Folks from here, there and perhaps everywhere.  I meet them in Eastbourne coffee shops, pubs and at Devonshire Park tennis.  Some names I remember.  Most I don’t.  I wish them all well.

1.  She’s a 79-year-old Brit who sat beside me today to watch Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu win their matches.  She played on Centre Court decades ago.  Her husband died recently and she dearly misses their 48 years together.

2.  Bob joined me for coffee this morning on the patio of The Cappuccino.  He looked across the street at a now-closed cinema where he and his beloved cuddled so many years ago.  He called me “Bruce” countless times and repeatedly said he was delighted to meet me.  A big man with a big accent and a big heart.

3.  Fiona and Gary live near Eastbourne.  She talked a lot, he less … and the love they felt for each other was obvious.  Gary is in the wine business.  I asked if he had a free sample on him, but sadly no.  They’re heading to Vancouver in Canada soon to visit a loved one.  I told them not to miss low tide at Spanish Banks Beach.

4.  I had a lovely talk with a woman who knew little English.  So I ventured into my small history of speaking French.  She enjoyed l’attention française.  For me, newly initiated into the mysteries of learning Dutch, returning to French felt so strange.  Somehow the words of a third language flowed from my mouth.

5.  Another Devonshire neighbour was an Irish woman in her 30’s who could talk tennis “until the cows came home”.  Only after an hour or more did I find out that she was a physician – a general practitioner.  I asked how many years she had spent in medical studies.  Including two years in Internal Medicine training, the answer was … 14!  Wow.

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So there you have it

Fine representatives of the human race

And I’m one of those too!