VIEW FROM A GUEST RUMBLER

I am really too old for this now! So much so I lie on my bed until the very last minute these mornings. Once the radio clicks off I know I better move to go downstairs. I am happy it’s another day but I have grown to hate the stairs. Actually I don’t know which is worse, the stairs or getting into the car. My bones are real stiff. In my head I think I can do lots of things but when I go to do them I remember I am not young any more. Actually come August I’ll be seventy – seven. The surgery before Christmas took a lot out of me and the recovery was longer and slower than expected. A little bit of this was the Boss’s fault. I only call him the Boss, during the day when we are working. I think everyone know’s he is my Best Buddy. Anyway he was only being kind. He is a real softy but unfortunately I could not resist investigating and poking at my post op stitches. This meant I was a week later getting back to work.

I guess people would smile at the use of the word ‘work’ and it’s true we are not out ploughing fields nor mixing cement, but it is constant. I think it’s what is known as ‘living over the shop’, and from early morning to late at night it is a busy. My job is simple. I announce their arrival, check them out and see them off. They come for all sorts of reasons, from being very sad to very happy. They don’t stay and rarely come back, except for a small group of special people who are quite sick. I like my routine. Every morning begins the same. Each day I am a little afraid coming down the stairs but I never have to do this on my own and I also know when I get down I will get a light snack before we head out to work. My friend Ann and I go out nearly every morning. I enjoy this first outing of the day and especially love when I hear Ann explain to people who I am and the important job I have. I have always loved car travel but as I said earlier I find it increasingly difficult getting into the car. I still enjoy the actual travel especially to new places, sitting looking out at all that’s going on, and I have some great sleeps in the car.

As I have grown older and have less energy, and become more and more troubled with achy bones, I have been thinking about my life. I have been especially thinking about my role in life. What has been my mission? You probably will not be surprised when I tell you my life’s work, my whole focus has been around my master. In a way there have been three parts to my task: I have tried to take my master away from his work every day. Even on cold, dark and wet days I have tried to get him to the park. This has not always been easy. A bit of this has been about physical exercise and keeping him moving but mostly it’s for his head. I am not sure he gets how important light and air are. The second important part of my portfolio is security. I am involved in this 24/7. It’s my job to warn him and to try and ward off danger. However the third, and by far the most crucial part of my mission, is to be a good companion. Very early on in my life I worked out this is the most important thing that I can do, quite simply to always be there, always waiting, always welcoming. In many ways this is the simplest, and at the same time the most difficult task, to be a good companion.

Over the years, living here in St. Matthew’s, I have heard, I suppose you could say, overheard, a lot of conversations. The most interesting ones have always been when companions talk about their companions: best companions, failed companions, much missed companions, companions that want another chance at, believe it or not, being a better companion! The other night I was lying on my bed in the living room, ( I have a few beds!), and I overhead my master talking on the phone to our friend John. My ears twitched at the word ‘companion’. He said that he had come to the conclusion that whatever they did for their Master, as in the Lord and Master, that they would not neglect being his companions. I liked that. I liked it because once again it stressed the importance of companionship. I guess I also liked it because I know companionship is one of the things I do well.
Ms. Luna Lovegood, 26.02.18