Cramond Beach, Edinburgh

One morning I catch a bus to the last stop.

There I notice a man walking his dog, caught without a poop bag.

I approach and hand him one, ‘from Australia’.

“What’s it made from kangaroo skin?”

We laugh.

He looks directly at me and says, “I’m 71 and I have dementia”.

I ask what it’s like to live and die with dementia in Scotland.

He tells me health care is free and good.

He has lived in Cramond for 35 years.

He has 8 grandchildren.

He has loved and been heart broken.

We talk for a good while longer …

Having traveled so far, I really listen.