August 10, 2023
A Heartfelt Tribute to Mom's Love for Laundry
A heartwarming story of Vivian’s love for laundry as the inspiration of Pam’s (her daughter) investment in Loopie.
The simple act of doing laundry can hold cherished memories and life lessons passed down through generations. For one family, the love of laundry was a special memory, whose passion for the task remained strong well into her 80s and even her early 90s. This blog post tells the heartwarming story of a mother’s (Vivian Peifer) love for laundry, her dedication to doing it the old-fashioned way, became the inspiration of her daughter’s (Pam Feinstein) investment in a laundry tech-start up, Loopie.
Mom’s love for laundry
Throughout her life, Mom had a deep affection for doing laundry. The rhythm of washing, drying, and folding brought her joy and satisfaction. “I remember in the wintertime when we were little playing amidst the frozen laundry hanging in the basement that had started on the line outside. I remember her teaching me the best way to use the clothespins to hang up the different items so they would blow with the wind and dry faster” – Pam.
Mom hanging sheets at age 90
From an early age, Mom put the family to work that is ironing. Starting from handkerchiefs, pillowcases, T-shirts, and even underwear, gradually Pam took on more significant projects. To this day, Pam continues to do her own ironing, though thankfully, there aren’t as many garments requiring it today.
When Mom visited Pam and her family in DC or at the beach, she’d always come up with creative ways of hanging some of her clothes out to dry in the backyard, whether it was on fences, chairs, porch railings and even trees. “I don’t know who finally convinced her to get an electric dryer but she did eventually. Even after she had the dryer she’d still hang certain things like bedsheets out when the weather was decent” – Pam.
Mom also occasionally did laundry for her grandkids and even her daughters who lived near her. They’d drop it off to give her something to do and she’d have it ready in no time. If there was a Loopie quick turnaround challenge, she would have definitely won, no doubt! On several occasions Pam suggested that she should check around to see if people needed help with their laundry, not necessarily for the money, but to stay busy doing something she loved. If Loopie was around then, she would have been a perfect fit, although she would have needed an assistant to handle the technology.
Other than doing laundry, Mom also liked painting furnitures
Mom looking fierce by a tree
A Legacy of Love
Two years ago, in June 2021, Mom passed away, leaving behind cherished memories and a small inheritance from her estate. Pam never wanted the money to just sit in a bank but rather be put into something in Mom’s memory. As Pam pondered how to honor her memory, she discovered Loopie in late 2021 — a laundry service founded on the principles of love, care, and kindness. A couple conversations later, there it was, a match made in heaven, a meaningful tribute to Mom’s unwavering love for laundry becoming a legacy.