Every Life has a Story

Have you ever sat down for a quick lunch in a busy public restaurant or food court and seen a woman possibly in her early sixties, sitting by herself drinking a cup of tea. You notice that she is well dressed and that she must have put effort into her appearance before she left home. You can see that she carries a certain pride in the way that she is seated and how she is politely making eye contact with the waitress for a refill.

Who is this lady and what brings her here you might ask yourself for she is really out of place in this burger joint environment. Why is she alone and why does she look so sad? Where in her husband? Is he at work? Is she divorced? Does she have any children? Maybe they are married and living in another part of the world?

Is she lonely sitting there all by herself? Where are her friends?

Maybe she just moved here and does not know anyone. Maybe she is looking after a sick husband and this is her only escape to spend time on her own while another caregiver takes over for a few hours to let her get out of the house?

Maybe she is waiting to meet a long lost friend or maybe she is going to meet a man and is involved in an affair. Maybe she just found out that she has some life threatening disease and she has come here to sort things out in her head before going home to her family.

Maybe she has just retired and does not know what to do with her time and so she dresses up in the clothes she used to wear to the office so that she feels she still has a reason to get out of the house. Maybe she lost her job and she has not told her family yet and so she comes here to pass her days trying to find a way to tell them that she feels like a failure.

What was she like as a young woman? What were her dreams and did she live a full life? Is she happy? Did she achieve all that she wanted to do. What are her dreams now for the future?

There could be a thousand reasons as to why she is here sitting quietly at her table, looking out the window with a far away emptiness.

Yes everyone has a story and in our busy lives we often forget that each person comes with a past and an uncertain future. You will never know who she really is because you have to get back to work but you tell yourself that you will be back tomorrow and will see another person with another story.
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"It's been said , ‘time heals all wounds.’ I do not agree. The wounds remain. In time, the mind, protecting its sanity, covers them with scar tissue and the pain lessens.
But it is never gone." ― Rose Kennedy