(I just thought we needed a picture here…and since these were Grandma Lova’s tiny irons, I thought it fit)
Liz is usually our resident “Art of Homemaking” girl around these parts, but I have recently felt the need to share about some heroes of homemaking in my life. I shared part one HERE and I am sharing another homemaking hero today…..my grandmother Lova. (As a side note, she always explained her name as Love with an “a.”)
She really was a hero to me. She passed away when I was 14 and I still miss her almost every day. We lived close to her, spent almost every Friday night and Sunday at her house eating popcorn and playing in “Darkest Africa” (the dim wooded forest in the backyard) where we would run and play and pretend we were anyone we wanted to be. She had a tennis court (ok, a grassy field that was called the tennis court) where my siblings and I would drive a mowing tractor around for hours on end (and I think we were 4 or 5….I don’t recall how we reached the pedals) and an attic that was mysterious and fun all at the same time complete with a leopard-print fur coat and hat that hung in one corner….that both creeped us out but also secretly intrigued us all at the same time.
Her house was magical. It was the cleanest house I have ever seen….and she was ALWAYS busy with a home or garden project. We would often pull up in our car and she was transplanting lily of the valleys or busy in the kitchen making cobbler or working the books for my grandpa’s real estate business on the adding machine. She was a worker bee….and never sat down until her “tasks were done.” Not to mention the countless hours of knitting that she did and the amazing piles of sweaters that she gave to my sister and I.
Can you see why I miss her? She really was an amazing woman.
One of the homemaking lessons that I most remember from Grandma Lova is, “Always leave a room better than you found it.” She used to say it all the time.
But she truly lived by this principle.
Although my mother will testify that I did NOT live by this rule as a child (I had PILES of clothes everywhere as a teenager); somehow, someway this rule of homemaking has sunk deep into my heart.
I do find myself whenever I leave a room, looking around and finding things that need to be picked up and put away–and then doing it. It usually only takes a minute to pick up a pillow, or refold a blanket (even if it is the 10th time I have done it that day) or placing things on the stairs, and actually taking them up when I go upstairs next.
And it’s changed my life.
My house stays much cleaner (it’s so not perfect)….but I also don’t have to spend hours on it every day. It just takes one look around the room as I am leaving it. And a minute or two, which I CAN do.
Thanks Grandma Lova.
Thank you for that post. That is a great motto and I am going to try to incorporate that into my life. What a wonderful tribute to your grandma. As a grandmom now, I long to leave that kind of legacy behind me. Have a great day!
I finally just sat down for a minute and read your post…I love. I think it may actually be my favorite ever post. (I’m not sure that sentence made sense but I think you know what I mean.) We are so lucky to have lived the childhoods we have had…I hope we can do the same for our kids….
Also, I’m trying this. And I’m not just saying that. I really am going to try this.
liZ
I finally just sat down for a minute and read your post…I love. I think it may actually be my favorite ever post. (I’m not sure that sentence made sense but I think you know what I mean.) We are so lucky to have lived the childhoods we have had…I hope we can do the same for our kids….
Also, I’m trying this. And I’m not just saying that. I really am going to try this.
liZ
It is amazing to me that the messiest of teenagers (especially me) grow up remembering these little sayings. I guess its the messiest ones you have to say them to over and over again until it does sink in lol
I had never heard this one exactly but I remember my mum saying, whenever we moved house (which was a lot) that you should leave a house better than you found it, and she always did 🙂
I am going to try this one too!
Thanks for sharing.
Sound advice. I do like your posts on homemaking. I can only dream of having the time or having compliant family members to abide by the most of the advice but this one is something I should take on board for sure!
This is so sweet, since I new Lova..A lovely woman. She can be so pleased with you..cleaning up as you go. I know this was posted last week, but I just looked on, to see what was current (May 15 is pretty current for me) Lovely post, Mary Lou
I love this idea and am going to try it myself (maybe I can even get my kids to play.). God bless Grandma Lova!