Saw the movie Saturday with several friends and our grown children. I loved it.
My aunt worked as a maid for a prominent and well known family in Kansas most of her life without shame. They were very good to her and she spoke highly of them. She had a beautifully decorated room at their home for times when she helped with parties. They didn’t let her drive alone at night. They paid off her home and helped her daughter with college expenses. They paid her medical bills and funeral expenses. They also attended her funeral. I met the family when she’d take me to work with her. The patriarch got on one knee, shook my hand, and welcomed me to his home. His wife would tell me how pretty my dresses were.
My family has no shame in an honest days work for an honest days pay. My maternal aunt built a life for herself and a future for her daughter after her husband died.
Thank you so very much for sharing this story. Yours is such a great example of the mutual help that was given and the responsibility that was undertaken for ‘the help’ for the dedicated and loving work they provided for the family.
They were not family, but the responsibility did fall upon the families to provide fully for them for their work and service. This is something on both sides that is often not discussed or honored. Appreciate so much your story.