Therealheroesarethosewho simply pass on their love

For all the years that I have known her, Amy has had self-esteem issues. I never knew why then, just last week, she told me she felt she was irreparably broken.

When I asked what she meant, she told me about her history of childhood abuse, betrayal, and a desperate, seemingly futile, search for love.

To be honest, I was stunned, and didn’t know what to say.

Then I heard a noise from upstairs. It was

Lisa thought the older man had introduced himself as “mystery”, but maybe it was “Mister A”.

They chatted in the street, about the weather, the turning of the seasons, the traffic. Then, as if in passing, he said he was sure she felt the pressures of modern life, but she should remember she was precious, strong, and loved.

When he handed her something, she expected it to be a religious tract, but it was a sheet of hand-written poetry about strangers being friends not yet made and the beauty of accidental meetings.

When she told a friend, he said: “Oh, I met him years ago. He made my day. I’m glad he’s still doing it!”

A poet dedicated to lifting the spirits of random strangers in the street? Mr A’s true identity may be a mystery, but it’s more wonderful world because he’s out there!

Write to:

the youngest of her three lovely children.

“Tell me,” I asked. “Have any of your children had any of those experiences?” Horrified, she said: “No!”

“Then you’re not broken,” I said. “You are an overcomer. A genuine hero.”

Sometimes life does break us down. And sometimes we pass that feeling on as all we know.

But, some of us – like Amy – stop the damage. And heal it with love!

George is a spoiled brat! Who says? Well, he does.

A keen photographer, he lives on the Ayrshire coast. The other day he was on the beach and he took a photo of the island of Arran. Looking at it, he thought it was nicely framed, the blue of sea and sky came out well, the snow on the hills was clearly visible, seagulls were silhouetted against the white clouds.

‘Yeah, but…’ he thought. ‘It looks ordinary.

“That was when I knew I was spoiled,” he told me. “When I could see a view people in crowded cities, or other built-up areas, would love to have – and I thought it ordinary!”

Of course George, a lovely, unspoilt man, is his own worst critic. But, it’s a reminder for us all, to look again at the beauty we might think ordinary, the blessings we might take for granted.

Renovations meant Caroline and Andy would have a pipe running up their living room wall. In plain view!

Lacking options, they started planning how to make it blend in, to make it as unobtrusive as possible. They decided on a good option. Then decided not to do it.

Instead, Andy brought home a strip of unvarnished pine and fixed that over the pipe. Then he bought a wood engraver.

In the four years since then, they have recorded their three children’s height on the strip, burning in the markers, writing names, and decorating the spaces in between.

“We’ll disguise the pipe when we move house, Caroline told me. “But we’ll take the strip with us.”

The one who find imaginative ways to make ugly things beautiful? They are some of my favourite people!

Skies are often dark and grey,

But signs around us show, Brighter days are sure to follow,

Spring is on the go; Again the days are stretching,

Nights are lighter too, Our land awakening to reveal,

A season fresh and new.