Missing home? The next best thing to being there is showing your family that you care. Tesco understands this, which is why they're now offering free home delivery for customers age 65 or older.
It’s a winter’s night on a country road, somewhere in Ireland. Hedgerows, potholes, you’re walking home.
It’s cold. So cold, you swear the air is glistening around you as you move. You exhale, and see your breath. It lingers in front of your face and as if in reflex, you move your fingers up to your lips to take a drag of a cigarette that isn’t there, pretending for a second. It made you look so cool when you were eight and you did it on the playground in front of your deadly mates. It doesn’t anymore…now you’re just an eejit standing on the side of the road making strange fake-smoking shapes with your mouth, wishing you’d called a taxi to take you home.
Brief crisis-of-self pushed aside, you keep going, pulling your scarf up to your nose as you feel your skin tighten. You walk through the glass of the night and your ears splinter in pain. Deep breath. Street lamps have appeared since you were last home, delicately lighting the way, but without them, you would still know every twist, turn and bend in the road. Breathe out.
The stillness of the country night is so commanding and beautiful you want to take in every possible detail at once. The Dwyer’s up on the hill, their house partly lit. They’re in the living room for sure, fire on and watching Peaky Blinders season two on Netflix because that Cillian Murphy fella is only gorgeous. Sheila’s lost the remote and Jimmy’s up fiddling with the buttons on the TV. Their cat, Moggy, 18 and slow on her feet, is curled up in her chair, the sound of her purring drowned out by dulcet Brummie tones.
Turf. You can smell it burning all around you. Premium, hand-cut, none-of-that-peaty-nonsense you find stateside, real Irish sod. And the sound of wet gravel under your shoes follows as you trudge along, up past the stop sign at the crossroads that marks the halfway point between your house and Doherty’s. You could walk it in eight minutes, or bate down to them in four.
Wrought iron and older than you, the gate at the bottom of your lane is as heavy as you remember. The paint has long since chipped and small pools of rain trickle out from under as you push it open. Up the lane, you reach the door and let yourself in. The heat, ferocious, hits as you make your way down the hall, time traveling through Christenings, Communions and ceilidhs gone by. Badges of honor still bet to the wall, you cringe, move quickly. On to the kitchen.
Plates rattle, mam’s on the move. She stands by the stove, making the tea. The fridge is full and the cupboards stocked. She lifts the pot and pours the cups, her winter shape, soft and warm. She asks to hear about your day, waits her turn to tell you hers. So and so, they said this. While himself in there was fast asleep. Soda bread, you’ll have a bit. Batch on the counter, you might prefer. Brandy’s in the press, sure you’ll have a sup. Delivered the lot, the woman’s an angel. Unpacks and all, a lovely girl. 3 under 10, how does she manage. We’re fine love, got all we need, you know yourself, doesn’t life begin, at 65.
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Missing home?
At Tesco, we’re introducing free home delivery for all our customers aged 65 or older when you shop online. Now you can have your loved one’s favorite foodie treats delivered to their homes and what’s even better is that if those extra special loved ones are over 65 their food packages will be delivered for free. We’ll take your order, do the shopping and deliver it to their door. Wouldn’t mammy love the surprise!
Simply call our Customer Care team to set up the service for someone you love back home
Calling from the USA: 011 353 51 339 890
Calling from outside the USA: +353 51 339 890
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