Up close and personal

I love train travel and would happily use it as my primary mode of transport to cross within and across countries if it were possible.

From Canberra to Goulburn it is only an hour and a half hour ride but I was looking forward to looking out of the window at the passing vistas and daydreaming.

My allocated seat turned out to be on the aisle. I said hello to the lady in the window out of courtesy. I was planning on silence. We started talking. She lit up. Her perfume was strong and heady. The kind that normally makes me sneeze. But I didn't.

She told me she had 3 sons, as many daughters-in-law and 5 grandchildren. I noticed she jingled and jangled. She had pearls in her ears, a bracelet of many strings with a diamanté flower clip on her right wrist and a gold tinkling necklace.

She told me she was going to Sydney to see Jose Carreras perform. I noticed she was dressed in what I'd call Sunday best except we were travelling on Saturday. She told me she was meeting a friend and they would drink champagne at the hotel before going to the show. I noticed she smiled tentatively.

She told me her husband had died two months ago. They had only just celebrated their 50th anniversary. She started crying. She kept apologising. I told her she shouldn't say sorry for losing the other hemisphere of her world. She adjusted her jingly necklace. I told her 3 days of bereavement leave from work is not enough to cover, let alone fill the huge gaping hole that's blown out of your heart when a loved one dies. I squeezed her arm. She smiled tentatively.

She told me her name is Barbara. She will be returning from Sydney to Canberra tomorrow on the same train that I will catch down the track in Goulburn. I am looking forward to seeing Barbara again and hearing about her night at the opera.