Au revoir cher ami
Our experience at Unique has been a hodgepodge of relationships we’ve grown, friendships we’ve flourished, and losses we have suffered. We have loved people and we have made a difference in people’s lives. We have earned respect and have given it out to so many wonderful people we’ve been blessed to know over these years. We have met kindred spirits, have given to other families with the help of our Unique family adoptions, and have truly grown as individuals through our eclectic collection of clients in the St. Louis area.
When we post about clients being members of our family, we truly mean that. To us, this is a family business. If we are successful at growing and sustaining a small business in the community, we can only hope to pass our life work on to one or more of our children. We love our work, and we love all of the families we work with. We know their lives. We hear their stories. We have been given so many gifts and so much useful advice and encouragement. We have been told many interesting stories of families and past experiences, and have even been given unique cleaning tips by many of our client moms. Our client community means so much to us. But very few people have been as important as our adopted parents: Margo and Scott.
We lost Scott this summer. It was very sudden, and very hard on all of us. Margo leaned heavily on Terrance and I during that time. She couldn’t drive and she needed us. Many of you know I struggle with health, and taking care of my dear friend during this time was so hard for me. I had a sister leaning on me, a new niece, and I just didn’t have enough time for my Margo. Covid times make weeks turn into months, and I was getting sick too over those months. We go above and beyond, and often do more for our clients than just cleaning. But sometimes we are left wondering what more we could have done. I will never stop wondering about Margo.
I am so happy I had been coming along with Terrance over this past year. I had been out of the cleaning side for quite some time due to my conditions and the homeschooling during pandemic. But I was making trips with Terrance on Tuesday just to see my adopted parents and gab with Margo. We saved them, and they saved us. Our story is special. I don’t truly know how to tell it. But I know these two people changed us both and the way we will look at our world moving forward.
Life is heavy, and it will hit your heart when you least expect it. I miss my dear Margo. Neither one of us was over losing Scott, and this beautiful lady floated her way across the country to see friends and family, ending up with her brother on the east coast. That would become her final destination. We would be left with taking care of her home, our dog brother and sister, and the memories we had during the years we cared for this amazing couple.
Since she passed last week. I have been blessed to speak many times with Margo's brother. She lives on in each of us as we share memories with each other. It is so refreshing to have stories to share and to listen to things she wrote about us, even when it is embarrassing! We are finding things she wrote that break our hearts. Margo loved lists. She made them about everything: things to do, things to buy, people to buy for, restaurants she wanted to try, and my favorite: music she wanted to remember. Terrance shared a precious moment he had with her where he asked if she needed help with her music streaming. She was listening to Nas, a hip hop artist from our generation. He went to help her get off the station she was clearly stuck on. She yelled from the living room. “I know what I’m playing. This is Nasir”. When he told me that we had a moment, and couldn’t stop laughing, or crying… she was just Margo. You had to know her to understand that.
Terrance and I take great pride in being asked to throw Margo and Scott's estate sale, or as I like to think of it: their going away party. While this is a lot of work for us, Margo and Scott would have it no other way. They was our biggest support system. They called us their kids. She and Scott were 2 of our biggest fans. They were 2 of our favorite clients, and we truly loved them.
We shared many moments in our own home talking of Margo and Scott throughout the years. We invited them over and although they never quite made it, they were always there in spirit. Our kids knew who they were. Margo sent candy and snacks at almost every visit. Margo got the kids (and us) gifts. She loved listening about our lives. So did Scott. They liked getting their own cards for us. And they were always funny or relevant to our lives. They would get their own gifts for us (sometimes in competition with each other). Our favorite memories involve song wars with one downstairs and one upstairs: Amy Weinhaus versus Barbara Streisand, and Terrance and I singing somewhere in the middle. We had coffee, sat and talked at every visit. They got all types of extra services, because we just loved and wanted to help them. And they wanted to help us.
During very hard times they offered us the world. Although we never accepted, we knew that we had real family to lean on if ever our boot straps were to snap. For Terrance and myself, this offer alone was priceless. We were all living our lives, and fighting our own struggles, and we didnt always agree. We even outright argued at times, especially when Terrance and Margo disagreed with Scott on politics! One thing we knew throughout it all: we had love.
And so as we say goodbye, we want to remember how short our lives are, and how important relationships are. Remember those you choose, and choose to spend a little more time with them. Our dear kindred friends I wish we would have had more time. But we cherished the short time we had, and that brings us peace as we grieve over the loss of one of Unique Household Services' first clients.
