In the first grade, we lived in a little cottage on Main Street in Martinsville, Indiana. There was a living room and kitchen on the main floor with the two bedrooms upstairs. Our little family of five had our meals in the eat-in kitchen; our dog enjoyed the picket fenced backyard. A gas station with a candy counter was just two doors down. After school, I could stop there to get some candy, if Momma gave me the money for it.
I don’t know if Momma and Daddy didn’t like living on such a busy street or if we needed the extra bedroom (Baby Sister came to stay a few months later), but we ended up moving away from that cottage house. Daddy had been moving our stuff to our new house all day, and on the final load he left Momma and me behind to finish sweeping the house. Her pride meant that the house had to be super clean when she left it.
When she was finished, Momma left the broom in a corner of the living room. When I asked her why she said it was to welcome the next people into the home. Since those days, I’ve heard of different reasons to leave the broom behind, one being that you don’t take your old brooms to the new home as they are said to hold all of the old dirt and negativity that may have been swept up with them. (steinwaymovers.com)
I had a giggle yesterday when I was watching The Waltons, seeing Martha Corrine sweeping out her house one last time before demolition crews were going to tear down her house. Her pride meant that she wanted this house to be as clean moving out as it was moving in. I didn’t notice if she left the old broom behind.
It’s funny the memories that children keep over the years. I know that I clean my houses / apartments from top to bottom before moving out, but I don’t think I’ve ever left the broom behind as a welcome. What I hope is that super-clean house is a treasure to the next occupant, and that is enough of a welcome.
MDT/Diana Bowden Moore
Screen shot from The Waltons: The Conflict of Martha Corinne cleaning out her home one last time.
