Yesterday I took Choco to the vet. We drove about 30 minutes into the next city. Along the way we passed people out walking their dogs and getting a little sun. A nice day for people to be out.
After the vet I went to the fabric shop to buy multi-colored quilting thread. And then I stopped at the bread shop and bought a sandwich and had lunch out on their picnic bench with Choco begging by my side. And then I started homeward bound. One more errand. I had to stop at the pool and pick up my pool bag which I'd forgotten lock, stock and barrel at the pool. (I'm beginning to worry about my brain... this is the third major thing I've just gone off and left...)
On the way to the pool I noticed an older lady, an obaachan, walking on the sidewalk. Wait a minute! Two plus hours ago didn't I see that same obaachan closer to the city? Where was that? That was miles and miles and miles from here! Maybe yes... maybe no... I seemed to recall an older lady walking along and I had thought it interesting/odd that she wasn't carrying a purse nor wearing a hat on this sunny day.
But no. I'm probably wrong. I went on to the pool and retrieved my bag. Should I go home? Should I go 10 minutes back and see if the lady is still walking? I went back. She was sitting at a bus stop now. Okay. She's fine. Make a U-turn and go home.
But something kept nudging me and I U-turned two more times, watching the obaachan on the bench. No one else seemed concerned. Well, if she's just sitting on a bench, no one would think that strange. But if she really is the lady I saw on the far side of town...
I made a quick decision to go get Tetsu (I wasn't far from his convalescent home). If the obaachan was lost then the area she'd been walking has a lot of older people who make use of Tetsu's convalescent home's facilities. I thought about calling the police but if the poor lady was just trying to catch a bus what a ruckus I could cause!
Tetsu came right away and sat down at the bus stop to chat with the obaachan. And realized that the lady was lost and quite confused. So we drove her to the neighborhood police bo
x and after about an hour her family was tracked down. She had walked clear from the OTHER SIDE of the city and had been out since 9:00. (I first saw her at 11:00 and we took her to the police box at 2:00.) Strong legs on that little obaachan!!Tetsu and the police were quite surprise that I could recognize an older lady in trouble but I have heard so many tales from Tetsu of older people wandering away from their homes or getting out of the day service centers etc. that I guess I'm subconsciously aware of older people out alone.
Whew, I'm sure glad that worked out well. I would hate to be making the rounds today apologizing to everyone for sticking my nose in other people's business!
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