Page 16 of The Old Gals’ Bucket List

PATTI

It was a fun lunch, with them all agreeing to meet up again. When they’d said goodbye to Mabel and Beryl, Patti and Sandra went to do a bit of shopping.

‘I need a light bulb, the one in the hall went out on me last night. I had to take the torch with me to see up the stairs when I went to bed,’ Patti said.

‘Goodness, that’s dangerous,’ Sandra said. ‘Are you okay to change it? Is it the downstairs hall or the upstairs one?’

‘Downstairs, thank goodness, but I’m going to need a ladder.’

Sandra remembered that Patti was scared of heights. ‘Do you want me to do it for you? I’ve got a stepladder if you haven’t got one.’

‘I have, and I’ll be brave and change it myself. It’s my first step to getting over my fear of heights. But I’d love you to come and hold the ladder and give me some moral support, if you don’t mind,’ Patti said.

‘I’d be delighted to.’

Patti bought a couple of light bulbs, saying it was best to have a spare in, and some STOP to help her stop biting her nails – ‘Kit said it was very good’.

Then Sandra bought a couple of big plastic storage boxes.

She hadn’t decided if she was moving yet, but it was probably time she decluttered a bit anyway.

Back at Patti’s house, they had a cup of coffee then Patti fetched the ladder from the cupboard under the stairs whilst Sandra held the light bulb, intending to pass it to Patti when she got to the top.

‘Bring your phone too. If I’m going to do this, I want a record of it,’ Patti said. ‘We can put it on Insta.’

‘Okay.’ Sandra went back for her phone, placing it on the little table in the hall, beside the light bulb. Then Patti opened the stepladder and positioned it under the light hanging from the ceiling before stepping back and studying the ladder nervously. ‘I know it’s only four steps but…’

Sandra wanted to offer again to change the bulb for her but knew that it was best for Patti to overcome her fear. ‘I’ll be right here, holding the ladder,’ she promised.

Patti nodded and took a deep breath. ‘You can do this, Patti,’ she said firmly to herself.

‘You definitely can,’ Sandra assured her, holding on to the ladder.

Patti went up slowly, pausing after each step. When she reached the top, she stretched up and took out the old light bulb.

‘Well done!’ Sandra told her. She handed Patti the new bulb and took the old one from her.

‘Can you take a photo of me as I put this new one in? But be quick! I’m not sure how brave I can be if you’re not holding the ladder.’

Sandra put the old bulb down on the table, picked up her phone and quickly took a couple of shots of Patti screwing in the new bulb.

‘Well, actually that wasn’t as bad as I dreaded,’ Patti said in relief when she was safely down the stepladder again. ‘I’m not sure I could have done more than four steps though.’

‘You did well. And here’s the proof!’ Sandra showed her the photos.

Patti’s face broke into a huge grin. ‘I think this calls for a wine to celebrate.’ She winked. ‘And there just happens to be a bottle chilling in my fridge.’

When the wine was opened and two glasses poured, Patti took a photo of the two glasses, then uploaded that, and the photo of her standing on the stepladder to change the light bulb, onto Instagram.

The first step to overcoming my fear of heights

‘You should put a photo of that “STOP” nail stuff too, let everyone know that you’ve taken the first step to stop biting your nails. It might encourage someone else to stop.’

‘And you should take a photo of the storage boxes you bought and add “start decluttering” to your list.’

‘The way we keep adding things to our lists, we’ll never do it all.’ Sandra chuckled as she did as Patti suggested.