Droozy’s
mother was a very proud and generous woman. She always gave to the needy
whatever she could spare. She shared the delicious cheesecakes that she baked
with children who came to play and grown-ups who happened to stop into the
Abner’s humble home. She never turned down a stranger who was hungry and who
came to the door. She was truly a religious woman, which was expressed through
her good deeds. She babysat children for a poor woman who couldn’t afford to
pay; she even fed the woman's children. She baked honey cakes for a family for a
Bar Mitzvah celebration because the mom of that family was sick and could not
manage to soften the hardened honey that had been standing in the people’s
cupboard for years. What Mama couldn’t do because of lack of time she would
ask Droozy to do. The
Mervis’ were a fairly wealthy family who had invited the Abners for some cake
and coffee when they first arrived in Weirton, West Virginia. While the Abners
were enjoying their conversation Mrs. Mervis complained that her venetian blinds
needed washing. Mrs. Abner readily offered Droozy’s help and the Mervis’
happily accepted the kind offer. With
bucket in hand Droozy came to the Mervis home and began the arduous task of
cleaning the blinds. The venetians were made up of many staves - slats that
needed to be washed one by one. Each blind was made up of what seemed like fifty
of these flat pieces of plastic like materials. As she washed one the dirty
water dripped unto the next slat and smeared. She carefully and meticulously
washed one board after another but whoa, nothing seemed to go right. The more
she worked the dirtier they seemed to be. She changed the water often and
carried the heavy bucket back and forth down the steep steps of the basement. It
took an hour for each blind and there seemed to be dozens more awaiting
Droozy’s help. Hours
later Droozy had only finished half of the blinds in that huge old house. She
knew she had to return yet another day to complete this unwelcome task. The next
day she again returned and repeated to do the work on those dirty window
coverings. That evening at last she felt she had completed the job. Droozy’s
fingers were sore and swollen and her finger tips were bleeding. She sat down on the
floor and admired her work. The blinds had taken on a different color. They were
pure white, not a greyish beige. Mrs. Mervis looked
at the now clean blinds, thanked Droozy and gave her a handful of hard candy. As
she exhaustedly walked home Droozy hoped that her mother would never again offer
her services. Most of all she never wanted to see a venetian blind in her whole
life, especially not a dirty one. |
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