Dear friends, A SEAGULL CALLED SARAH You would think that, having known Sarah Bell for 14 years, I’d have remembered that despite being such a beautiful slim woman, she also has the appetite of a gannet. There have been many times I’ve been in Sarah’s company, and I’ve seen the way she not only devours what’s on her plate, but she casts an eye over everyone elses! And so it was on Friday evening when I met up with Sarah plus Nic, Babs and Clare for the first time in a few years, and I was sitting next to you know who. Sarah and I glanced over the menu together and decided on ordering exactly the same – a fillet of steak in peppercorn sauce (always a weakness of mine). Now, you have to remember here that one of the reasons for my ‘diagnosis’ was the difficulty in swallowing food, which has been getting a little worse recently. Nevertheless I fancied a treat and knew that, if I took my time and cut the steak into small enough pieces, I could get away with this fine meal, albeit, I’d be a lot slower than anyone else. And so it proved. With everyone else tucking in and scoffing their main courses with abandon, I cast a nervous eye on Sarah’s plate to have my worst fears confirmed – she had only a little steak left while I had so far managed three very small pieces of mine. The sweat was rolling down my brow by this time. I knew what was coming. I even asked the waiter if he could quickly erect a barbed wire fence around my plate but to no avail. Sarah’s plate was clean and already – I’m sure she was a seagull in a past life – she was eyeing up my steak which was still three quarters intact..and like the good friend she is – she moved in for the kill, and suddenly half MY steak was on HER plate. But no, that wasn;t enough. She demolished my half steak and helped herself to another half of my remaining quarter (I had by this time managed to eat a bit more). However, when she isn’t eating my food, she’s one of the people I admire the most. Here is a girl who travels the world. We worked in a bank together many years ago, alongside the other girls on the night out, all who I love dearly. Sarah decided a few years back that ‘working for the man’ wasn’t her idea of quality life and gave it all up to go travelling. She has consequently been all over the world and continues to live her life without a care for the normal day to day, getting little jobs here and there wherever she lays her hat. The fact she came back to Scotland for a week to meet up with the girls and me for a very special night just shows how highly I hold her regard, especially as she’s off again to Rio de Janeiro on Friday coming. Her attitude to life and her free spirit has been one of the biggest inspirations to me as I go forward fighting this disease. Life isn’t about the 9-5. It’s about getting as much out of life as possible and staying true to your values. And that’s probably the single biggest thing we should all remember. Yes we ned to work to make a living, but it shouldn’t be the be all and end all. Work to live, not live to work is a true maxim. We all need to make more time to do the things we want to, and to be with the people we love. As for Sarah, she even invited me to go to Barcelona with her for a few days this coming week, but sadly, with the cancer, I can’t get travel insurance. However, we shall meet up for lunch this Wednesday in Edinburgh. She’s already booked the table. I’m hoping it’s a big banquet table with her at one end and me about 30 feet away at the other end. That way my food might be safe. Knowing Sarah though, she’ll have telescopic arms and still manage to hoover up my lunch! Love Ally x
Posted on: Sun, 18 May 2014 12:42:44 +0000
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