The Forgotten Lady

Come and sit down.

I have something to tell you.

Once upon a time, there was an old lady.

She was just your run of the mill old lady who kept to herself. She kept a large brood of animals that she adored and kept her company. She had 6 dogs, 6 cats, a rabbit, Cockatoo and chickens.

She lived alone in a tumble down house in a quite street where everybody kept to themselves.

Each day, this woman would walk half an hour to the local store pushing an old discarded baby pram that she had found on somebody's scrap heap. It was as worn and old as she was, but faithfully every day it served her purpose. Not only would it be a place to carry her groceries without breaking her back, but it would support her weary frame.

She would fill her pram with food for her animals and herself, that she bought from the store. Then she would push the pram the half an hour distance back home again.

She would do this in wind, rain or the harsh Summer sun.

Exhausting yes.....but she had to do it to feed her brood.

The woman wore an old red coat.

She wore this red coat every day of the year regardless of the temperature. It was covered in stains and was two sizes too big for her. Passers by would stare and hold their noses because she was a little on the smelly side. She spoke with a gruff voice and one would say that she may not have much of an education. 

She did however ALWAYS nod her head, make eye contact and say hello.

If a passer by was kind enough to stop and chat, then the poor old thing would happily stand and tell them all about her animals.

To do this made her incredibly happy.

The weary old steps that approached the passer by. would walk away with a little more spring in their step afterwards.

It goes to show you that the smallest act of kindness can life anyone's spirits, even on the dreariest of days.

One fine day, the old lady passed by a house.

Inside the house lived a woman who had been watching this lady for many years. This woman always made time to say a cheery hello to the old lady if she could. She had long known how weary and old this lady was growing. Her steps were getting slower each and every day and she knew that one day she would no longer see this poor old lady pass her house again.  She feared that day was not far away.

The woman was out in her garden watering her freshly planted seedlings.

She was dreaming of the pretty blooms that would soon pop up and brighten her garden and make her smile. She really looked forward to that day. She opened her front gate and tugged the hose out onto the footpath to water the lawn.

As she did, she saw the old lady turn the corner and walk towards her.

The woman turned the nozzle to her hose off and waited for the old lady to pass so she wouldn't wet her.

The old lady walked slowly and quietly. Each step showed great strain on her face. Her old bones were creaking and groaning and she wanted desperately to get home so that she could sit down.

She noticed the woman with the hose waiting to greet her. Silently she lifted her head to greet her.

The woman with the hose asked her how her walk had been. She asked about her animals and spoke of the weather. Then with caution, the woman with the hose asked her if her family were around to help her with her groceries. Maybe there was a kind neighbour even to help.

With eyes that were so incredibly sad, the old lady replied that she had family but she didn't see them very often. As for her neighbour, she was elderly too and had been in hospital. In fact she didn't know if she was even still alive.

The woman with the hose just stood there.  She wanted to wrap the old lady up in her arms and take her home herself. She wanted to make her a cup of tea and clean her house and wash her old red coat. She wanted to do everything that this old lady's family were not doing for her.

How on earth could this old lady be so forgotten ?

If she had a family, she had obviously raised her children and cared for them .

Why weren't they there to do the same for her ? 

The old lady would generally stay and chat for a while. Today however she mentioned that she was feeling unwell. She mentioned that she really wanted to get home and go to bed.

As slowly and she had arrived she turned and walked away.

She walked across the road with her trusty baby's pram filled with food for her animals and disappeared out turned the corner out of sight.

The woman with the hose turned and walked through her gate. She turned off the hose and walked inside her home.  She made herself a cup of tea and sat down deep in thought.

Loneliness was a feeling that too many people on this earth felt. It was a sensation that left the holder with an empty heart. There are millions of people alive on this planet so how can so many people be so lonely and unloved ? 

Is it the rushed busy world that we live in and the people in it who contribute to this loneliness, or is it circumstance. Maybe the old lady's family lived interstate. Maybe it was her choice to not move to be near them. I guess it was a question that she would never know the answer to. It made her frown on the inside though and it made her heart ache.

The old lady finally reached home. She took off her coat, fed her animals and went to bed.

She had an empty heart when it came to her family but the love that she received from her animals kept her going. She knew that they were alive because of her. She found joy in caring for them and she felt needed.

Being needed made her world turn

and being needed gave her love in return.

Her animals were all she had in this world and she was all that they had.

and so the world continues to turn.........

Something to think about

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