Always Leave a Place Better
I remember sitting in our station wagon with my dad, brothers and sisters, while we waited for mom to finish cleaning the cottage we had rented for the week – cleaning the refrigerator, sweeping the floors, dusting, wiping down the counters. When asked why she bothered, after all we didn’t own the place, my mom would say, “I like to leave a place better than when I arrived.”
This practice resulted in mom and dad always being welcomed back by renters who were happy to entrust their property to my mom’s care.
Leave a Place Better
I think about this now and then after stays at a friend’s house or my brother’s cottage while I sweep, clean the refrigerator, wash dishes and make sure there are no stray scraps of garbage in the house. After visits to a friend’s house as a child, Mom always questioned me whether I had offered to help with the dishes. This impressed the friend’s mother but did not make me popular with my friends.
Growing up, Mom’s house was spotless. I may not be the housekeeper my mom was, but I’m still her daughter. So, I try to leave places, at least as good as when I came, preferably better. I also like to clean my home before I go anywhere because, like my mom would say, “I like to come home to a clean house.”
Leaving a place better than it was when you arrived is a good policy. It’s right up there with cleaning up after yourself – if you make a mess, clean it up. It’s common courtesy. Yet not as common as I like to think. I’m amazed at the number of people who don’t follow this rule, happily going through life leaving messes behind them without concern about who will clean it up, treating the outdoors like their own personal garbage can. While on my daily walks, I see McDonald’s and Burger King bags, Dunkin Donut cups, energy drink cans and trails of cigarette butts.
These are all lessons I learned from my mom who died this past summer.
Life Lessons
This concept also has a broader application. Am I leaving the world a better place by how I treat people? Am I kind and considerate, leaving a legacy of love and trust? Or am I leaving behind a legacy of hatred and distrust?
During her life, mom raised five kids, all of whom went on to obtain graduate degrees and had meaningful careers. Those children provided fifteen grandchildren, and those grandchildren have provided mom with nineteen great grands. That’s quite a legacy. Did my mom leave the world a better place?
That’s a definite yes.
This Labor Day weekend, my siblings and I are gathering to remember and celebrate our mother’s life. After all of those years of cleaning, she is finally able to rest from her labor – though Mom is probably following St. Peter around with a mop. making sure everything is clean.
Thank you, Mom, for all the life lessons. I’m doing my best to leave this world a better place, like you did.
What legacy are you leaving to the world?
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