michael bowden

It was just before Christmas, 2007 and I was doing some shopping in Peter Jones, Sloane Square. The lady in front of me at the till was struggling as her debit card would not register. Suddenly she burst into tears. "Are you OK?" I asked. "Maybe I could pay, and you can pay me back," I said. "Oh, thank you, young man. That's very kind," she said. Next attempt, though, her card worked. I paid too and she waited for me. She clearly wanted someone to talk to. "I'm sorry to be so emotional," she said. "But I've just been diagnosed with breast cancer this morning." I asked where she was being treated and she said, The Royal Marsden. I said that my partner (Vikki and I were not married then) was being treated there too, having been diagnosed earlier that year. I told her that the people at the @royalmarsdenNHS were the best. She thanked me for the reassurance, and we both smiled and went on our way, she a little calmer, me buoyed being being called 'young man'. That was my encounter with #DameMaggieSmith. RIP lovely woman and wonderful actor.