Do you roll down the hill?

In the time of COVID, many of us are isolated and do not have the opportunity to talk to others as much as we would like. When my wife phones her Aunt, she knows she is in for at least an hour-long conversation. The conversations are not earth-shattering and they do not talk of major world events; they talk of the little things in life that are more important than most realize.

When I get together with my friends, we talk of grandchildren, health, adventures on home projects or tell stories of our week and what we accomplished at home.

We all need to connect with others, so we can share our stories and when we do not, we can get moody. I go for a walk almost every day and every time I see someone I say “Hi”, sometimes people answer sometimes they do not answer. It is always a surprise. Carry Ann is an elderly woman (about 10 years older than I am) I met on such a walk. I was resting after climbing a long hill and waiting to go over a pedestrian overpass which leads to a park on the other side. Carry Ann was coming down the overpass, so I waited and when she arrived near me, I said “Hi.” She responded and we talked for about half an hour. I listened as she talked about her life, her husband—who had died five years before—and the discrimination she had faced when she was a young woman. Carry Ann is a First Nation woman and she talked quite openly about how her neighbours treated her (This was back in the 1940s) when they found out. The good news was that the neighbours were renting and when their landlord found out he evicted the neighbours.

As we continued to talk, I mentioned that I was very tired and she said she was too, and she asked me if I used or needed nitroglycerin for my heart. I said no, and then she showed me her vile that her doctor told her to carry with her. We started back and when we came to the park, Carry Ann pointed to a bench up on the hill, and said, “I usually walk up there and sit and rest, and when I have fully rested I then I take my nitroglycerin and roll down the hill and walk home.” Then she laughed.

We need to maintain our sense of humour to make it through these rough days and Carry Ann does that, I hope I meet her again when I am walking.