The Office: The Queen's Housekeeper

Thank you to Cathy Harvey, Administrative Assistant to Shepherds College, for writing today’s blog.

What would I, a Chicago gal from birth, and a transport to South Carolina, Iowa, and then back to Illinois, know about the Queen’s housekeeper?  That would be Queen Elizabeth, the only queen I have known to be on the throne of England.  And what does she have to do with my work at Shepherds College?  Well, I will tell you, but first, the back story.

Last summer I wrote about how God led me to Shepherds College via a lay-off and the kind encouragement of a respected co-worker (The Office: As He Leads, July 18, 2012). I did not have any academic training in special education.  I had not volunteered in any particular special ed ministries.  It had not really dawned on me until almost the end of my interview here that I had, however, grown up with two very close relatives who had disabilities.  I was certainly aware of their conditions, but did not think about their handicaps as someone else may have viewed them because I had grown up with them, and their lives were part of the normal rhythms of our household and holidays.

I really wondered what I was getting myself into when I ventured here for an interview.  Of course, I wanted a job—our house payment depended on me.  I was laid off in a time when my husband had been out of work for 14 months, so I felt a little anxious about how we would make ends meet while hoping and trusting that God would take care of us like He had so many times in the past. However, I decided it needed to be a win-win situation.  I was not going to desperately try to sell myself and say what I thought they wanted to hear in order to be hired, but chose blunt reality instead.  I was interviewing them as much as they were interviewing me, and I was not sure I was equipped to work here.

I was frank about my strengths and weaknesses.  I remember encouraging them to get “the good, the bad, and the ugly” from my references.  We might as well have the truth out in the open and up front because we would have to work together and coordinate our personalities if I was hired, right?  Better to know if we would have a good working dynamic before putting HR through all the paces it takes to start a new employee.  Not being desperate helped me relax, which helped me think more clearly, which in turn helped me answer the interview questions more thoughtfully than if I had been in a nervous sweat over the whole process.

The interview felt long.  I wondered why they were taking so much time with me.  I think it was about two hours by the time we finished and they gave me a tour.  After departing, I left it all in God’s hands.  

Quicker than I would have imagined, Shepherds called and offered me the position, and I started the following week. I jumped right in helping to prepare for Opening Weekend just two weeks away.  I wondered what I had gotten myself in to when the Dean told me to check on students in the apartments the first day of school to make sure they were up and not fighting.  Thankfully no one was fighting!

Was this really where I was supposed to be?  Why did God open this door?  I was certainly grateful that the Lord provided a job so quickly, but. . . what was I doing here?  How could I possibly help these students?  I did not know anything about the multitude of disabilities represented, how their minds processed information, or how to connect with them.  And now, four years later, I am still here.  What motivated me to stay?  Would you believe it was Queen Elizabeth’s Housekeeping Director?

Here is what happened.  Two or three weeks into the school year, I was watching a recorded episode of Oprah in which she explored how other people and cultures lived, a topic that always fascinated her.  One of the homes she explored was Windsor Castle.  The segment followed a reporter, approved by the Queen Mother, who was allowed to film the workings inside her home.  He documented for the viewers what it was like to be a guest of the Queen.  I was completely fascinated with the housekeeping staff, and the Director of the staff in particular, who reminded me a bit of “Nanny McPhee,” if you have seen that delightful film, with her crooked front teeth and distinctive facial features.

It took four housekeeping staff members, that I could see within the camera view and under the watchful eye of the Director, to help settle a visitor's belongings in the guest room.  Absolute care was taken to unpack suitcases by three people!  One was unpacking and dictating the contents to another who had a clipboard and was taking note of every item.  A third person was taking each article and either hanging it up or placing it carefully in the suite while a fourth person otherwise readied the room.  Clothes were hung on silky padded hangers.  The bed was turned down in perfect and pristine order.  Teddy bears were nestled lovingly between the bed pillows from children’s suitcases.

Preparing for a guest’s departure was equally impressive.  Clothing was washed and pressed and, ever-so-carefully, packed between layers of tissue to ensure a clean and neat suitcase.  It was jaw-dropping to me to see the care and detail!  From off-camera the reporter asked the Director of Housekeeping why they didn’t let the guests pack their own suitcases.  Two staff members in the background gasped at the very thought, in a very polite British way, of course.  But I’ll never forget what the Director said (only because I grabbed a pen and wrote her profound words down!  I rewound the tape numerous times to capture her words exactly.)

She looked straight into the camera, and with her British accent and clear diction spoke quietly and with calm conviction,

“Everything is done to make them feel as comfortable as possible…so when they leave the Queen’s home they say, ‘What a wonderful, wonderful place, and how well we were looked after.’”

In that moment, sitting in my basement apartment, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart, and assured me, “Cathy, that is all I am asking of you at Shepherds.  Take care of the students while they are there, so when graduation comes and it’s time for them to leave, they can say to their parents, “What a wonderful, wonderful place, and how well we were looked after.”

I almost cried. I can do that. I can care. I can be a part of making Shepherds College a “wonderful, wonderful place”.

So, I was inspired to stay, even though I had no (academic) background in a special needs population.  In the day-to-day routines, I do what I can: help the students get their lockers open, replace a broken lanyard, call maintenance because something spilled on the carpet, pass meds, hold lost and found items, help tutor a student struggling with math concepts, exercise with them, make copies for class, make sure they have a travel escort for Christmas break, pass along stickers for the scrapbook club, plan their graduations and make it as grand as possible, and so many little and big tasks to look after them… and offer a wonderful, wonderful stay.

I Peter 4:10, “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others…”

 



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