It takes bravery to admit to others you are scared

“It was like the Good Friday Agreement,” George told me.

He and his brother are both in their seventies – but they haven’t spoken for most of the past decade. When he heard his brother had Covid, he got in touch. Tentatively, perhaps guardedly. A year after that, his brother returned the favour and a little more ice was broken. Now they meet up regularly. They always say their goodbyes with a hug.

“And those hugs…” George was at a loss to describe how important they were for him.

But how was it like the Irish peace deal?

“Because, we each had to give way on something. We each had to decide what we wanted more, to be right, or to have peace. Or to have love!”

Good Friday is past for this year, but that sort of agreement would surely be a welcome one any day of the year!

Getting your hair done… Getting your nails done… It’s all superficial stuff, isn’t it? Well... I’m a man, what would I know?

But I did appreciate one “hair-do”. Someone I loved, sensing the approach of death, panicked and I could do nothing to help. A nurse rested her against her breast, brushed her hair and told her she was beautiful. She calmed down, found some peace, and slipped away content.

I mention this because I met two women recently, whose friend had days, perhaps hours, left and there was nothing they could do to help. So, they were going to do her nails for her.

Ahhh… there is no rhyme or reason to what makes us happy. But who are any of us to deny anyone else a little happiness when they have nothing else?

So, superficial? Sure. But, important? Absolutely. And God bless those who provide such simple last comforts.

Four-year-old Andy thinks his Grampa is amazing.

When Andy went for swimming lessons, and refused to get in the pool, his mum thought she might use that hero-worship. She invited Grampa along the next week as an encourager. And, after a hesitant start, it worked!

Later, she asked him what magic words he had used.

He said: “I told him that I saw him hiding behind his mother and it reminded me how I used to hide behind my mum at every opportunity. I was scared of everything! But, I moved beyond that. And, if he wanted to grow up like his grampa, he could move beyond it too, just whenever he was ready.”

It turned out he was ready! I reckon Grampa is a hero, because he’s brave enough to admit to having been scared, and cool enough to show that it’s OK to be so – for a little while!

The path home lay between two fields. Sixty-year-old Andy had just run around one field as part of his Race For Life training. It had gone terribly. He wanted to go home.

Instead, defying common sense, he climbed through the gate of the second field. I waited to see how he did.

He came out again, red-faced but happy. “It’s like my aches, pains, and my ‘exhaustion’ from the first run slowed me down enough that I managed to go further on the second run. That was my best run so far! And to think I just wanted to go home!”

It’s an amazing truth that we only usually discover at the extremes. But, when we think we can’t give any more, when we are sure we can’t go any further… amazingly, we can!

Keep on running, Andy! And everyone else pushing their limits to raise money for Cancer Research.

It’s nice to hear birdsong, as they whistle and fly. It’s good to see children, play and run by. It touches the heart, when flowers then bloom. A taste of new growth, in nature’s lovely perfume.