Just checking in

Have you ever run into someone from your past, looked at them and then think to yourself oh my god, what happened to you. Well this past weekend I did and was floored by their appearance, so much so that I didn’t even recognize them. I was in the Dollar Store and this woman came up to me and said hi. She seemed genuinely happy to see me and went to hug me but I quickly stepped back not knowing who she was. Before me was this older woman who looked pretty haggard. She weighed all of about 90 lbs and I could tell that life had been very rough on her, or she had been very rough on the life that was given to her. My mind isn’t what it used to be but I did try to get the old cog wheels of my brain in motion and put a name to this person, but I just couldn’t. I kept a smile on my face as she asked how the kids were and especially my oldest daughter. She mentioned the name of one of her kids and then it came to me. I was stunned to say the least. My oldest daughter used to babysit her kids. Now I know I’m getting older and I’m trying to carry my age as best as I can, but hell bells, this woman looked older than I am when in all actuality she is more than a few years younger than me. I think back to the days my daughter babysat for her, and just shake my head sadly. Back then this woman had been beautiful. She was classy and filled with life. The woman standing before me was so far from what I remember her to be that I actually began to feel sad for her. I stepped off to the side of the aisle so we didn’t block the way for other shoppers and without skipping a beat she started in on how her car ran out of gas just outside the store and could she get $5.00 off of me so she could at least get to a gas station. I had this strange feeling that there was no car and since the Liquor Store was right next door I figured she was a few dollars short for her drink of choice. I was going to politely refuse when she began talking about all her medical problems. It seems that she was (and still is in my opinion) addicted to drugs. She was telling me about how she needed to go for some medical treatment on her back and I was shocked when she turned around and slipped the back of her pants down to show me where she needed to get injections. Let’s just say that I and a few other shoppers were able to view the top half of her arse. This was not the classy beautiful woman that I remembered. At this point I just wanted to leave and quickly opened my wallet and handed her the money she needed. She hugged me and quickly left the store. I looked around rather embarrassed and one older gentleman smiled and said “life is what you make it” and then went about his shopping. I too continued on with my shopping trying not to think about what had just happened. I have no clue if there was a car or if she was now at the counter of the liquor store. All I can say is that my life hasn’t been easy and I have felt my fair share of pain and heartbreak and have even struggled through a few medical problems, but I can honestly say I weathered my storms a lot better than she was apparently able to weather hers.

As for what I have been doing with my time since my last blog, well it can be summed up easily, working hard and getting the house ready for the upcoming winter months. There are only a few weeks before Canada’s Thanksgiving and once that is over it will be time to start getting the Christmas shopping started. I know I’ve gotten a few groans with the mention of Christmas, but what can I say, I’m a child at heart. J