She sat at the dining room table dressed smartly and smelling of lavender and chamomile tea. Her husband sat next to her, his dapper clothes covered with a cloth bib.

I introduced myself as the new Speech Therapist who would be working with her husband. I knew a little about him. His chart had described him as “lucid, but pleasently confused.”

I had come into the position at the last minute, a temporary fill-in.

As we began to chat, I was struck by the overall contentment presented by this aged couple, married 68 years.

“We’ve had a good life.” She stated matter of factly.”Never had any kids, but that gave us the chance to travel more.”

“Don’t wait.” She said looking at me intently. “It’s so easy to say, I’ll wait till I retire, so easy to be to busy. Time flies. Enjoy life while you can.”

“We did.” she continued “We never looked back and if I could I’d do it again.”

“Don’t regret the things you could have done.”

She smiled reassuringly at her husband. Her eyes twinkling with joy.