Our family took in an old woman barely related to us, a distant greataunt, if you will. She was not only almost a stranger, but also blind and, forgive me, a little senile. No offence meant, but she was practically lost in her own mind. It seemed a downright bizarre thing to do, yet we did it.
We lived in a modest hamlet in the English countryside, a simple place, and we were poor. Three children, and from one of our sons two grandchildren a bustling household. Rougharoundtheedges folk, not highly educated, but honest and decent. We didnt send her to a care home or leave her alone at night; she lived on the far side of the village, far enough that she could no longer look after herself. So we took her in.
We gave her the threadbare clothes we could find, changed her into a clean dress, tied a fresh scarf around her neck as proper, fed her from a spoon and laid her on a bed. On the wall we hung a rug with deer printed on it, though she could not see it. Life went on: we ate cabbage soup, porridge, Chinese noodles, tea with sugar, helped the old woman to the loo, changed her if needed, and listened to her ramblings. She constantly muttered in a thin, wheezy voice, spouting nonsense.
One day she, whom wed started calling Mabel, whispered, A thiefs gotten into the shed! We rushed to the shed and found a drunken neighbour pilfering potatoes and cabbages. What a coincidence! A while later she warned, Dont let Rintik go to the city! The car will crash! Trusting the simple folk we were, we stopped Rintiks son from travelling with his friend. The friend was later badly injured, and Rintik might have perished had he been in the car.
Thats how it turned out. Mabel kept blurting out more predictions, though she could not think straight, remember, see, or bring a spoon to her mouth. Eventually she began babbling that she wanted a lottery ticket. She sat there, begging for one.
Her father drove to the nearest market town and bought a ticket. Guess what? They won a lump sum a tidy fortune, somewhere between three and five hundred thousand pounds, though the simple folk just said a lot. With the winnings we bought Mabel a new nightgown, biscuits, and all sorts of nice things. We even got her a beautiful coverlet after all, she may not see with her eyes, but she perceives something else. Everything around her was made lovely, and everyone adored her.
Even though she is constantly confused, forgetful, cant feed herself or reach the bathroom, she smiles warmly. She sits on the pretty coverlet in a clean nightgown and a neat scarf, like a little doll, runs her rosary beads and murmurs something kind in that thin voice. She nods her head gently, content as ever.
