Two neighbours talking from their yards, windows and balconies

The Ballet story 283

Exactly a year ago it was my birthday

I took a trip to Convent garden

I enjoyed my day we went for a meal we looked around I bought myself a pair of boots

We popped into the Royal Opera House

It would cost around £700 to watch a ballet performance with the seat number on the day

My Neighbour told me of the ballet performance being streamed in the local cinema I informed her it was my birthday in a few weeks

I noted this down in my calendar

On my birthday this year I decided to look this up and booked the family tickets to see

Sleeping Beauty being streamed from my local cinema

It was wonderful to see me and my loved ones watching the royal ballet from Romford

I went there a year ago it was unaffordable

My neighbour watched the show as well

She is 73 years of age

This is a wonderful story so I thought to write a poem and called it the Ballet story

Sometimes God has greater plans for you and me, if we can put our trust in him

He would send strangers your way

The Ballet story

So this was a discussion that took place in my neighbours garden about six months ago and since the outbreak of the corona virus things have moved along swiftly

I moved into this address 18 years ago when my daughter was one and she marked her first birthday here and has since said she has lived at the one address.

My neighbour has a dog by the name Ruby and she is called Joan. She lost her husband few years ago when we moved into the area. I recall her talking to me about one evening and shared her photo of them going on a cruise together when she was 50. So with the outbreak of the corona virus we have not been able to have our neighbourly chats like we did in the front garden so we exchanged numbers and I call her every Saturday.

We also catch up every Thursday when we do the clapping for the NHS as she tends to come out at the same time and we talk across the street

So this is a diary of our telephone calls during the pandemic

Spring Day one-

S-‘Hello Joan’

J-‘Oh is that you Sabinah’

S-‘How are you ?’

J-‘I am good thank you what have you been up to its nice to hear from you’

S-‘I have been busy with my book and my writing as I cannot go to the library on a Saturday any longer’

J- ‘that’s a shame – I have been busy in my garden planting as I have a green house in my garden , it keeps me busy you know’

S- ‘That’s nice to hear and how is Ruby doing?’

J- ‘she is fine she been sitting on the door step waiting for my son who visits on a Saturday. He is coming to help me with my fence today’

(her son car pulls up in the drive way , I can see from my house as I live across the road from Joan)

S- ‘Bye Joan I better let you get on with it have a good day’

J- ‘Bye Sabinah thanks for your call today’.

(I hung up the phone the dog starts barking as she sees her son getting out of the car)

Winter Day Two

S- (it’s another Saturday I have been busy writing my memoirs) hi Joan its me Sabinah

J- ‘How are you? I ask’

S- ‘I am good what’s been going on for you this week’

J- ‘I have been listening to the news and also I have been reading a book’

S- What book have you been reading I ask?

J- she mentions the name of the book but I could not hear her properly

‘Have you stopped working she asks’

S- ‘I go to work three days a week and work two days from home’

J- ‘That’s nice at least you don’t have to go in every day’

S- ‘What did you use to do Joan?’

J-‘ I worked with computers so I don’t want anything to do with computers any more I am just happy to use my phone and that is it’

S -(I giggle and ‘say she is doing just fine at 73 I hope I can do as much as you are now ’ when i am your age

J- we both laugh and say good bye to each other

Summer Day three

S- I call Joan again and ask ‘how her day is going’?

J- ‘I have been well thank God I went for a walk today with Ruby’

S-‘ the weather has been nice now that we are on lock down’

J- ‘Yes it been lovely -its my grandson birthday today’

S- ‘How old is he today then?’

J- ‘he is fifteen’

S- ‘has he got a birthday cake?’

J- ‘Yes I made him one and his dad will be picking it up today’

S-‘that’s amazing I did not know you could bake’

J- ‘ I would have to ask you to bake Yinka’s birthday cake soon’

(Yinka is my husband he turns sixty soon)

S-‘ we planned to go on a cruise but the  cruise has been put on hold because of the out break’

J- Oh I see we would see about that won’t we

S- I hope so

J- ‘any way I better let you off now’

S-‘ Take care Joan best wishes to Ruby’

J-‘Tala’

Autumn Day Four

S- ‘how are you?’

J- ‘Good thank you’

S ‘what’s happened I have not seen your neighbour for some time?’

J ‘Yes she has not been here’

S ‘okay’

J ‘her husband moved out few months ago’

S’ I did not know that’

J ‘He just moved on I guess he had enough’

S ‘oh I am sorry to hear that’

J-‘ I hope she is okay though’

S – I hope the lock down can go away so we can see each other more often I miss our regular catch up due to social distancing

J-Yes I agree

 (Joan is 73 and I am 53 but the good things is the lock down has brought us closer together than ever before of us  living opposite her for eighteen years)

Inspired to write about the ballet story

Copyrights reserved by Sabìnah Adewole.