meeting Sally Parker

Sally Parker

I travel by myself fairly often and many people say they wouldn’t do it because they would be lonely, bored, or scared.  There are times that I wish someone was with me, but for the most part I’m fine traveling by myself.   You meet people in unexpected places.  At the half marathon in Killarney yesterday I saw a guy with a Houston marathon shirt on and I asked if he was from Houston – he was and we chatted for about 15 before the race.  At about mile 6 I heard a woman talking to a fellow runner and I could tell she was American so I asked her where she was from – we ran and chatted for the next 6 miles. 

Today I met Sally Parker - she went by "Sal".  I went to the train station about an hour before my train and her friend had dropped her off.  She is in her late 70s and had spent a month in Ireland visiting her friend and taking weaving classes.  She had a reserved seat and asked me to sit with her.  I helped her get her bags on and off the train and we chatted for the 3 hour train ride to Dublin.  She told me all about her life in SC and her kids and their spouses/partners and her grandkids and nephews etc… She was a nurse, her husband a doctor and pretty much everyone in her family was a PA, EMT, nurse etc.  Her oldest son died of pancreatic cancer 6 weeks after they found out he had it.  Another son adopted 3 kids from china and Guatamala.  She asked all about India and MAET.  We talked about technology for quite a bit.  She just got a new phone – plain nokia and the lady kept trying to get her to get a smart phone and told her she’d be back in less than a year for one – and now she is thinking that may be true!  Her nephew wants her to get a mac and she said she doesn’t want to learn something new..  but she hears great things about macs and says she’s capable of learning so why not?  Her son told her she should get an ipad and she doesn’t think she needs one – I told her all about what I do with mine – I think she’ll get one soon!  She was such a delightful lady learning to do so much in her late 70s and traveling as much as she can.  She thanked me profusely for sitting with her and chatting.   If I’d been with a friend, I probably wouldn’t have said more than hello to her. 

Why don’t I mind travelling alone?  Because I meet people like Sally Parker.