Yes, We Are Lucky

Following on from the previous post, where I asked 'Aren't we lucky to be able to do this?' I have to say 'Yes, we are'.

I just enjoyed a brisk walk across town to collect a prescription for a family member and met a nice chap on the way out of the doctors' surgery. As we were both popping next door to collect the medicines, we had a brief chat that made me count my blessings.

Not that my new acquaintance was compaining; far from it. He's just had a new hip and has lost the limp he's had to put up with since he contracted polio as a small boy. So life is looking up for him.

Not only that, he's just had a cataract op and a new lens that means he can read a newspaper properly for the first time in years. He's seeing the optician about his other eye next week.

So, all good news for him so far, which was lovely to hear.

But he also remarked that he spends half his life in the dispensary, his old polio symptoms are starting to trouble him again and he's never really felt up to doing exercise. No fault of his - I know polio had horrible effects on a lot of people's health.

But I couldn't help thinking, as I stood there, feeling invigorated by the walk, pain-free, healthy and contemplating cycling from Paris to Venice this September, how amazingly, incredibly and almost unutterably lucky I am to be able to do any such thing.

I know I'm not as young as I feel, and that makes me feel fortunate, too.

One of my wife's friends told her today that he hopes to cycle around the coast of Britain next year, and he's more than ten years older than me. I'm sure he feels lucky as well.

So the next time I'm grumbling that I can't get out for a day or two or that not everything in the garden is rosy, please just remind me what I wrote today!

Roy