Who are you?

I had a very good friend once who was like a mother to me. She was French and had survived the Second World War in which she saw her husband shot dead by the Nazis and had to endure watching her young daughter go hungry. She was lucky enough to cross over into unoccupied Bordeaux where she spent the rest of the war. She took a job as a cook in a cafe where her sole task was to make omelettes from morning 'til night. Runny inside, soft and fluffy.

After a lifetime of hardship and I knew her when she was in her 70s, she had acquired a wisdom that was simple yet potent. We often spent Sundays together when she would make me lunch in return for taking her shopping in my car.

The one pearl of wisdom she frequently recited was this: 'Remember, you are no better or worse than anyone else."

I never forgot Madame Bue and I finally understand what she meant.