After the first sip of coffee and the first drag of her cigarette, she pulled out the cards from her house coat pocket, and put them on the table, making sure all historic crumbs were cleared away before the cards touched the flower patterned table cloth.
Her hands, stained and rough from all the cleaning products she used everyday, touched the cards reverently while she said her divination prayer. Then, she picked them up again, pressed them against her heart, wishing, eyes closed, for a good reading. After gently shuffling them, she cut the deck and pulled out one card.
What she was doing was a one card reading for the day ahead.
It was not an important day, it was just a day like any other. In 30 minutes she would go out the door, in another 30 minutes she will be arriving at Mrs. Doherty’s house. She will let out the dogs, start cleaning the kitchen of the previous day’s dishes. She will wipe and vacuum. She will go through the motions, then leave and go to Mr. Murphy.
As it is a Wednesday she needs to vacuum there too. After doing the bathroom, and another kitchen she will take a short break having a snack in the Blackbird pub.
The afternoon will be spent at the John O’Malley’s putting toys away and doing yet another kitchen. Hopefully Mrs. John O’Malley will be busy with her girl friends and will not pester her asking for advice, seeing how she has so much life experience. Grr, go away! She pays well though and the house is full of appliances meant to make your life easier, so despite having to clean after four children, Deidre feels it like an easier job than others.
The cards shuffled well. Before turning over her day card Deidre takes a deep breath.
The card is entitled Dream Big, and under the image of a sleeping mermaid she reads
‘Let go of small thoughts about yourself! See yourself succeeding!’
A large smile spreads across her face. Dream Big. That sounds so nice. She needs to think about it. Deidre puts the cards away and with the thought planted firmly in her mind she sets about her day.
At Mrs. Doherty it turns out one of the dogs had eaten something bad and had thrown up all over the living room carpet. Of course, as soon as Deidre arrived she was told to clean it up. Usually, she would have hung her head down and got to it, but today she had that thought in her mind so she tried something.
‘We need a professional cleaner otherwise the carpet will be stained forever and you will need to pay maybe more than a thousand euros to replace it.’
Mrs. Doherty was not pleased in the least, but the thought of the greater expense made her see to reason, so instead of spending two hours on her knees cleaning the carpet, Deidre spent ten minutes on the phone to her nephew asking him to come over with his professional wet vacuum.
When he was done the entire living room carpet looked like new and Mrs. Doherty was so pleased that she even gave him a tip.
Deidre got to Mr. Murphy just in time to stop him from burning down the kitchen. Parkinson’s and gas cookers sometimes do not mix well together. He started yelling at her to get out and let him be, he is a grown man he does not need a stupid cleaner to tell him what to do. Any other day Deidre would have left slamming the door behind her, but today she felt strong and decided to face the old man’s tantrum.
As it turns out, he confessed in between sobs, after she had confronted him, he was scared and he did not want to be alone. Could they have lunch together?
And they did, and he asked if she could come over the rest of the week too and he will increase her pay. He just needed somebody to keep an eye on him and keep him company.
Dreaming big had certainly marked her day, Deidre was thinking while slowly making her way to the John O’Malley’s. Once there she was faced with total chaos, the children were camped in the living room with bags of snacks and huge soda drinks. The kitchen looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in months, although she had been there just two days before. Deidre was dumbfounded.
One of the older children told her their mother was in the bedroom, she hadn’t been out for two days, since their dad had left on a trip.
Deidre’s heart sunk. She was old enough to know parent to child code when she heard it.
In the dark bedroom she was struck by the stifling air and pungent smell. She pulled the curtains and under the covers she found Mrs. John O’Malley, her face all puffy from all the crying.
This is where Deidre would have picked up the phone, called the woman’s friends and left. Today though, she felt the need to give back. She had received so much that she felt she could not enjoy it if she did not share it with somebody else.
‘Come on darling, up we go!’
Good thing these young women mind their diets, cause otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to lift her. Deidre carried her to the shower, put her in fully dressed and turned on the water. Under the hot water the young woman seemed to recover and after she was left alone she showered by herself. It was like the trek from the bed was what she could not do, but once there she got back her strength.
When she came out of the bathroom Deidre had made the bed and had chosen some clothes for her. She took these to the bathroom and once dressed she came back out.
‘Let’s have some coffee and you tell me all about it.’
Mrs. John O’Malley followed Deidre like a little puppy to the kitchen, where she slid quietly on a chair not seeming to notice the disaster around them.
‘He left.’, she found the strength to utter the words after a few sips of hot, strong coffee.
Deidre was watching her while clearing up around her like a fairy spirit. Where she touched, mess disappeared and gleaming cleanliness was left behind.
‘He left, just so, he is moving to the States, better career opportunities. He is going with a co-worker. What a cliche! I am alone with four children, I cannot do this!’
Her eyes filled with tears and her voice faded.
‘Oh darling! I am so sorry!’
Deidre was stuck for words. What do you say to a person living through such an awful crisis?! And then she knew.
‘Darling. Look at me.’
When the young woman looked up, Deidre took her hands into hers and said slowly, making sure each word was uttered clearly and was understood.
‘You need to let go of any small thoughts about yourself! You have four wonderful little souls that need you and you need them to be ok, to be happy and taken care of! You are not alone! I am here, your friends and family, and you have yourself to rely on. See yourself succeeding! Don’t think just to survive, but… dream big!’
The young woman nodded and her tears stopped.
‘I will do my best.’
‘That is anything anyone can ever ask from you dear.’
Deidre stayed over till well into the night, cleaning, making dinner for the children, getting the family over, leaving only when she had the certainty that everything was all right.
Before turning off her bedside lamp, she gently tapped the deck of cards carefully placed next to her, feeling grateful for their existence.
‘Thank you!’