story of how her and Bob met at a park one Saturday afternoon and were married only a couple of months later. For the longest time her parents refused to speak to her because she was marrying beneath her. Over time they accepted him and thought that her happiness was all that mattered. They had some very hard times, but Bob became a very successful attorney. She didn't have to work, but she really wanted to run a laundry mat as some sort of hobby; he bought this one for her on their tenth wedding anniversary. As she talked about him the tears dried and she had this look of happiness on her face. I thought to myself that having a love like that and for so long is one of the greatest gifts in the world. Hopefully one day I'll know this feeling as well .

"Well sweetie I have to go now, there are so many decisions for me to make."
"You take care of yourself Mrs. Rose."
"Earlier you were wondering if there was something you could do for me. Well there is actually if your interested."

I sat there wondering what it was she needed me to do.

"Would you be interested int running this laundry mat for me? All you have to do is come in by seven in the morning, turn on the lights, mop the floor, make sure both doors are unlocked, and if any of the machines need repairing call the maintenance man. At around ten come back and make sure that the doors are locked, the lights are off, and mop the floor. The only catch is you'll have to do this seven days a week, but the laundry mat is closed on Christmas Eve,Christmas Day, and New Years day. I'm willing to pay you one hundred dollars a week if you're interested.

"I don't know Mrs. Rose I'll have to think about it."
"Do you live far away from here?"
"No, I live just around the corner actually."
"This is an opportunity to make a little extra cash and you don't have to travel far to get here. Her is my number, give me a call and let me know."

I took the piece of paper, and gave her my number as well. She slowly got up form the chair and left, then I noticed a tan colored Cadillac leave the parking lot; Mrs. Rose blew her horn and waved goodbye. Apparently she was parked on the other side of the building, because I didn't see it when I pulled into the parking lot. Working for her did seem like a good idea, but who wants to get up that early every weekend? Might not be a bad idea though; extra money would not hurt one bit.

The next morning around seven thirty my phone rings, and it was Mrs Rose on the other end. She told me that she really appreciated the fact that I stayed at the laundry mat to talk to her all that time; it really meant a lot.

I've now been working for Mrs. Rose for seven years.