little old ladies...

Don't worry, I won't take up too much of your time but here's something I have learnt from spending so much time in a female stroke ward. Those little white haired ladies that I pass in the street are people and a lot of them are lonely and frightened of the loneliness.

Sadly my MIL is out of it pretty much, but the other ladies who have passed through the ward in the last six weeks or so have at least some understanding still. Hopefully they will all get a lot better - go home, watch TV, climb the stairs and go to bed, make a cup of tea. I hope that doesn't sound condescending but this has really been an eye opener for me.

Here are a few things I have learnt from these ladies. Their partners are gone and they live alone with their memories. They are terrified of going home and not going home at the same time. They wait for their next visitor to turn up. They laugh at all of my jokes even the bad ones. Talking to them has helped fill the time as my MIL doesn't talk much because she is mainly asleep. Talking to them has made me smile. Talking to them has allowed me to nod a hello and chat with the other old ladies who pass by my gate on a sunny afternoon.

Anyway this is Anne and if she was thirty years younger apparently - yes, she loves my jokes and makes me blush. You know old ladies may once have been young girls after all.