as I was walking in the frozen food section in Publix on Wednesday; I encountered a lady by the name of “Mrs. Ann; ” I believe our making the other’s acquaintance may be a blessing in my life. I hope that I will make her belief true that I am a blessing in her life, as well. When I was walking down the aisle, a “lil’ old lady” was helplessly looking up at the ice cream bars, and when she noticed me, I smiled genuinely.
At the same time, she said, “Will you please help me?” I responded with a cheerful, “Yes ma’am.” She said that she looked after an elderly lady, and the lady loved to eat the popsicles that she was looking at…the friendly woman then asked if I would please get her 2 boxes because she could not reach them.
I laughed, looking at the difference in our height, and said, “Ma’am…I am literally inches taller than you, but I will try to reach them.” I proceeded to climb the freezer, which is a very normal occurrence for me when I want to get something down from somewhere I cannot reach by standing on my tip toes.
After I handed the ice cream/popsicles to her, and she thanked me again…we continued to walk the opposite direction. I stopped in the aisle to retrieve something from a freezer, and I looked toward the lady. She caught my eye, and began walking toward me and said, “Would you mind helping me, again?” I replied that I would not mind, and started to backtrack in her direction.
Once more, I fetched what she was wanting, and upon handing it to her; she thanked me genuinely. I do not remember how the two of us began chatting; but we talked to one another a good 15-20 minutes.
She was telling me about the elderly lady she looked after. The elderly lady was 88 (this woman must be in her 70s), and showed the signs of early dementia. Eventually, I learned that the lady with whom I was chatting is named ‘Ann,’ and she is from Boston. She is the mother of 6 children…her last name is difficult to say, so she informed me that everyone called her “Mrs. Ann” and I was welcome to do the same.
Mrs. Ann began telling me about a coffee shop in the city where we were shopping, and asked if I would like to have coffee with her one day. I replied that I would love to have coffee with her. She then gave me her cell phone number (after she looked on the back of the phone to make sure she wrote it down correctly, because she had the number taped to the back of the phone). I then, asked her to write down my number, and her eyes widened with wonder/amazement.
Mrs. Ann told me that her son who lives in Tennessee and he pays for the phone, so that is why the exchange (area code) is not an Alabama one. I just phoned her, and there was no answer…I could not leave a voice mail because she had not set it up yet!
Hopefully, I will be able to talk to her, soon. I plan to meet her for coffee/lunch, and I will set up her voice mail box. I’m sure that she was not able to save my number in her phone (something I should have done–D’OH), and that is why she did not answer. I hope to be able to speak to her…she needs a friend. We hugged one another, first upon her asking…then the next two times, because I initiated it. I love “old people.”
Baby’s, Children, Old People, Animals…I love them all. It is the people in between I am not so fond of (so, people who are MY age…I jest. Well, kind of)!
