Rachel

The story

This tiny mark is on the middle of my left hand. It’s a very middle-class scar, I got it removing a stone from an avocado, with a blunt knife.

It really hurt, way more than I could have imagined, and the amount of blood was impressive, it really bled for ages. When it happened, I was living with a good friend in Cardiff, it was morning and she was getting her three-and-a-half-year-old ready for nursery, they were really shocked.

S stared – mouth open and tears streamed down their tiny face as a I tried to clean up, stop the bleeding, eat breakfast and get out the door for work.

I didn’t think about it a lot after it stopped bleeding.

That night my friend commented that S had been upset for a while after I left – but again, I didn’t really think about it.

Years passed and I didn’t see my friend year after year.

Children grew and contact was via facebook only, as we missed them on several occasions when visiting Cardiff.

This summer we ended up in Cardiff by accident (camping near llantwit when a day full of rain meant we needed something to do!).

I called her and explained.

She paused and said aloud to her now 19 year old… “Can the avocado woman come and visit?”

Then she laughed and said that S had just physically recoiled at the mention of ‘The Avocado Woman’ but that yes, I was allowed to visit.  

I had scarred them for life by being clumsy with breakfast.

It’s definitely the little things that can leave their mark.