The Elderly Like Leeks

When I was in my last stages of pregnancy I went grocery shopping alone. If you know me, I have a very tight budget to stick to and I do whatever it takes to do that. I write out my lunch and meal plans for the week, write out the ingredients I need, estimate how much it will cost and then I go shopping. As I put things in my trolley I add up the price on my phone and if it doesn't work out I have back up options to go to (different dinner options, ingredients etc). We're young, I don't get paid and Graeme isn't exactly a millionaire (yet. Hah). But I'm okay with that. I know that as time progresses so will our budget (hopefully) and one day I will be able to put whatever I like in the trolley.

So there I was, heavily pregnant and alone on a Friday night with my list and my calculator open on my phone doing our weekly shop.

An old man hobbled past me. He had grey whispy hair and an old woolen jersey and he was alone. He had leeks in his trolley. That's all. We were already halfway through the supermarket. I glanced at his list that was written on scrap paper with pencil. The writing was wiggly and messy, and it had a lot of items listed on it with prices next to half of the items. The old man was going around the supermarket finding out the prices of everything before he put them in his trolley. Leeks obviously made the cut.

My heart burst - and so did the floodgates of my tears. I started bawling my eyes out in the middle of the aisle, and continued to cry as I finished my shopping and loaded my groceries into the car. Hormones much?

Sure, our budget's tight, but his? Did he really need to go around the supermarket and find out the price, then go back and do it all over again? He was alone (so was I), did he have a wife at home? A wife in hospital? A wife at all? Did he have children? Friends? Anyone?

Really, his situation was similar to mine - we were both alone, had a tight budget, had a walking impairment (old vs. heavily pregnant). However, I know that that is my situation now and we have the rest of our lives to change it. I like to think that by the time we are his age we will have a few earthly comforts to help us enjoy life.

I hope that when I am older I am in good health, surrounded by lovely people, with enough resources to not have to do my shopping twice over. I hope to be filled with joy, not bitter by a lifetime of hurts. I hope to still have my husband by my side, loading the groceries into the car. I hope that I like leeks in my older ages. I hope I can stay in touch with the worlds developments and I be able to work todays equivalent to a laptop, the internet, etc. I hope that life is happy :)

Totally aware this whole post is a big hormonal ramble.