Spotted Love

 

Dry cleaning can be expensive, when living on a budget.

My son John's dream was to become a chef. When he was just a little boy, he would be in the kitchen with me, helping me peel garlic, grind them in the Mandel, or go outside to pick cilantro. He loved the kitchen. As he grew, the kitchen became his passion, so I enrolled him in a culinary school when he was seventeen. We couldn't afford it, but with the student grant and two student loans, we were able to pay the course. The course included a culinary knife kit, his chef hat, his uniform, two black pants, and two white chef coats with the school's emblem.

The course was for two years, consisting of constant washing and wearing his two chef coats. He was excelling in the classes. The proof was on his chef coat. Every day he would bring home something he had made at school. I could see the happiness in his eyes; he was genuinely enjoying the culinary arts. He was so excited when the internship time came. He was finally going to feel the live experience of working in the kitchen of a restaurant. The fast pace would motivate him to become better at what he had learned at school.

Finally, the big day was approaching; Graduation Day!. He was excited, and so was I. At the time of the graduation, things were not the best at home; there were rent arrears, utilities were unpaid, and we were struggling. The graduates to be were all purchasing new chef coats for the graduation, but I couldn't afford one at the moment. Humble as always, my son told me not to worry that he would wear his chef coat.

I was heartbroken; what could I do? His chef coat had so many spots of food. Two days away from the graduation. I took a deep breath. I went to his room and got the chef coat. I looked at it; so many stains of oil, frosting, and other things on it; how can I get this all out? So I went to the kitchen and grabbed a can of Easy-off Oven cleaner; the can said it removed tough grease. So I sprayed it on every spot and let it sit for a while; then, I put the coat in a bucket with hot water, Tide, and Clorox, not any bleach. I used Clorox. I left it overnight in the bucket. The following day, I put it in the washer. Once washed, I aired dried the coat and ironed it with starch. My son was amazed at the results. He thanked me so many times and kissed me. He even offered to promote my cleaning services as a specialist in cleaning chef jackets to his classmates.

My chest was complete with pride; there was my Johnnie dressed as a chef on the stage among the other graduates; he had accomplished his dream. I felt comfortable to see that you could not distinguish his jacket was a two-year-old chef coat; it looked bright white and new. Sometimes It takes the power of love to make miracles happen.