When you’ve stayed alone for a while, being by yourself and living by your own rules becomes second nature. Creating space for anything and anyone new seems a lot to ask. And when you are in the autumn of life, it is a near impossibility to let someone in.
It was something like that with 68-year-old Miss Sally.
Having lost her husband at a young age, she had created a simple, contented and well-organised life for herself. An English teacher until retirement, Miss Sally had chosen to live alone–she had her reasons. Despite her cherished independence, loneliness was a frequent intruder in her life of solitude. Yet, she was not open to the idea of living with her children or asking them to move closer.
As time passed, a gradual lack of purpose and loneliness seemed to get a stronger hold over her life. Often, she made mental lists of regrets, unanswered questions, and sometimes, complaints from life. On a still, a rather listless evening, she sat in the garden holding a hot cup of tea, lost in thoughts of the past. Something broke into her reverie… it was her next-door neighbour, holding a leash to the happiest dog she had ever seen. Her face lit up as the young man called out to her, “Miss Sally, meet Ollie… I named him after Oliver Twist!”
Ollie’s prompt display of affection put an effortless smile on Miss Sally’s face. A bundle of joy, her canine visitor wagged his tail, jumping and galloping across the garden. Before she knew it, he had licked her face twice. Miss Sally hadn’t laughed so much in years. There was a chuckle in her voice and sparkle in her ageing eyes as she invited the bouncy, clumsy mutt for a treat. Ollie followed Miss Sally all the way to the kitchen.
And, he never left.
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