Searching for Comfort
by Floriana Hall
I first met Bethany while I was at water exercise a year or so ago. She looked so neat in her attire and was very friendly to everyone.
Bethany was born of a black mother and a white father whom she had never met. She had light skin, small features, straight black hair and a soft voice. Her childhood was filled with several stepfathers. Even though she was a little slow and yet flighty, she always had friends.
As Bethany grew older, she was noticed by many black men who were enamored by her good looks and her demeanor. However, they all seemed to be losers. She married her first husband because she loved him and thought he would take care of her. He flattered her with his loving words and promises.
Unfortunately, he started stepping out on her after a few years of marriage and two daughters. Their divorce was amicable but he was mostly absent as a father and provider.
Bethany wanted security and love but for some unknown reason could not find a man she could trust. She had to have a source of income to raise her two daughters. She was gifted with knowledge of how to repair household fixtures and items. She did not know how or why she could repair most anything but she could. Renewing drawers, painting, hanging wallpaper, etc., seemed natural to her.
She started a small repair business from her home and was able to make a decent living for a while. Tragedy struck suddenly when Bethany could not seem to walk without pain. Tests were done which showed that she had MS (Multiple Sclerosis). At times, the pain would diminish only to return like a sudden storm once again. On bad days, Bethany would have to stay in bed. There was no cure.
Bethany tried to keep her shop open. On one of her good days, she met a nice black man who had a good job as a landscaper. She thought he might be the love of her life. They married and had two sons but were later divorced.
One of the boys was a very slow learner and needed special schooling. He had seizures and as he grew older, Bethany was unable to care for him. She decided to put him in a home where he could learn to take care of himself. She did miss him but knew the home could teach him more than she could.
Her daughters both married and had children. Bethany adored her five grandchildren and doted on them. Her youngest son, a very handsome young man, still lived at home. Bethany sought out clients on her own even for landscaping which she had learned from her second husband.
While I was conversing with her in the warm pool one day, I mentioned that I was looking for someone to remodel my bathroom. She was interested and said that she could do the remodeling for me. She asked to see the bathroom. I always like to help others and was glad to find someone to help me.
Bethany came over to my home and agreed with me that the fish on the old wallpaper had to go. A neighbor had redone the bathroom for me about twenty five years ago and it looked old fashioned. Immediately, Bethany had new ideas bouncing in her head and wanted the job. I asked her how much she charged but she avoided telling me the price and said she did not know yet. That made me a little hesitant to employ her but I decided to wait and see. She had a way of avoiding the subject by jumping to another while talking sweetly and softly. I liked her then and still do.
I took her shopping with me to buy a new cabinet and light fixture among other things. I surmised that she was a compulsive shopper when it came to spending MY money. She thought of my bathroom as her own. Bethany kept bringing adornments she bought for my bathroom without consulting me. However, I always liked her suggestions and arrangements so went along with it. How she could afford to buy all these extras was a mystery to me for a while!
Every day when Bethany arrived at my home, she complained about the old clunker of a car she had just bought and the catalytic converters. Somehow she had acquired three catalytic converters which may have caused the car to stall. One night she had to call her daughter to recharge the battery. Another night while it was snowing and blowing I went out to help her recharge the car’s battery.
Some nights Bethany would stay until midnight cleaning up because she moved very slowly. I had to practically kick her out, figuratively speaking, so that I could get my sleep. She admitted that I had a lot of patience with her. My husband was fine with this arrangement at first, but started to get irritated with her constant presence for six weeks. It was partly his fault that she could not start early in the morning because he slept until noon or later every day.
We did like the work she did and the bathroom really looked elegant. My husband said he thought it looked like a hotel with all the trimmings.
I subsequently learned that Bethany had borrowed the money at a loan shark company to buy all the extra perks for the beautification of my bathroom. I also was aware of why it took so long. Some days she took off in the middle of the day to help someone else or to pick up one of her boys. Would my bathroom ever be finished?
When it was time to settle the renovating price, she charged me more than I expected. Her list included all the screws she bought or borrowed. I thought she charged too much for labor.
Bethany wanted to start renovating my kitchen. I told her “no” because the holidays were upon us and I did not want a messy kitchen since our children were flying here for Christmas. She wanted to clean the kitchen cupboard doors and I told her to just wash them down. When I came home that afternoon, she had taken off the cupboard doors. We had no room in the kitchen to make dinner. She asked if she could take the doors home to wash, sand and stain. Thank God she did bring them back the next day!
I paid Bethany’s bill in full and now we can call our lives our own. Every one of our children and grandchildren loved the style she brought to the bathroom and the squeaky clean and shiny kitchen cupboards.
At the pace (six weeks) Bethany took to do the bathroom, I surmised that it would probably take about a year of work to take off the kitchen wallpaper and replace the kitchen counter and we could not be without meals that long, not with my husband’s love of eating.
To have harmony at home is most important. Next time, I will hire a professional company even if it costs much more.
