On the way to the doctors...

My doctors visit yesterday was in the city ...
an hours trip by road...
so my eldest daughter and i went in by train
(and met hubby in there with the car)...



On the way in
a small group of people climbed aboard...
they were a happy little group, full of loud enthusiasm
and i got the feeling that they may have been at a chrissy do
a work christmas breakup perhaps?


Anyway the thing that most attracted me to them
was their infectious enthusiasm...
for ~life~
and so with this thought i closed my tired lids
and leaned my head against the window
to listen for a while to their undulating voices...

to ~see~ what i could hear

As the group had stepped into our carriage
they had split into two
the nearest to me made up of two women
one younger, one older... and a man
and a younger woman sat behind us, with a male companion

As they had arrived, and the group had separated
they all seemed to ~hesitate~ for a moment
but then settled, quickly, when they realized
that everyone was still in full view of each other...

With this, i closed my eyes...
and the gentleman began to speak...
and tell his friends a tale...
of a plane trip and holiday that he had, had in his youth



He began with a description of his flight
how it had ~felt~ to him as the plane had lifted from the tarmac
how the weight had shifted in the craft as it went from ground to air
and the view as he had watched the land disappearing below
he spoke of the sounds and his feelings
He spoke of the 'in-flight' movie
and how different things were probably now, compared to then
i found myself becoming interested in the things that HE found interesting
such as how he chose to speak less of the movie he had watched
and more about how he had ~felt~ about it
i found myself fascinated with the man's voice
as he ~spoke~ with an old world elegance so rare these days
there was a gentlemanly quality to his voice
There was something ~special~ about him...
i decided and continued to listen
as he went on to describe the planes descent,
and the way the crew had sprayed insecticide to prevent traveling bugs and disease
He spoke of how the wheels of the plane had 'smoked' as they touched the tarmac again
and i marveled at the detail of his descriptions
i felt i was ~there~ with him, so vivid were the pictures
that he brought to my minds eye



His story went on to talk of a woman that he had once met
perhaps in his travels?
An amazing woman he said
who lived apart from this modern world
and did things the ~old fashioned~ way
He described the food that she cooked
from scratch, he spoke...
in such beautiful detail
that my mouth watered
and my nose tingled with my own memory of such fragrant smells
And he laughed as he remembered
her ancient old wood fired stove
that had the flames roaring so fiercely from the back,
it's a wonder she didn't set everything alight!

And on he spoke of her 'authentic' recipes
from the 'mother country'
of her mouth watering apple strudel
that was so sweet
it had melted on his tongue



He spoke a little loudly at times
and i surmised that in another life
this may have been because he was a school master
in a boys school
where this habit would have been a necessary
~teaching tool~

i peeked open my eyes at intervals...

and my heart smiled as the younger of his companions
threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around him
i watched as every now and again she did this to him
with such an adoration in her eyes
and a very deliberate gentle touch...
But just like a younger soul
she regularly interrupted his story
with questions...
What did this word mean? And what was that description again?
He seemed used to her questions and sometimes even answered her
before she asked the question
with the patience of older years

The other lady, the older one was less tolerant of the younger
and chided her constant interruptions
for she was interested in the man's story
and had experiences of her own to add
i became interested in this lady's responses too
and found myself marveling at her good memory
for the place names of all the journeys she had enjoyed

Every now and again the man would say
in response to the younger's enthusiasm
"Now sit down Angelina and be ~good~"

And then all too soon the gentleman called that it was ~time~
and the small group became became animated
as they prepared to get off at their stop

Reluctantly i opened my eyes again and watched as they said their goodbyes
to the other couple behind me
and i felt a smile grow across my face
as the gentleman softly squeezed a couple of notes into the other lady's hand
and alighted with his companions with a ..."And you have yourself a Merry Christmas"
and was ~gone~

This other lady's face lit up in surprise
as she delightedly thanked the man
and then she turned to her companion
and said how very kind that she felt this gesture had been
and what a very rare thing such ~kindness~ was in this day and age
and should be ~valued~
It set her off on the topic then, of ~friends~
and how necessary she felt they were, in this life

i closed my eyes and listened as she spoke about her girlfriends
and how important that they were to her...
She spoke about her work and how she spent time volunteering with the homeless in shelters
i let her gentle voice wash over me
there was such a kindness, a compassion, a ~beautiful~ way of looking at life
that was mirrored by the gentle tones of her voice



And as we came nearer to her stop
she went on to say how important a ~true friend~ was
and how she wished for her companion a Christmas filled with ~true~ friends

i smiled at her as she waved good bye

and as the train moved off
i thought about the words she had spoken
about how her friends had filled in the empty spaces in her life
when her relationship had ended
and i considered too the difficulties that she had spoken about
of maintaining a relationship
when you have

~mental disabilities~



You see everyone in this little group had obvious to the eye mental difficulties
a 'slowness' my mum used to call it in my youth...
but they had an appearance that so bellied the wisdom of their words



And so i had closed my eyes to shut off any voices that might judge in my head
i had closed my eyes to remember that i could ~see~ with my heart
i had closed my eyes to the high waisted pants and ill fitting shirts
to the too short pants and darkly calloused elbows
to the highly magnified and old fashioned glasses
and the cheap over filled plastic bags

Because my heart had told me that i was sitting with ~angels~ on this day
that this was a special moment in time for me
and by closing my eyes and quietening my mind
i would be able to ~see~ the true gift
of a ~golden moment~
of ~Grace~



And then i read this entry to my daughter, the same daughter
who had been on the train with me
to gauge our perhaps differing views?

Only to be met with a look of mixed curiosity
and it was then that i realized...

that she hadn't needed to ~close her eyes~ at all



...and then this came into my inbox...

"On this day of your life dear friend, i believe God wants you to know...

"... there are choirs singing in your head. If you listen,

you will hear the music. It is the song of angels.

Pay no attention to the sounds of the world. They are

just noises, and even when added up all together they

have no value, make no sense. Strain to hear the song

of angels. Listen to the melody within your soul.

This message is a metaphor. You know exactly what

it is trying to tell you.

Love, Your Friend....

"

Neale Donald Walsch

*coincidence or ~synchronicity?

...and was the day really about "what the doctor said"...
or about the journey?

xox