Conversations with Strangers: A mother on a mission.

Window shopping, and more conversations with strangers

Sometimes I wonder where these conversations come from! This time I found myself talking to a sales assistant in a department store – I’ll call her Belinda.

Belinda is a great sales person I might add, not pushy at all – she convinced me to buy something I was dithering over, and highlighted what good value the thing was (at £25 reduced from £65) and how practical and useful it would be – she was right.

Anyway, Belinda has had enough of London – totally done with it, done with customers being rude to her, feeling stressed and ill after a cramped ‘sardine in a tin’ commute, back and forth from work, not to mention all the politics at work, and the ridiculous cost of living.

Enough is enough, ready for a change

We had one of those ‘putting the world to rights’ type conversations – listing all the woes of the world, and how it was time to get back to nature, fresh air and a healthy distance from the social media crazy rat race.

Belinda will be heading off to Ireland very soon, for good – I could tell that just talking about it was making her feel uplifted, I felt pleased for her, and hope she finds happier days, months and years ahead.

Now that her daughter is a young adult, Belinda feels it’s the right time to make a big move for herself, leaving her daughter to choose whether to follow her or stay in London.

A Mother’s wish

Belinda spoke warmly of her daughter, and how she’d raised her alone, a single parent; she shared some of the worries she’d been through during some of those tricky teenage years, the things all parents worry about I guess.

Belinda just wants her daughter to be happy – “she doesn’t have to be a brain surgeon or highfalutin professional on a fat salary” just as long as she’s happy with her life, mum/Belinda will be happy too – what more could a mum ask for, just simple joys!

Ireland

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