Friendship Means

"Bring all your laundry with you when you come," Patt emailed.

My response? "What?" I swear the lady is crazy. Bring ALL my laundry?

"Yes, bring all the sheets, blankets, rugs, clothing you have to wash. Bring it all when you come visit. We can hang it out on my lines or, if the weather is bad, dry it in my dryer."

I thought that was a huge, huge imposition upon a friend, even one I've known for 27 years. But Patt was insistent. I wasn't going to bring my laundry. Nevermind that my washer is dying and will need to be replaced soon. I can do small loads and it will all get done, eventually. Nope. Nope. Patt kindly ordered me to bring all of it. I hesitated until my friend, Pam, said, "That is a wonderful offer. Such a kind friend." She remembered having friends offer the use of their washers when she was a brand new military wife living in the "wonderful" military married housing. It's funny, but Pam's indirect blessing caused me to stuff my laundry into garbage bags and haul it to Minnesota.

Everything went; all the bedding, all the blankets, all the rugs, all the pants and shirts, all of it. We washed it. We dried it. I should have taken a photo of Patt's lint trap after drying some of the rugs in the dryer. They had been out on the line but it rained so we used the dryer. I have a black cat. She sheds. I'm pretty sure half a cat was stuck to the lint trap. We pulled towels out of the washer and all these little pills of black fur fell out. We had a great laugh.

Patt's purpose in asking for my laundry was to ease the going up and down of the basement stairs. If everything was done, if I didn't have to go up and down the stairs every day, that would help with my sciatica and my RA. I came home and put it all away. It was such a great feeling to know I was caught up on my laundry.

It wasn't quite enough to make it through the month, so I have done a couple small loads. Then the rains came. I got close to 3 1/2 inches and that amount of water will cause seepage in some places between the wall and the floor of the basement. When I went to bed, there was nothing on the floor. In the morning, there was water. A pile of pants and a pile of shirts was soaked. Hearing this, Pam immediately offered her washer and dryer so I could do both loads and not in little batches. Plus, with the basement drying out, any wash hung on my lines is doing to take twice as long.

I figure there will be sales over the July 4th holiday. What better way to celebrate our nation's independence than by having appliances go on sale. I'll be ready. I don't know if I can stretch the clean clothes without using my washer a couple more times. I'm going to try. Pam said, if it gets to the end of the month and I'm really low on clothes, just let her know.

This is friendship. "Bring all your laundry with you when you come."

Beverage:  Raspberry seltzer water

Deb