March 29...

It was March 29, a bright and sunny Sunday, but other than that quite an ordinary working day as days went back then. Since the beginning of November, almost half a year before that day, almost every day would unfold in a similar way, waking up at around 5am after a brief 5 hour sleep, exercising my two little furry companions and getting ready so that at 7am I would already be getting other people out of bed... Of course within the seemingly similar routine, every day would bring invaluable lessons and uplifting beautiful moments with my new found friends, with the occasional challenges embedded too, but mainly rewarding moments. Care work is beautiful therapy after a big break up... It stops you from escaping straight into another relationship just so that you can carry on looking after someone, it gives you plenty of very grateful people to look after without the hassle of a rebound relationship. Looking back becoming a carer for a while was one of the wisest decisions I have ever made. I met many a beautiful souls, learned how to laugh when all I really wanted to do was cry and was reminded day in day out of what is important in life. Most of the people I looked after were close to having three digits on their next birthday cake and in my experience people who are fortunate enough to reach that age know quite a bit about what is worth worrying about in life and what isn't at all. So without being fully aware of it, by the time March 2015 appeared on my previously quite gloomy and in some ways lonely horizon, somehow I had managed to let go of a lot more than I had realised. At that point I was working 6 days a week 7am to 11pm quite often, something I never thought i'd be capable of! Whereas for the previous months one of my favourite pastimes in between visits was revisiting the past and wrestling with the myriad of regret filled thoughts and the what ifs and maybe there's a way back, on that bright sunny day it was just about to be revealed to me exactly how far I had come from the November darkness. All the walks in the woods and prayers for guidance to help me release the past were just about to start paying off... It was around 11am and I had just finished a call with a lady who we would have very light-hearted little chats with about her favourite recipes from her times of working as a chef in sunny Spain, and she would share one after the other while I helped her get ready for the day. In return I would give her the 'next installation' of my very own 'Coronation street' as I called it as I was always saying that I didn't need to watch any soaps around that time because my very own life was offering more than enough unexpected events and complications already. I got in the car having finished my call with her and decided to do something I didn't normally do around that time of day, something about the sunshine on that early spring day was calling me home to take the doggies out for a short walk to make the best of all the vitamin D. I drove straight home to my little sanctuary of a caravan site and just as I was approaching the little shop on site I remembered that I needed to pay my rent. I didn't really feel like going in and even looked in the rear view mirror thinking that mirror has seen better days, still with that thought I gave myself a nudge to just get the rent out of the way and then I can go and enjoy the sunshine with my little friends. As I walked into the shop there are three things I distinctly remember. My friend and guardian angel on site behind the till pouring out her usual nonsense, a young guy facing her seemingly very engrossed in it all, sweet Jilly has that effect on people! and being someone who is incredibly sensitive to energies in my environment, walking into that space that day there was a very light and inviting atmosphere that immediately put a smile on my face. Normally I'm quite reserved around people I haven't met and can be withdrawn and apologetic, but not on this occasion, I stepped closer to the till and unintentionally, but quite confidently interrupted the natter and asked to pay my rent while joking at the same time about my friend's latest bra advert or some other similar lunacy. The next thing I know the guy to my right tells me that he had been paid a little visit from one of my dogs. It wasn't difficult to figure out which one it might have been, only owning one Houdini, so I curiously listened to his account of the events that had taken place while I was cluelessly looking for her somewhere else... He said he was opening the zip of his awning one evening when two little eyes peeped in all of a sudden giving him quite a fright. He then invited her into his caravan where she got very cosy on his sofa, way to go Lujzi, while he started looking for a lead of some sort to bring her home safely to me. Apparently he had already seen me with them before!?! So the plan was, he was going to walk around the caravan site with her looking for my car, which as it turned out he was also familiar with... Lujzi, not surprisingly enjoyed the sofa and the little cuddle on it and when there was no promise of any lead like object her new found friend decided to try and walk her home without a lead, bless his unknowing kind soul :) you only make that mistake once with my Lujzi! So off they went in search of my caravan, but didn't get further than two steps away (i'm guessing, knowing Lujzi) she must have legged it before they even reached the corner of his caravan... I listened to this highly entertaining little story with great delight and amusement at what a little hidden life my rascal of a dog had had behind my back and couldn't help feeling an inkling of excitement creeping in at the luck that out of the 67 caravans or so on site she had decided to pay a visit to this one... With the story told this gentleman who I had no idea existed until this very day stepped towards the door and looked at me one more time with a look I will never forget. There was the most perfect combination of kindness and cheekiness I had ever seen and a smile like no other, and with that smile he walked out of that shop and straight into my heart like no one ever before. I had no doubt in that moment that I had met somebody more than special...