I shall be a smiling old woman in purple

I saw an old woman the other day. She had slippers on and sat in the shoe section of Woolworths leaning against a wall.

I was fascinated by her – her wrinkles, her coloured socks and her warm hat. I wanted more information on her; I had a sudden hot urge to know her whole family history. I sat next to her on the pretext of waiting for a friend to try a pair of shoes on.

I waited, and I waited and I shot quick glances at her, drinking in her appearance, her persona… her atmosphere. I sat there for for nearly 15 minutes, practising what I was going to say to her – “Hi, how old are you?’But then that just sounded rude. Maybe, “Hi, how are you?’ or perhaps, “Hi, howmany kids do you have?” or “Who bought you those socks?”

In the end I smiled at her and she walked away.

But that was okay.

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, With a red hat which doesn’t go and doesn’t suit me, And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves, And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter. Jenny Joseph

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5 Comments

  1. The first word that comes to mind is psuedo eccentric (psuedo because she lives off her pension)

    But i admire someone who gives in to their wants, while neglecting their needs.

    when i am an old man i am going to travel the world and vist my kids ( the way i see it- i’m gonna push one child to live in america, one in brazil, one in paris and one in asia) its a thirty five year investment) but look at all the money my wife and i will save on accomodation 🙂

  2. I always rnd up having converstaions with strange, random ppl, they just look at me and start telling me their life stories.. mum says its because i look like a good listener.. some of the stories are really interesting.. when i get old, im gonna be a really cool granny, that taken all her grankids out on the weekend, and i WILL age gracefully… and always match, no purple clothes/red hat for me thanks ! lol

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