Faithful to Celeste for all thirty years of our marriage, I was devastated when illness took her from me. For months I wandered aimlessly around our big old house, missing her terribly, refusing the comfort of friends and relatives, viewing the future with dread. And then Daisy bounced into my life, turning it around completely.

After months of neglect, the house needed cleaning in the worst way. Having neither the energy nor the interest to tackle the job myself, I decided to heed the advice of a friend and hire a housekeeper. Not a full-time cleaning lady, but someone who would come by maybe two, three days a week to keep things in order. So I put an ad in the local paper, envisioning myself interviewing a bunch of tough-minded, tart-tongued old ladies seeking top dollar for minimum labor. I was not at all prepared for... Read More