I am a very
privileged person. This week I spent
time with two ladies, one in her eighties the other in her ninety-first year and
today I spent a few hours with my delicious nineteen month old niece Busy
Lizzie Long-Legs.
Why do we
forget how to live between the ages of 16 and 40? We are human BEINGS not human
DOINGS. In a perpetual rush to acquire stuff, accumulate wealth and be better
than Joe Bloggs next door we forget the simplest things in life, the ones that
give us the greatest pleasure. Time. Time spent with family and friends, people
who love us. The three people I mentioned above all have time in abundance and
I am privileged that they share that time with me. Chatting. Laughing.
My older
friends like to reminisce about things that happened in their youth, like showing
me photographs of their loved ones and telling me about their little foibles
and fancies. They like going for gentle strolls, breathing fresh air and enjoying
the sights and sounds of the natural world. We talk of everything and nothing. I always hug them
when I greet them and again when I’m leaving. Chats are lovely but hugs are
better.
My niece
loves the fresh air too. Today we spent some time in the playground, marvelled
at all the planes overhead (all going to Africa
of course!). Then we walked up to the shopping centre and purchased some Very
Important Bubbles – Busy Lizzie LongLegs took the money from me and paid for
them herself. We walked back to a nearby park and took our shoes and socks off.
We decided that the slightly long grass underfoot was really lovely. We lay
down for a while and looked at the clouds. Then we had a tickle fight. Then it
was Bubble Blowing Time. Oh! What fun! When you are not yet aged two there is
nothing as exciting and joyous as chasing bubbles with someone who loves you in
a park on a sunny day. Actually it still applies when you are fifty-two!
When the
bubbles were gone we strolled back to the house, playing Monsters Chasing
Evelyn on the way. We decided it had been a really nice day and we are going to
repeat it very soon. Busy Lizzie Long Legs is my best buddy for now and we
parted with hugs and kisses. I am feeling very loved this week. And I am so
looking forward to becoming a step granny in October when stepdaughter#2 gives
birth. I’ll be the best step-granny in the twenty six counties.
So life is
good – filled with people I love and people who need me and long may it
continue.
