She looked careworn.  She looked older than I assumed she might actually be in order of years.  She looked worn down by life, by the problems that must confront her.  She moved slowly but with purpose.  She was at the supermarket, hauling behind her one of those personal little shopping buggies that people use when they have to walk long distances and cannot carry too much in the conventional way with shopping bags.

She was pulling that buggy behind her as she pushed one of the large supermarket carts before her.  There wasn't much in the cart, she was obviously selecting those items that were advertised on sale, and there were quite a few sale items yesterday.  I took advantage of those that were of interest to me. 

I'm not sure what brought her to my attention.  Her face was set in grim lines. 

She wore clothing obviously chosen for their sturdiness, certainly nothing that looked remotely stylish.  Although we walked down the same aisles full of various foodstuffs, I had piled my shopping cart high with fresh fruits and vegetables, juices, milk, eggs, butter, household cleaning supplies, cheese, fish and chicken. 

There wasn't much, piled low in her cart, having travelled the same distance that I had.  And we came to the check-out desk at roughly the same time; I was in front, and she behind.  She waited patiently while I placed my purchases on the counter to be rung up and paid for, then packed them, until the cashier turned to her and rang her relatively few items through.

I noticed she had bought a bouquet of roses.  And they were a brilliant, bright pink, a lovely fresh colour.  Turning to her I said how beautiful they were.  She smiled and her face was transported.  They were lovely, she said, they reminded her of her daughter, and in fact she bought them for her daughter.  I smiled back, and she added that it was her daughter's birthday that very day.

When I asked how old her daughter was, the woman said 17, and beamed happily.  You're a great mother, I said to her, then trundled my shopping cart out to the parking lot.