I quit!

I QUIT!

Dusting crumbs off the breakfast table, Sadie turned and caught her reflection in the hall mirror. Horror! It couldn’t be! Her hair was sticking up at ungainly angles making her look like a stand in for “the Adams family”. Her mascara, inexpertly removed last night, had left two dark, panda eyes making her look like a walking insomniac.

Graham, her husband of many years pecked her politely on the cheek, as he slid sideways out of the front door into the cold December air. He ‘air waved’ from the car as it turned the corner.

Lucky him, thought Sadie. Lunch with the other staff in the canteen, jokes across the office, swopping weekend fishing stories. And here she stood, looking at the four walls. She turned and almost tripped over the cat. It was her companion now for the next nine hours. In fact, she probably talked more to the grey tabby than any one other being. Bonus, the cat never answered back.

Outside, the grey sky was lowering. Light, dampening rain sleeted down. The only thing she had to look forward to today was the ironing. Not very inspiring! Suddenly she was seized by a desire to do something different. I quit! Sadie thought quietly to herself. Just to make sure she had really had that renegade thought she looked at Fuzzy the female tabby:

“I quit!” she shouted out aloud. Fuzzy bolted for the quiet of the upstairs bedrooms and relative sanity.

Putting on her grey raincoat and sensible walking shoes, she grabbed a golf umbrella and exited the domestic arena. It was at least an hours walk she needed. After a short while she noticed a poster on a pole ahead. Peering through her rain spattered multifocals, she read: “An Interesting talk by Graham Browne on Sea Rescues.” subtitle: “AGM before - tea and biscuits after.” It wasn’t too far from where she was. On the spur of the moment, she decided to go.

Arriving a few minutes later than she intended, she realized that the society that was hosting the talk was still finishing up their housekeeping AGM. Plonking damply down on a wooden bench in the hallway she waited patiently, reading all the surrounding signs. Not the least of which was one which read: “Visitors $20”. But nobody was at the counter to take her money. Everyone was at the AGM. The sound of children’s voices rang out in the distance.

The door of the reception area opened and in walked an elderly couple and a dog. The lady sat down next to her on the bench and her husband departed. The dog was a beautiful, black Labrador with a harness and sign attached. Its owner was blind. Sadie was familiar with the set up as her running club had a blind runner with a guide dog.

They struck up a conversation. The woman was immaculately dressed, soft scarf at her throat and sensible trainers on her feet. She was lively and interested in her surroundings. Outside the rain intensified. They chatted amiably about the weather:

“Lovely rain”, the lady said.

Not what I was thinking! Sadie mused quietly to herself. She always found winter hard to get through, the cold and uninspiring low, grey cloud.

Instead, she brightened up and replied:

“Yes, I guess we really need the rain.”

She stroked the dog. Her name was Bessie, her owner informed Sadie. The notice on her harness warned passersby that she was a working dog and not to be distracted. But her owner didn’t mind in this quiet setting.

In their chatting Sadie learnt that all three of the couple’s children lived overseas and weren’t returning to the country of their birth. Also, that the couple lived on a small farm on the fringes of the larger city and had a menagerie of cats and dogs. And, yet they had managed to get here so early in the morning. Sadie felt slightly ashamed for her earlier ‘sorry for me’ attitude.

The speaker closed off the AGM, dimmed the hall lights and welcomed the guest speaker for the morning. Sadie realized that this was their cue. Emma asked if she could take Sadie’s arm. The three shuffled forward in front of the hushed auditorium. Sadie’s worst! She hated being the center of attention. There were three chairs at the front, Sadie thought they had better take them as it could give Emma, that was her name, at least a sporting chance of seeing the slides.

The talk was absolutely fascinating. It involved divers, pilots, seafarers and many rescues. Also, the speaker, whose company it was, had coastal clean-up contracts. The average public person has very little idea, thought Sadie of what goes on around our coasts.

About halfway through the talk, Emma leaned in to her and said:

“Where am I supposed to be looking?”

The screen was a large, white, pulldown affair on a stage above them. It was then that Sadie realized that Emma couldn’t see much. It was a profound moment. Especially when Emma had told her earlier that she had once been a CEO for an optical company.

Sadie had decided earlier that she was going to treat herself to a warm, steaming cappuccino. Emma said she too wanted a coffee.

"Can I take your arm?” she asked.

With Bessie, the dog alongside, the three made their slippery way down stone steps and across a rain spattered courtyard. There were more wet, wooden steps going into the coffee shop. This was new territory for Sadie. She had never guided a blind person before. One had to be careful of overhanging things and doorways.

Safely seated, with Bessie once again sprawled across the floor next to Emma, Sadie ordered a cappuccino. Emma seemed to know the manager, a charming man, who came over and chatted amicably. Her husband returned and sat down with them. It was a very convivial setting, terribly cozy on a rainy day. Coffee shops get that kind of warm, fuzzy vibe on cold, wet days.

It transpired, even more bizarrely that Jake, that was her husband;s name, had returned from the eye laser clinic after having injections in both eyes for macular degeneration.

All of this unfolded against an absolutely normal winter morning. Saidie was stunned. Two people who could have sat at home feeling sorry for themselves were out there enjoying what they could of life. What a lesson!

It was almost as if the cosmos had decided that Sadie needed a sharp course correction that morning. You ungrateful wench, it seemed to say, you feel sorry for yourself because you have to do some ironing. I don’t care if you are bored!

The charming couple offered Sadie a lift back home. She politely refused, saying that she enjoyed the walk, which she did. It wasn’t a lie. She took her leave and started her return trip with a new spring in her step. She hoped she had been a good companion that morning.

Upon arriving home, she looked at her ironing basket overflowing in a corner. It hadn’t miraculously vanished. The ironing wasn’t piled up in neat rows. But Sadie looked at it with new eyes. All the multicolored layers and textures of it. She could see every nuance and color. Suddenly she felt gratitude wash over her. A new feeling of appreciation for her day crept in under her skin and she felt very lucky.

Taking the road less travelled and breaking with routine had highlighted a life’s lesson for her, Sadie felt the rosy glow of gratitude for being alive creep in to her every fiber.