The Lady in Red
by Jilliana
Ranicar-Breese
Last October I
travelled from Thessaloniki where I had spent a
fascinating month in what had once been the
second city after Constantinople in the
magnificent Ottoman Empire. I then took a short
flight to my beloved Chania in Crete where I was
volunteering at a five day Transpersonal
Psychology Conference - Eurotas2014 at a deluxe
resort further down the coast.
I had to get
up to let a well groomed elderly lady pass by to
get to her window seat. As she squeezed past with
her 'excuse me', I detected her guttural German
accent. But more than that, I was amazed that a
woman so elderly was carrying a large bright
leather red handbag. Red is a statement colour at
any age but this was a very old lady. I
complimented her on her posh designer bag. She
seemed pleased I had noticed. I observed her more
carefully. She was wearing an off white Victorian
style cotton pleated blouse, high up to the neck
with an original Victorian pearl and gold pin
brooch. Pearl studded earrings, I should
say from the 1950s when gold and pearls worn
together were fashionable after the non glamorous
war time. Over her blouse I noted a Chanelesque
lemon boucle wool jacket. All in all she looked
chic. She thanked me for the compliment, settling
down in her seat fiddling with the security belt
and smiled at me as if she wanted to start a
conversation.
I jumped in
wanting to know why she was travelling alone off
season to Chania. She explained she had come from
Munich and was meeting her daughter who had
invited her to celebrate her 90th birthday
walking in the Samaria Gorge. I knew walking was
a German pastime as I have a German friend,
Wolfgang, who lives in Chania and in the tourist
season escorts German groups into the famous
gorge. Also I had met a 70 year old German lady
artist Helen Ida who lived in Palechora, Southern
Crete. she told me that she was well known
throughout Crete for having walked everywhere on
her island.
I just could
not believe this well coiffed lady was 90 and
wondered if I would be wearing red mixed with
purple at her age being a member of the eccentric
Red Hat Society! She continued in her good broken
English, which was improving with practice as it
was evident she had not spoken English for
decades. She informed me that she had been a GP
back in The Black Forest as was her husband and
that they had worked together as a team. She
had been widowed for 20 years and I wondered how
she had spent those years in retirement as a
black widow.
I asked her
what was her secret recipe for longevity and a
flawless complexion. She told a good healthy diet
and walking. She was a vegetarian but did eat
grilled fish. She did not go to a gym or do
exercise, yoga or meditation. Also she spoke of
her daughter and her grandchildren as she had
outlived her husband, colleagues and most of her
friends.
We did not
discuss the colour red. I only thought about that
later as I too have always worn bright red
lipstick and red accessories mainly with black
clothing. More recently I have mixed white into
the equation creating an excellent fashion combo.
Today, a year later, I wear the Spanish colours
of red and yellow. I am a Fashionista and want
the 'I want to be noticed' look!
I questioned
her about the war. I had never met a 90 year old
who would openly talk about the war especially
someone from Germany! She told me she had avoided
being a member of the Nazi Party and had suffered
hunger as there had been a shortage of good food
in her area. We forget the German people suffered
too.
I confessed to
her that at the end of December I would be 70.
She laughed as for her that age was nothing. We
both agreed that today 70 is really more like 50
providing you are in good health. Then we stopped
talking to concentrate on reading the highly
sophisticated Aegean Airlines 'Blue' magazine
with gorgeous travel photographs on high quality
glossy paper. No wonder Greece is bankrupt!
The flight
ended after an hour. I wished her Gut Reisen and
off she went into oblivion. However we ran
into each other at the passport control queue.
She smiled at me knowingly with a twinkle in her
eye and in passing told me that the best years of
a woman's life are between 70 and 90! Then she
was gone for ever!
Her words of
wisdom stunned me! What did she mean? I really
wanted to ask this seemingly conventional woman
what she meant. Had she had a lover or companion
at the age of 70 after a 50 year old marriage? My
cousin Eileen in Vancouver, who had all her wits
about her to the end, had a companion in
the last years of her long life and outlived her
companion who was 20 years younger than she was
also in her 90s. I will never know the answer.
Had the lady in red travelled? Had she got
involved in charity work or even helped refugees
having a medical background? What was her
philosophy on life at this mature age? What
had she learned in those interesting 20 years
without her husband about Life? How had she
benefited from her freedom after such a long
marriage? I never even knew her name nor she mine.
I can't even imagine what ordinary German name
she might have. Marlene, Ursula, Christina
or Gudren?
I will never
know the answer to the riddle but a year later I
have not forgotten the lady in red and i have
promised myself I am going to enjoy the next 20
years of my life finding out the answer. !n shaa
Allah!
Written
onboard the Easyjet flight from Seville back to
London. October 2015 with a restless loud
irritating child next to me breaking my
concentration! How I longed for the lady in red
to be next to me instead!
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