{"id":20,"date":"2026-08-07T21:45:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/?p=20"},"modified":"2026-08-08T18:55:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T18:55:43","slug":"essay-number-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/?p=20","title":{"rendered":"The Last Parking Space"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Things You Notice While Waiting<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Maybe it\u2019s age, or maybe I\u2019ve finally accepted that life\u2019s greatest victories have become oddly specific. These days, finding a parking space exactly where you need one feels less like good fortune and more like divine intervention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today I found the last available space in the hospital car park. The last one. Better still, I reversed into it, which has always been my preferred method because Future Me deserves to leave with dignity instead of executing a seventeen-point turn while an impatient queue silently judges my life choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here I sit. Ridiculously early. But experienced enough to know that hospital parking is a blood sport. There are around thirty-five spaces, perhaps a couple more if you count the optimistic ones by the entrance that aren\u2019t really spaces so much as suggestions. There is an overflow car park somewhere within walking distance. \u201cWithin walking distance\u201d is estate-agent language for \u201cfurther than you wanted to walk\u201d, and today I simply didn\u2019t have the enthusiasm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m here to meet my director before we visit one of our members, an outstanding consultant nurse. I genuinely enjoy meeting our members and hearing about the work they do. It\u2019s one of the best parts of my job. What I don\u2019t particularly enjoy is the setting. Hospitals and I have a perfectly civil relationship, but we\u2019re not friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is my local hospital. The last time I was here was just before Christmas, sitting opposite an ophthalmology consultant who calmly explained, in impressive detail, the seemingly endless list of things wrong with my eyes. He was exceptionally thorough. Unfortunately, so was the list. Still, I can read the words on my phone well enough to type this, so let\u2019s call that a victory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hospital car park is its own little ecosystem. People of every age drift towards the entrance, some alone, others accompanied by spouses, children or friends drafted in for moral support. There aren\u2019t many people of colour, something I notice almost without thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small group of elderly people greet each other like regulars at a village caf\u00e9. Some are arriving, others leaving. I imagine they exchange appointment stories the way football fans discuss last night\u2019s match.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCardiology?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, dermatology. You?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKnees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh, Margaret\u2019s on gastroenterology this week.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know that\u2019s probably unfair, but people-watching leaves plenty of room for fictional dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s impossible not to wonder about everyone. What\u2019s his appointment? Which specialist is she seeing? Is the gentleman struggling to walk here because that\u2019s the condition he\u2019s being treated for, or is it entirely unrelated and today\u2019s concern is something completely different? Every person crossing the tarmac is carrying a story you\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As two o\u2019clock edges closer, I notice my anxiety quietly stretching its legs. It\u2019s strange because hospitals don\u2019t frighten me exactly. I simply wouldn\u2019t choose one as a leisure destination. Nobody has ever said, \u201cFancy spending a relaxing Wednesday afternoon wandering around vascular care?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it goes back further than I realise. My earliest memories of hospitals are from when I was about twelve and my mother was seriously ill. Hospitals have never quite managed to shake that association. Even now, they carry a certain emotional weight, however irrational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also the wardrobe drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before leaving home my director messaged to remind me that sleeves below the elbow aren\u2019t allowed in clinical areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m sure you already know this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I did know it. I\u2019d simply forgotten.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So I thanked her, went downstairs and changed my top with all the enthusiasm of someone who\u2019d mentally committed to the original outfit. My long-sleeved blue shirt looked infinitely better with my blue-and-cream striped skirt than the practical short-sleeved white one. If I have to visit a hospital, I\u2019d at least like to look how I\u2019d planned. Fashion may not save lives, but it can salvage one\u2019s mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in the car park, a driver opposite has managed to occupy approximately one and a half parking spaces. Whether this was panic, haste or abstract art is impossible to say. The woman trying to park beside him attempts several manoeuvres before wisely deciding to reverse in, all while casually sipping what appears to be a McDonald\u2019s latte. A woman after my own heart. Parking first. Caffeine second. Success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually I make my way to the hospital entrance, where I immediately spot Avril from the after-school club at the school my daughter has just left after finishing her A levels. The randomness of life never ceases to amaze me. We say hello, exchange a hug and promise to catch up soon. She\u2019s pushing a man in a wheelchair who looks genuinely unwell, so this is no time for a reunion. We smile, wave and carry on in opposite directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hospitals are peculiar places. They are full of anxiety, hope, boredom, professionalism, awkward small talk, terrible parking and unexpectedly bumping into someone you know. They remind you that every stranger is fighting something, whether you can see it or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They also remind you that sometimes the best thing that happens all day is finding the last parking space.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Things You Notice While Waiting Maybe it\u2019s age, or maybe I\u2019ve finally accepted that life\u2019s greatest victories have become oddly specific. These days, finding a parking space exactly where you need one feels less like good fortune and more like divine intervention. Today I found the last available space in the hospital car park. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal-reflections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tracylenzy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}