The Hit

Halfway through her second triple-shot latte, Barbara finally got the hit she'd been promised.

A fabulous lady whom I couldn't resist having a long chat with at lunchtime. She's still very much a mother to her fifty year old son who was with her, sitting outside Costa enjoying a smoke with their coffee in the drizzle. He's still a kid really and left shortly after I arrived, only to return a little while later with quite the ugliest watch I've ever set eyes upon, combining a digital with an analogue display in the clunkiest way imaginable. Big, shiny, and lots of dials! This was the look on her face when he showed it to her!

She told me that she has 28 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with two more on the way. But she said that she was quitting now. Enough was enough. Not quite sure that she had grasped the core principle of procreation I interrogated a little further to discover that she was actually referring to Christmas presents. I'm amazed she hasn't quit before now. There was also a story about her Rottweiler and the new Jack Russell puppy but I'm going to keep that one to myself.

Her big news was that she's just found out that she's beaten cancer for the second time, having been given the all clear by her doctor. She's a fighter. I hope I've caught the strength of her character with this portrait here.