Page 29 of The Old Gals’ Bucket List

SANDRA

They all tried to persuade Keith to join them on their trip to Málaga the next morning but he shrugged them off. ‘You girls go and have fun, I’ll stay and keep Rags company.’ So Sandra, Patti and Mary drove down to Málaga, parking in an underground car park near the port.

‘We can spend the whole day here, if you both want,’ Mary said. ‘We can go shopping, take a walk over to the beach, and go on a boat trip later. How does that sound?’

Sandra thought it all sounded splendid. She and Brian had been to Barcelona but never to this part of Spain.

Brian hadn’t wanted to go to either Benidorm or the Costa del Sol saying that both regions attracted the wrong kind of Brits.

Maybe he was right in some coastal areas, but certainly not here.

Málaga was a thriving, cosmopolitan city, with rows of shops and restaurants opposite the seafront.

It was a warm, sunny day, and the sunlight was shimmering on the ocean, where three large ships were moored. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said.

‘I love it here. We used to visit a lot when we first moved to Spain,’ Mary told them. She didn’t add but now Keith won’t go anywhere, but the undertone was there. ‘Now how about we have a cool drink at one of the cafés before hitting the shops?’

They sat down at one of the tables outside a café facing the port and ordered a soft drink each from the waitress who spoke very good English.

‘Is English widely spoken over here?’ Patti asked.

‘It is in the big cities where lots of tourists go but not so much in the smaller towns,’ Mary replied.

‘Can you speak Spanish?’ Sandra asked.

‘A little. Enough to get by for everyday things such as ordering a coffee or buying stuff from the shops but it can be difficult in more formal situations or when we go to the doctors. Thankfully, when Keith was in hospital, most of the doctors spoke English.’

‘I seem to remember that you went to Spanish lessons when you first came over to live,’ Patti said.

‘We did, then Covid came along and everything was cancelled. We just couldn’t get back into it. We have a couple of apps and keep trying but it’s harder to remember things as you get older.’

‘Tell me about it. I can’t remember where I’ve put my house keys most of the time and spend ages looking for them only to find that I’d stuffed them in a coat pocket,’ Patti replied.

‘I was looking for my glasses the other day and they were on my head,’ Sandra said.

‘We’re all as bad. Keith was on the phone to someone yesterday and shouted, “where’s my mobile?” at me!’

They all laughed. It was good to share things, Sandra thought.

It made you realise that you weren’t the only one who was forgetful, lonely or scared sometimes.

When you were younger, working and bringing up a family, there wasn’t really time to think about things, you just ploughed through.

But when you were on your own everything seemed bigger, scarier, worse.

Well, it did to her anyway. She’d even started worrying that she might be getting dementia because she was so forgetful, but listening to Mary and Patti, it was perfectly normal at their age to forget a few things or get a little mixed up.

The waitress returned with their drinks, placing them on the table in front of them. They all thanked her.

‘Would you like anything to eat?’ she asked.

They all shook their heads and she went off to serve someone else.

‘This is gorgeous,’ Sandra said, gazing across at the sparkling ocean.

‘It is, isn’t it? Málaga Port is one of my favourite places.’ Mary picked up her glass and took a sip of the cool fruit juice.

‘I wouldn’t mind going on that yacht.’ Patti pointed to a huge white luxury yacht. ‘I wonder where it’s going.’

‘That’s probably belongs to a Greek or American billionaire. We’ll go take a closer look at it when we’ve finished our drinks, if you want,’ Mary suggested.

‘A billionaire! It’s like something out of a novel. Maybe we should have glammed ourselves up a bit more,’ Patti said with a grin. ‘Do you think he might invite us on board for a few cocktails?’

‘If only! Perhaps if we were forty or so years younger.’ Mary gave a mock sigh and they all chuckled.

‘I don’t think I’d want to be young again, would you?’ Patti sipped her drink thoughtfully. ‘All that angst and drama. I wouldn’t want to go through it all again.’

‘I don’t know,’ Mary cocked her head onto one side. ‘I was so positive back then, so full of life and hope. Now I feel a bit jaded and life’s so mundane.’

Patti shot her a questioning look. It seemed a strange thing to say when she lived in such a beautiful place, Sandra thought. Mind you, going on holiday was one thing, but living in another country was completely different.

Mary had her eyes still focused on the big yacht. ‘When you’re young, you think anything is possible. But when you’re older your best years are behind you.’

‘Maybe your youth is behind you, but your best years could still be ahead of you. There’s so many money worries and problems when you’re raising a family, don’t you think?

And so easy to make the wrong decisions.

’ Patti looked thoughtful. ‘You don’t realise when you’re young how much one decision could alter your life. ’

‘I can see what you both mean. When Brian died, I thought that was it, my life was finished. Lately though, I’ve come to realise that it isn’t finished, it’s just different.

It’s a life without Brian, and that seems empty and strange, but it’s still a life and it’s up to me what I make of it,’ Sandra said thoughtfully.

Patti nodded. ‘I was so grateful to come through cancer, and to feel almost normal again, that I promised myself I would make the most of every day.’

Mary seemed to give herself a little shake, then she downed her drink. ‘Which is exactly what we all should do.’

‘Let’s go and check out that billionaire’s yacht, we can take a few photos for our Instagram page,’ Patti suggested. ‘And maybe we could book ourselves on a boat trip for later. That would be another thing off your bucket list, Sandra.’

‘That would be fantastic,’ Sandra replied. This was only the first proper day of their holiday but already they had done so much.

‘If I had a bucket list going, a sail on that billionaire’s yacht would be on it!’ Mary quipped.

‘Why don’t you make a bucket list?’ Sandra suggested. ‘It’s fun. You could do an Instagram page like us! I think a lot of people would be interested in your life out here. You’d have some fabulous photo opportunities.’

Mary’s eyes clouded. ‘To be honest, if I made a bucket list now, it would only have one thing on it. To get Keith to go back to how he used to be. We used to have such fun. We were always out and about—’ Her voice broke and Sandra felt sure that behind the sunglasses there were tears in her eyes.

Patti reached over and gave her sister-in-law a hug. ‘I’m so sorry love.’

They paid their bill then crossed the road to look at the yacht. It really was magnificent.

‘Look, there’s even a helipad,’ Patti said. ‘Whoever owns this has serious money.’

‘Sorry, ladies, but I’m afraid we’ll have to settle for a smaller boat to have a ride in,’ Mary said. ‘Let’s check them out and see what times the sailings are then we can plan our afternoon.’

There were a few catamarans offering tours at various times of the afternoon and evening, they decided on a sunset trip which was an hour long. ‘That will give us time to do a bit of shopping and see the beach. It’s only a small one but worth a visit,’ Mary said.

‘We won’t get home until late though. Won’t Keith mind?’ Patti asked. ‘You did say he didn’t like to be left for long.’

‘I’ll message and let him know, he’ll be fine. It was his choice to stay at home. To be honest I’m hoping he will get bored being on his own and decide to come with us next time,’ Mary said. ‘Now, how about we check out the beach, before we go to the shops.’

She paid for the boat ride tickets, insisting that it was her treat – the man spoke English well enough for them to understand – and headed for the small beach.

‘The sand is a bit gritty so you might want to keep your sandals on until you get to the sea,’ she said.

‘But we’ll get sand in them,’ Patti protested.

‘Don’t say you weren’t warned!’ Mary said as Patti slipped off her sandals, and held them in her hands, dangling them from her fingers. Sandra followed suit. Then they both tiptoed over the sand, with gasps of ‘Ouch!’ ‘Ow!’

They were now paddling in the clear blue ocean, sandals still dangling from their fingers, big smiles on their faces. When she reached the water’s edge, Mary took off her sandals and joined them.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Sandra said. ‘And so warm.’ She felt herself relaxing as the sea gently lapped over her feet.

It was so wonderful to be here. ‘This is the life!’ she said, standing with her legs wide open, arms outstretched, head back and eyes closed.

She felt invigorated and free, her worries seeming completely insignificant in this beautiful place.

Suddenly a shower of water splashed over her and she jolted her eyes open to find Patti grinning. ‘Wake up, daydreamer!’

Mary kicked up a spray of water over Patti from behind. ‘You should always watch your back!’ She laughed.

The three women larked about for a while, paddling in the sea, basking in the warm sun.

Then they dried their feet with a tissue, luckily they all carried a packet, slipped on their sandals and walked back along the front, where there were quite a few shops and some pop-up stores selling a selection of clothes and gifts.

‘This is so pretty,’ Sandra said.

‘It’s even prettier at Christmas with all the lights and the stalls selling festive things,’ Mary told her. ‘You’ll have to come over again and see for yourself.’

‘Sandra might be in Australia for Christmas,’ Patti said.

Mary shot Sandra a glance. ‘Really? That would be amazing. I’m sure your daughter will be delighted.’

After checking out the shops along the front they walked through the park into the town, where there were bigger, more well-known stores, stopping again for a drink and snack.

Much later, laden with a couple of shopping bags, they went back to the port, put their shopping in the boot of the car then stopped for a meal before heading out on their boat trip.

They sat at the front of the catamaran watching dusk fall and the sky glow with shades of red, yellow and orange, clicking away with their phones. It was stunning.

‘I could sit here forever,’ Patti said.

‘Me too, it’s so beautiful,’ Sandra agreed.

Then the captain let them have a go at steering the boat; again the phones came out to record the moment.

‘I can’t wait to show the grandchildren these photos,’ Sandra said in delight. ‘They won’t believe it. That’s another thing ticked off my bucket list, and with the extra bonus of being at the helm too,’ Sandra continued happily.

‘Jet skis next on the list!’ Patti told her excitedly. ‘Imagine racing each other across the sea on one of those.’

She’d rather not, Sandra thought, the idea of it filled her with dread. Maybe she could persuade Patti and Mary to go without her.

‘I’m so glad you two came over. We’re going to have a fabulous fortnight,’ Mary told them.

‘You bet we will,’ Patti agreed. ‘What shall we do tomorrow? We don’t have to go out,’ she added hastily, ‘we can have a day in and laze around the pool.’

‘I was thinking that we should only go out on alternate days,’ Mary suggested. ‘We don’t want to tire you out. I know you’ve come through cancer but I’ve heard that you still tire easily for ages after finishing the treatment. I’m sure you still get days when you feel exhausted.’

Patti nodded. ‘I do. So a day by the pool tomorrow then. I can have a natter and a catch up with Keith.’

Sandra felt a surge of excitement as the boat turned back for the return trip to the port. It had been a really enjoyable day.

When they arrived back home, Keith was watching TV, a zero beer in his hand. ‘Have you had a good day?’ he asked. ‘You’ve been ages.’

‘It’s been wonderful. Why don’t you come with us next time?’ Mary suggested. ‘It must be boring being here by yourself.’

‘I’m fine here. You women enjoy yourselves, don’t mind me.’

Sandra saw Mary purse her lips with annoyance and glance at Patti.

Would Brian have been like this if he’d survived his aneurysm, she wondered.

He was always cautious, never one to take risks, would the aneurysm have made him even more cautious.

She guessed that you could go two ways when you survived a major health crisis, wanting to make the most of your life like Patti, or scared to live it like Keith.

It was the same after a bereavement. You could hide yourself away, as she had done, or step back into the world and live life for both of you, as she was doing now.

Perhaps she and Patti could help Keith take that step.

She hoped so, because a life of fear wasn’t living, it was existing.