One thing’s for certain: when an old lady shows up at your door, someone must have brought her! As for the reason, well, that becomes clear with time.
Sallys days had become a dull routine. She had relatives, even a husband, but everyone was caught up with work, leaving Sally, already unwell, to battle more with loneliness and her own thoughts than her illness.
On a rather ordinary afternoon, just as Sally was pondering how to pull herself from her lonely spiral, there came a knock at her door.
On the threshold stood an elderly womanshort and bow-legged, in a housecoat with an apron, smiling warmly. Sally blinked, half-convinced her eyes were deceiving her, but the old lady remained, and even spoke:
I live just next door, in that flat, she nodded at the opposite door. I stepped out to check the lock, and now I cant get back in.
Ah, thought Sally, that flats been empty for ageslooks like someones finally bought it. It was a tiny, grubby place, long overdue for a refurb, and nobody wanted it even at a bargain. Sally managed to open the old womans new flat without fuss and followed her inside.
She was stunned by what she saw. The place looked as if it hadnt seen a duster in yearsfilthy windows, bags and rubbish everywhere, old battered furniture left by past tenants. Given how wobbly the old dear was on her feet, surely her family must be helping herbut where were they?
As they chatted, Sally put the story together. The old womans name was Edna. Shed lived all her life in a little village, owned her own home, raised two sons, had daughters-in-law, nieces, the lot.
But Edna was eighty-two, and though her sons were well into adulthood, neither amounted to much. One son, in particular, began to pester her constantly:
Sell the house, what do you need that big place for? Give me my share of the money!
He wore her down so much that she sold up. Thank heavens she wasnt entirely swindled and managed to buy even this poky flat.
Her younger son and his wife helped her move inand that was that. Edna had been left in that filthy flat for a week, feeling dreadful. Her legs wouldnt bend, were badly swollen, and she could barely walk. There was an open sore on her leg, and she was clearly unwell.
Sally was appalled. How could they move her in and leave her like this, unwashed and alone? Then the horrifying thought struck her: theyd brought Edna here to die, hadnt they?
How else to explain it? In an entire week, only the daughter-in-law had visited, and just once, with a pint of milk and a loaf.
Sallys focus shifted completely from herself to Edna. She thought, No wonder shes shakyshes starved, in shock, and stressed, on top of those dreadful legs.
Not hesitating another second, Sally rushed back to her own flatshe may have been unwell herself, but she knew her way around the basics of home nursing. She grabbed a bowl of soup, her first-aid kit, and a blood pressure monitor, and returned. After a long wait, the old lady finally opened up.
Sally helped Edna eat, then dressed the wound on her leg, and asked:
How long have you had this wound, Edna? When did you last see your doctor?
The answer floored her. Ednas ulcer had been there for three months, and the last doctor she saw was a decade ago.
After eating, Edna perked up a little and even joked, Usually I heal up fast, like an old dog, but this ones lingered too long.
The next day, Edna handed Sally a spare key so she could pop in as needed. Sally did just thatthree days in a row, she checked in, cleaned, fed, and tended to Ednas sore. Only then did the daughter-in-law appear again, placing some cheap sausage and bread in the kitchen. She hardly reacted to Sallys presence, only muttering that she was too busy working to visit more often. As for Ednas son, she said nothing.
Sally thought grimly, Brought her here to die, did they? Well, not if I can help it! Instead of her own problems, she had found a purpose at lasteven if this old lady wasnt her own family.
Without delay, Sally got a GP to visit Edna at home, tests were ordered, blood samples taken. She chased up results at the surgery and was delighted to hear Edna’s health, apart from her legs, was surprisingly resilient for her age.
Sally then bundled Edna off to the doctors, the hospital for x-rays, and even to see the orthopaedic specialist about her knees. She cooked for her every day, washed her in the bath, ensured she took all her pills, and changed her dressings.
One day, Sally came in and overheard Edna on the phone, much more sprightly now, refusing quietly to see the relatives: Well, if youre not coming, no matterIm well taken care of here, clean and fed, even without you!
It turned out she was speaking to her daughter-in-law. Sally realised people might start suspecting she was after old Ednas flatshe knew well enough how some people think. And, sure enough, the lot of them turned up when Edna was back on her feet: sons, nieces, distant cousins and all. But none lifted a finger around the flatno cleaning or helping, just the odd shopping trip if Edna handed over some cash and begged them to fetch odds and ends.
Sally understood: the family were shocked that Edna wasnt wasting away, but rather doing her own washing, surviving hospital appointments, and with spirits lifted.
After three months, Edna’s tablets had cleared her head, regular meals stopped her dizzy spells, and Sally had healed her ulcer completely. The only lingering problem were those knees. It was time to address them, too.
Sally took Edna to the hospital, where the orthopaedic doctor listed her for a knee replacement on the NHS. The two of them had become practically inseparable by now.
Standing in the hospital foyer, Sally looked around at the immense corridors and thought, Edna wont make it far on her own here
She eyed a wheelchair in the corner. Thatll do, she decided.
Settling Edna in, perching her handbag in her lap, cane clutched tightly, Sally cheerfully whisked Edna through the hospital like royaltyEdna grinning, showing every last false tooth, cane outstretched, Sally pushing enthusiastically from behind.
Hospital done, and Edna listed for her operation, it was time to go. Edna was so comfortable in that wheelchair that she jokingly urged Sally, Oh, come on, lets take it home!
But Sally refused, and eventually helped Edna out.
I dont know if Edna will live to get her free new knee, or what will come of all this. But sometimes, in life, you get momentslittle nudgesthat breathe new life into those you help, and into yourself.
You just cant afford to ignore them.
When an old lady finds her way to your door, perhaps shes been sent for a reason. Only time will reveal what that is.
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