AMAZING CONNECTION

 

Two ladies who first met through the wonders of the internet and instantly made a connection of mutual admiration and sharing of life stories.

Their lives so far cover a similar time scale, starting in the UK. They had pretty normal family lives and (almost) shared a common family surname. They both had a desire to help others and became nurses. Once qualified, they independently headed abroad, one with Save the Children fund, and the other to a family in New Zealand. It was then their very different adventures began.

This year, 2024, they decided to meet one another in the flesh and share their amazing life experiences. Their names are Anne Watts and Penny Wobbly. The visit was arranged for 5 September 2024.

Penny Wobbly

I could not wait to meet Anne, someone I have admired for a while. We had exchanged emails, phone conversations, and Zoom meetings, where her lovely personality, sense of humour, and practical, no-nonsense approach to her amazing life experiences intrigued me.

I longed to meet her and today we did. I was like a teenager awaiting the appearance of her pop idol. Everything was ready for her arrival.

My husband set off for his dental appointment. I was going to walk to the station to meet Anne once she had notified me she was on the train. The call came and I put on my coat and collected my three-wheeler, ready to set off, when a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning announced the arrival of the forecast yellow storm. The rain thundered down, pounded on the roof and bounced off the ground in monsoon fashion. My heart sank. I couldn’t walk to the station in this, and we would most definitely not be able to walk home together either.

Rapid implementation of a cobbled-together Plan B: I rang my lovely carer and asked if her husband could run me to the station on his way to pick up their children from school, as my young man was out at the dentist. He so very kindly agreed and, on arrival, he had to back his car through a newly formed lake. I told him not to leave the car. I would manage to skirt the lake and hop in. The rain fell in stair rods, an old-fashioned description; however, once in the car, we set off on the very short ride to the station. I leapt out; well, it might not have been as swiftly as that. 

Hobbling down thirty stairs to the platform, I gazed into the distance, having been told by Anne that she was at the back end of the train and wearing a bright jacket. My cataract vision was put to the test in the dull rainy light. There was a flash of bright colour heading left out of the station; if I had blinked, I would have missed her. Oh no!

I headed for the thirty steps back up to the station entrance, speeding my dot-and-carry leg action, to meet what would definitely be a dripping Anne, as the route she took was out in the deluge.

As I reached the top, she appeared around the corner, dragging her case. We hugged, and laughed; two soggy ladies, delighted to have at last been able to meet in real-time, without pens in our hands. I was in seventh heaven but had to send for the help of my young man to whisk us home when his dental visit ended.

Suddenly, the traffic snarled into an almost unmovable mass as the school day ended and parents, who normally left children to walk home, arrived to try to keep them dry.

My husband appeared and, once we settled in the car, I looked at him: he was absolutely soaked. He too had been caught in the deluge on leaving the dentist and rushing to his car up a nearby street.

What a welcome! Yet, in spite of everything, it will be remembered for a very long time by us all.

2024 © Penny Wobbly of WobblingPen