The Real Salt Path & Other Stories

by Linda

As I have mentioned before, working on a Reception can result in some very interesting conversations with clients.

Last Friday, I had a lady waiting to see the vet who, mentioned in passing, that she was in a bit of a hurry and had driven up from Cornwall.  Immediately I asked her which part of Cornwall, as it is a favourite place of mine.  She said she had just dropped her husband off at Heartland Quay as he was walking the coastal path.

I said how much I had enjoyed the book and film of The Salt Path and how disappointed I was to read the negative side to this book.  It had been such an inspiring story and I felt with the questions raised afterwards,  like a child hearing there was no actual Father Christmas.

The lady started to tell me her and her husband’s story.

Chris had been diagnosed with a brain condition, CAA, an incurable, degenerative disease which could ultimately lead to pre-onset Altzeimers disease and her husband, Chris had decided to walk the coastal path to raise money for all brain conditions and also as therapy for himself;  despite the fact he had a replacement knee!  Currently he has raised 5.3K and has another two hundred miles to go, wanting to finish his walk in Poole Dorset, his home town.

Chris’s wife explained their mission was to raise awareness and hopefully get followers to his Instagram account, “Old Man With a Rucksack”.

I found his story so touching and inspiring that immediately I joined his Instagram Followers, as did another  lady in the waiting room.  Chris is such an interesting man and his daily updates on his progress are very uplifting. I think about how humbling it is when someone faces life’s awful challenges in such an heroic way.

A client I particularly  looked forward to visiting us was an owner of numerous pointer dogs;  a former head master and English teacher.  The client lived in a big house in the Hampshire countryside which he shared with his many rescue dogs. These dogs were definitely living their best lives, having the run of the entire estate and their own furniture.

Being a former English teacher, he was a brilliant raconteur and would regale us with stories from his colourful past.   His stories were always exciting, whether they were about his childhood growing up on the Longleat estate, wafting in from exotic parts of the world with his current Business, coming in from the House of Lords or his signed Christmas cards from Hilary Clinton!

When you work on Reception, you get to be know the clients and their lives and certain people can brighten your day, just by being themselves.

One such client was a very bubbly lady, very well spoken with a radiance about her which made you immediately want to chat to her.  She had a tiny little chihuahua ( a favourite breed of mine) and she proudly would tell us how she had rescued her dog from the gypsies in Spain.  I secretly named this lady “Mrs Jilly Cooper” , as her exuberance and zest for life were infectious, and her overall appearance of blonde coiffured hair and glamorous eyelashes, put me in mind of the famous author.

One day, she was in Reception and as our conversation evolved, I said in fun, I call you “Mrs Jilly Cooper”, to which she laughed and said that actually she had known Jilly Cooper.  This client had lived amongst the “horsey set”, and could confirm that the imaginings in Riders and Rivals, were certainly very true to life……..in fact, she added, conspiratorially, her ex husband was actually in Riders…… she didn’t enlighten me any more than that, leaving me to imagine…..had I actually been talking to the ex-wife of Rupert Campbell Black….?