Josephine

Today, I offered to help a lady of seemingly elderly years home with her shopping…
…. She told me her story. One of the last of the Windmill Girls (‘before it was ruined by the [entreprenuer whose name deserves no mention here]’). Her claim to fame was as one of the act publicised as ‘real virgins on chairs’. ‘…and I *was* you know. He’d make me lay in bed with him but I would always put on two nighties and four pairs of knickers just in case he tried it on while I was asleep..’ quoth she. ‘When I eventually tried it- well, I thought “what’s all the fuss about”. ‘took me twenty years before I worked that one out. And then…[she chortled brassily]’. And so it went, and so it went. and I learned of her progressive osteo perosis and recent stroke and her determined independence and faith that there is nearly always a kind person around to help when she needs to get her trolly of shopping up the stairs. And she showed me the step ladder on her balcony that she climbs atop of in the evenings to be able to enjoy the last rays of the evening sun. And the stories and the jokes flowed. And amongst her parting words were: ‘never mind an apple a day, it’s a *laugh* a day that keeps the doctor away!…’