I love a long weekend - you get a day for 'free' which is wonderful. I have noticed that many of the blogs I read who come from Victoria are loving the long weekend too.
Today I went for a drive with some people I haven't seen in ages. It was a warm day and great to sit in an air conditioned car driven by someone else.
We drove to Warburton then up to the Upper Yarra Reservoir to check out the state of the dams and see if there is enough water - there is lots but obvious that the level is down. Lunch was at the Reefton pub (pretty average foodwise but ok) then off to Mount Donna Buang. From there we went back down the mountain to Warburton which was where I got into a little bit of trouble.
We dropped into a bric a brac place and there was lots of stuff everywhere - some particularly weird stuff. I picked up a photo album from a pile of books that were for sale and saw HEAPS of photos of a wedding inside. I said quite loudly to those with me that I thought that it was odd that someone would give away photo album with all the photos. I also thought that there might have been some bad blood from a marriage breakup and the owner just got rid of the photos as quickly as possible.
At this point the lady in the shop tapped me on the arm, I turned and noticed tears in her eyes (oh shit!) and she said "those are pictures of my son and daughter in law at their wedding last year and he died 6 weeks afterwards!"
Awkward moment.
I put the photo album down, friends have all GONE! They almost ran out and left me there to face the music......
I apologised for my comments.
She said it was ok and that maybe it was a silly thing to have brought in the photo album as ti reminds her too much of the sadness in the lives of her son and daughter in law. (you think?)
I made the appropriate noises which encouraged a little more discussion. (hmmm)
Not only did the son die 6 weeks after the wedding, the daughter in law has just had both breasts removed and had a hysterectomy due to her battle with cancer and there are little children to be looked after. The lady is only working until Easter (shop will be sold) then hightailing it to Western Australia to help out any way she can. To top it all off today is her sons birthday! (that was why the photo album was there!)
AARGH!
I quietly climbed into my shell, changed which foot I had in my mouth, wished her all the best and left the shop.
The rest of the day was an anticlimax really. I am still recovering!
6 comments:
It was quite ok to wonder about why the wedding album would be lying there in the bric-a-brac shop.... and there could be many reasons... it's just that the reason you chose to ponder (aloud) wasn't the one that the lady in the shop had in mind... but I'm sure she understood that you were only wondering why it was there.
So, don't give up wondering about why things are the way they are in the world, and don't stop pondering the reasons out loud.
But, having said that, the story of her son and daughter-in-law is very sad.... and many people would ask 'why' to that as well.
P.S. Thanks for your comment on my Northern Lights photos - be sure to look at the rest of them (and enlarge them) on the Photography Pages. Next time you have a long weekend and the Festival is on perhaps you should go to Adelaide instead.
Too funny. Why do these things happen to you?
wow, what an awkward moment! If that were me, I would hang onto those photos and treasure them, not sell them! Different strokes for different folks, I guess. If she was so sensitive about it, perhaps she shouldn't have had the album there where strangers could have commented. Glad you are enjoying the long weekend!
I will never stop wondering about how others live their lives and as a consequence I will find out about some very weird stuff. This wasnt really weird but it was a little disconcerting. I realise that reandom events happen to me as I open my mouth and often ask the quesiton that many dont want to ask....oh the foot in mouth syndrome - gees I love it! You could guarantee that no matter where I travel to something would happen....
I would say her act was quite subconscious and really a cry for help. Unfortunately you just happened to be the one whom sprung the trap. Your noticing and raising the issue, gives her some relevance as well as making her aware of how much its affecting her and looking for better ways to express herself. You may well ask why you, though i would suspect its one of those reflections where when thinking about things going wrong for you that this pales those things into perspective. What makes you special is that you will ask and hence you learn about people not so much foot in mouth rather hand on heart.
Mr (ex) Goatie
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