EXPECTATIONS

EXPECTATIONS
On my return walk this morning I saw an old lady, aged 70+ struggling up the hill to my right. She wore a loose floral dress which fell over a very large stomach and she had a large hump on her back. With her right hand she was pushing a stroller and with her left hand she was leading a toddler. Half way up the hill she struggled slowly across the road. Where another incline would greet her.
A little later, and aroused by this experience, I spied another older lady in front of me pushing a heavy stroller, and I so hastened to catch up with her.
“Hello,’ I said. “And who’s this little one?”
“This’s my granddaughter. I’ve been minding her, but I’ve told them today that this is my last day. I simply can’t do it anymore. I don’t have the energy. She’s asleep now. I’d rather her be asleep later on when I need a rest. I love her to bits but I simply can’t continue to do it.”
Not that long ago, I met a lady I knew leaving the gym at about 7.15 a.m. She’d been a regular gym family attendee for many years, but I hadn’t seen her for quite a while. ‘Hello,” I said. “Where’ve you been?”
“Oh,” she said. “I have to leave the gym about now to get home to take the grandchildren to school. I don’t mind,” she said and her eyes lowered and her mouth straightened. “We miss you,” I said.
I recall a conversation I had some time ago with a young woman who had two little children. “Day Care is taking most of my earnings,” she complained. “And do you know what happened?” I clearly had no idea. “My mother retired not so long ago and I said to her that’s fantastic! Now, you can mind the children for me, and do you know what my mother did? She went straight back to work!”