This is the story of a once-vibrant city street and a passionate and energetic neighbor who is using her goodness and joy of mowing to help bring it back and live up to its name.
“When you say, ‘Oh, you live on Greenlawn,’ to me, I want the lawns to look green. The street name just did something to me.”
Bridget Daniel has lived on Cleveland, Ohio’s Greenlawn Avenue for over 20-years now. When she first moved in, the neighborhood was full of nice people in neat houses. Bridget did her part.
“My lawn was always green and fertilized and edged and well-kept. I trim it up, make the house look good, make the property look good as it should be.”
Some of the elderly homeowners were struggling to keep up. One day, one such neighbor, Ms. Kennedy by name, started a conversation.
“She said, ‘I’ve never seen a young person like you that keeps the front looking good, it’s just immaculate,’ Bridget remembers. “I said thank you and then she told me it was getting hard for her to cut her own grass, so I offered to cut it.”
Ms. Kennedy wanted to pay Bridget for the help, but she declined.
“I said I’ll cut your grass when I cut my grass. I don’t need anything. Let me do this for you.”
Soon enough Bridget was out cutting Ms. Kennedy’s grass. And the neighbor next to her. Then another neighbor…and another…
Then when some properties foreclosed and homeowners were forced to move out, Bridget started cutting vacant lots to make them looked lived-in.
None of this surprised Bridget’s family, of course. They remember childhood days when the youngest of 13 cut the two football field-sized yards around her house as part of her chores.
“I’ve been cutting grass for years now,” Bridget says. “As a teenager I would cut the front and back grass. That’s just what I did. It stayed with me.
“That’s the way I was raised. Mom would get on all the kids to pick up the candy paper from around the yard and keep everything clean. It’s in me, it’s what I do.”
Back on Greenlawn at the height of summer, Bridget will knock out a dozen lawns every two weeks. Neighbors took to calling her “The Mower Lady.” Over the years, she’s worn out all kinds of lawn mowers. When Cub Cadet, which is headquartered in Cleveland, heard about Bridget, the company presented her with a top-of-the-line model as a gift.
“It’s the Cadillac of lawn mowers. You push it and it goes. I was so happy and really appreciative of that.”
But it’s not about the recognition. And she still won’t take money to cut your grass. She simply insists on helping.
“They try to pay me but I say no, you’re my neighbor,” Bridget says. “People need help and that’s what I do. You never know who you need or when you need them. On this street, my kids said I liked the name Greenlawn because I was going to make sure that the street lives up to the name. I made it my mission.”
And so The Mower Lady of Greenlawn Avenue will keep cutting the grass and spreading kindness, and maybe even inspire others to do the same in their own neighborhoods.
“I don’t need recognition. I’m proud to be able to do this and honored. I like things to be nice. You should always keep up where you live. I know people can’t, if they have medical things, or the elderly. So, if people could maybe reach out to somebody else and help, that’s what it should be about, helping each other.
“It just gives me joy.”