Mrs. Stratton's Words of Wisdom

One year ago today, Christopher asked me to be his wife. I believe my exact response was "Of course of course yes I love you ahh!" I didn't envision we'd be celebrating that moment in England 365 days later.

Today is our third day in Oxford. We're still hunting for an apartment (don't worry, guys, if I can't be on House Hunters International, I've been taking notes on all the apartments myself and will share the narration on this blog soon enough). We've taken a walking tour of the city centre (we highly recommend Footprints tours, if you're coming to visit). And we've also met some interesting people along the way. 

Enter, Mrs. Stratton....



During our trek from one open house to the next, Christopher and I got caught waiting for the bus in the rain. 

"Rain water is good for the hair," a homely looking woman in her late 70s called out to us. We smiled and nodded underneath our tiny black umbrella. "My mum washed her hair in it every day of her life." 

The sky broke and the rain started falling harder. "Would you like to stand under our umbrella?" I called out. "Yes, please." She responded, not focused anymore on the beauty effects the rain had on her hair but rather the fact that it was cold and she was starting to get drenched.

As the three of us huddled together inches apart she discovered we were recently married and on quite the adventure this year. "Live for the day," she told us. "My partner passed 4 years ago, and you can't hold anything back. Say everything you're thinking right away because you never know what could happen..."

Mrs. Stratton confessed that since her husband died she doesn't leave the house much. But she did spoil herself earlier in the day by blowing her whole pension on maxi dresses and would be treating herself to a meal at Mitre on High Sreet later on... "Go there and tell them I sent you. I'm a regular," she insisted.

The bus finally came and we said goodbye to Mrs. Stratton as she got off and headed to her home that she no longer shares with anyone. As Christopher and I made our way to the next open house, I took a moment to squeeze his hand tightly and say how lucky I am to be living with him for as many years as life gives us. I guess it could have seemed a little cheesy, but Mrs. Stratton seemed like a wise woman....