By chance..

-
Last Thursday evening I left work about ten or fifteen minutes later than my usual shiny-shaped hole in the door at 17:01. As I was walking close to home, I saw a little old lady walking towards me. 

I have a thing about smiling, nodding or saying hello to older people. They come from a better time when that’s what people did, and I always remember when I was in school hearing a story about a woman who would get the bus every day and sit on a bench in the shopping centre in the hope that someone would talk to her.

So I smiled and she looked up at me, then stopped me to ask directions. We were further along the road than she was looking for, but when I pointed the way nothing registered on her face. I quickly realised. She said she’d been walking for a long time, maybe for four miles, she liked to walk. 

I asked if she knew her address, and like it was a test she shot out the right answer. I told her I would look it up, and thanked technology for smart phones. She didn’t bat an eyelid, just thanked me and waited. 

I hadn’t heard the name before, but by chance I had met a man earlier that day from an adjoining road to hers and not having heard of it before, I asked him where it was. Behind the supermarket. So that’s how far she’d come. 

About 2 kms, 4 miles in old shoes. 
 
I told her I lived around the corner and could drive her home, and she agreed. We got into the car, fastened her seatbelt then mine, and I sent a text to say I’d to run an errand and would be home soon. 

As we drove she told me she was originally from Wexford, one of ten, and that her parents were still alive. It seemed unlikely, given she seemed to me older than my Granny (who at almost 87 told me recently that she was starting to get old, but that it was probably about time she did), but it wasn’t for me to decide. She told me she went to visit them every 3 weeks or so, and they came up to her too. That’s lovely. 

The kids would be out, on the road, they were always falling. She talked about the weather, saying how nice a day it was, and I somehow knew not to mention the awful rain at the start of the week, and then she said how lucky we’d been with the weather over the last few weeks, thanks be to God. 

I asked if there would be someone at home. She hoped so, as she had thrown her keys behind her. I hoped so too, and there was. 

The bell didn’t work, but the knock on the window did. ‘I have a delivery for you’, says I. ‘Where did you find her?’ the man in black slacks and matching polo shirt asked. ‘Down by the park’, I replied. He looked confused, ‘are you a nurse?’ and then tried to explain. I told him I understood, but he had to tell me, he had to explain, he had to say the words, ‘she has dementia’. He thanked me and I left.  

She looked at me, smiled and nodded, and went inside. I hadn’t even noticed before that she had no coat or bag, but had a good pair of shoes on. She liked to walk.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

There’s nothing worse

-
I work with a guy, who no matter what you say is wrong with you (including, today, having ‘The Fields of Athenry’ stuck in your head) says ‘there’s nothing worse’. So leaving broken limbs and falling off heads aside, here’s a countdown of my current top ten of ‘there’s nothing worse’. 10. Having a song stuck in your head – This really depends on the song and what you associate with it. If it’s a four word loop of something by the Cheeky Girls, Whigfield or, to be more current, Jedward, then that’s seriously head wrecking. However, if it’s a song that reminds you of something or someone good or if it’s along the lines of ‘We Are the Champions’ then it’s fantastic! 9. Getting to the phone as it stops ringing – This is made worse when you then go to call the person straight back and you can’t get them because they’re leaving you a voicemail, are ringing someone else or have just dropped the phone and ran away, as some stand up comedian once said.  8. Banged knee – I...
Read more

Last Sunday

-
Last Sunday my Granddad got up and went to 9 o'clock Mass in his local church. Last Sunday I got up and brought my mother to brunch at 11.30am in Odessa. Later my Granddad had a roast goose dinner, followed by trifle and cream. I had smoked salmon eggs benedict, freshly squeezed orange juice and coffee. After dinner, my Granddad (aged 90 and almost a half) went fishing. After brunch, I (aged 31 and almost three-quarters) went shopping. After fishing, my Granddad walked from the river, through the fields, to the bridge to wait for his lift. After shopping, I went to lie on the couch in my boyfriend's house, tired from a night out and early start. Last Sunday, my Granddad sat on the bridge, hands on the stone either side and bowed his head. Last Sunday, as I started to open an ice-cream and sit on a bench, I got a call from my mother, sobbing. Never sick, we never expected him to go. His first admittance to hospital was for his post mortem. He went they way he should, a...
Read more

Take my eyes..

-
I’ve always carried an organ donor card . I’ve always told my parents my wishes, worried that I’d go to waste. My father would wince, thinking of what would have to happen for me to give life. My mother would wince, thinking of her daughter’s eyes.  When I was little I would go with my father to Pelican House and watch proudly, and fascinated, as he gave blood. He couldn’t watch as they put in the needle, nor as it drew blood, but he did it regularly for as long as he could.  I remember getting ‘the owner is a donor’ pencils and ‘drive carefully, you might need me, I’m a blood donor’ car stickers. Back when I still used pencils every day and couldn’t wait to get a car just to stick up those words. I remember working out how long it would take me to get to 20, 50, 100 donations if I started on my 18 th birthday and gave every 90 days. I was much better at mental arithmetic then. I've since started to give blood , moved on to platelets, took a break, went back to...
Read more