The Hardest Thing Anybody Would Have To Clean In Their Life.

I’ve got a cleaning tip for just about anything anyone throws at me to help them, or so I thought. On Monday September 30th all of those tips went blurred when I personally

was hit with the most tragic personal news I have ever received. Monday being the start to a new week, and then the tomorrow Tuesday October 1st being the last quarter of the business finance goals for 2019, I planned to finish strong.

Death

Over the last month I had lost an old friend Gentry Mason, a client and friend Cedric Benson, and another person close to me Mrs. Terri Long from Longs Vacuum and appliance in Austin. From health reasons to a motorcycle tragedy, I cried, and celebrated every memory of their life I could to move on to work the next day to be strong. But on Tuesday October 1st, my planned strong end to the last business quarter of our Austin Cleaning Service failed and it was my first time experiencing a time in my professional career that I didn’t know how to handle the next day.

Life

Having employees and clients that rely on your strategic planning to make everything go smooth as can be was the last thing on my mind. My youngest brother Jeremiah had lost his battle with depression. I had no words, tips, answers to emails or voicemails to offer. My business life for 23 years has been to push forward through raising children, a divorce, sicknesses and death, but this loss left me without a will to push for business and focus on family. I often let my Dallas employees take over our social media pages but I do monitor it, so I started to think maybe I could have them take over, but the more I thought, the more I cried so I stopped.

The Pause

Stopping and pausing were two of the hardest things I had to deal with during the next few weeks of loosing my Brother. I tried to stay busy and attempted to work on Wednesday after I received the news. It was the hardest and strongest half day of my life. Pushing through tears while pausing to connect with the family for immediate arrangements all the while trying to work was a disaster. While standing in my clients home to do a final walk through of the RoundRock cleaning services that were provided, I paused and then stopped. My clients sons name is Jeremiah and he is at the age that his name is still on everything in his room. I tried to hold back my emotions then realized that my push was too much and I had to pause for my own mental health.

Push Forward

The days went on and we planned a Memorial service for that Saturday. I pushed work off on others and paused what I couldn’t handle without letting most know what I personally was going through. Being a small business owner involves wearing many hats. Most don’t need to know what hat I have on at certain times of the day but all hats at this point were pushed away on the scale of importance and it cost me more than money. I lost a client of 9 years due to me attempting a reschedule that didn’t work for her. I looked at our client notes and noted every time I rescheduled for them and every time I made a last minute adjustment for them and realized that I had to push past the personal and pause for myself.

The Personal

Death has a personal side that most don’t see that attend the funeral or memorial services. The cleaning of your loved ones personal possessions in whatever state they have left it in and wherever it may be is the most personal thing you can deal with in the end of someone’s life.

1. Don’t do it all alone.
2. Pause and reflect at your own pace, even if it means taking as much time as you personally need.
3. Think of others that loved your loved one. There may be something memorable to them that they would like to personally have.
4. Therapy is needed.
5. Be personal with work so that people can understand your pause.

The hardest thing that anybody would have to clean in their life is the leftover possessions and last movements of a loved one.

It’s now Friday October 25th at 9:41 pm and I’m grateful for every person that reached out and every client that paused with me through this life moment.
My brother Jeremiah was 23 years old born on the 4th of July. He gave the most amazing hugs that you felt in your soul.
I learned that Jeremiah collected rocks of all sizes and shapes. They were in his jacket pockets, pant pockets and around his room that we went through after his passing. I never got a chance to ask him what the significance of the rocks meant to him.


💚💙