Public Holiday, Doctor

Ida was tall and strong with grey hair and blue eyes. Her feet looked like scrubbed potatoes, not always that well scrubbed, and as she strode along the main street and through the shops their was a distinct waft of 'old lady' overlaid with talc powder.
Ida had an amazing memory citing anything from the birth dates of distant cousins to the date her trailer registration ended. She loved nothing better than finding a connection with someone and she'd chuckle with glee if she found out she'd been at school with them.
Ida was a little strange and somewhat socially isolated so on a number of occasions she joined us for a meal on Christmas Day usually in the evening. The kids loved to roll their eyes at her stories, especially when she got started on the hoons who parked in the parklands near her home and used 'f words and k words.' They knew about the f word (sadly) but often speculated on what the k words might be. Or whether t was a spelling issue.
Ida suffered from some health problems and if she had been absent from our street for some time would often tell us how she had been 'flop' in the hospital.
One particular occasion she told us the doctor had chided her for not coming into the hospital soon enough.
Her response to him was, 'Public holiday, doctor.' She didn't want to cause extra work on his day off. This phrase became part of our family lingo. Much to the consternation of others, the words 'public holiday' are invariably followed by 'Doctor'. For example, 'The shop won't be open. It's a public holiday, Doctor.'
Ida was different, shunned by many, challenged in some ways, but she enriched our lives. And so on this public holiday (Doctor) I remember her.
With love...