What do you do on your day off? For most people, it’s all about relaxing. Maybe spend some time with the family, go out to eat… Your day off is for recharging your ‘internal battery’, unwinding if you will. If you have your own business, you don’t really have days off. You’re not working a five-day schedule. You owe yourself to your customer and you must be available for when your customer calls.
But anyhow, you still take days off. The only thing is that they’re not on a fixed day. Personally, I try to get different things done on my days off. Sometimes it’s going to the supermarket or running a few errands. There are times that I really don’t have anything to do. What I do in those days is focus on myself. This allows me to achieve a balance in my life. A few years ago, I learned that it’s all about having balance. The minute you lose balance, you start going a little bit crazy.
There’s a man named Andrew Lumish. He spends his days-off in a very unusual way. What he does for a living is specialized cleaning. His focus is mainly on upholstery and carpet cleaning. So, what does he do on his day off? He cleans. He doesn’t do his usual cleaning. He cleans something else. It all started when Andrew went to a cemetery to see a friend he had.
At the cemetery, he saw many tombstones that had been neglected. They were in very bad condition. Most of them had been blackened by the elements. You couldn’t even read what the inscription was. It was then that it hit him. How can you honor a hero if you can’t even read who he was? This is when he decided to do something about it. He would restore these tombstones, so everyone could know the story behind them.
You can find Andrew on any given Sunday cleaning and restoring tombstones. He doesn’t get paid any money for this. He’s been volunteering for some time now. He also set up a Facebook page called: “The Good Cemeterian.” This page is used to spread the word and let people know who these heroes were. Andrew thinks it is a very important part aspect in paying homage to them. In the Facebook posts, he uploads pictures of the fallen heroes as well as before-and-after pictures of the tombstones.
He receives a lot of respect and kudos by the fallen heroes’ families and readers. The humbling thing is that he doesn’t let it go to his head. He says that he doesn’t feel worthy of such recognition. He’s only in it to give these tombstones back their glory. He says in a way, he is bringing them to life… in a figurative sense. I think he’s doing just fine. He’s not only bringing them to life, he’s letting everyone know what their legacy is. And it’s freedom!
