It Was Just an Odd Day

I was out showing houses to a lady whose parents wanted to come along. Everything was going along quite swimmingly, until the lady took an unexpected nosedive down two small steps and onto a quite recently injured arm and leg. After encouraging her to lie still, covering her with a blanket, running home to get ice, and then trying to help her daughter and father decide whether to even attempt to move her (and thank goodness the rescue squad was called) at one point I was left alone with this poor lady for a few minutes. Now, she is sitting there, or rather lying there, immobile, and in great pain, and I am Pollyanna, telling her these things happen, I am sorry it is her birthday, I had an injury last year, anything to keep her from going into shock and also thinking about her impending ordeal of going through various new medical procedures.

She suddenly turns her head to me and says "You know, before I got married I was training to be a nurse. And then I got married and that was that." It was like she'd had this huge secret for all of these years about her unspoken aspirations and at last had the moment to tell me, of all people., and she made it sound as if her life was over after she got married. Why me? Why do people tell me things like that out of the blue? I don't know, but it surely did seem important to her to tell me at that particular moment. I was glad to oblige her by listening, but it made me kind of sad. I sure am running into a lot of people lately with huge regrets, not for what they've done but for what they have not done or never even tried.

It has made me appreciate all of my mistakes, all 254,615 of them-each and every one of them has been part of this hectic, well-spent life. When it is all over for me, no one will be able to say that I didn't mind taking a risk even if short term failures were on the menu from time to time.