Francis Gay What’s the buzz? Barbara’s friend has a heart of gold
It was an across-the-garden-fence chat. Barbara told Ann how delighted she was to have saved an exhausted bee on her window ledge by giving it some sugary water. “It’s a ridiculous thing to be so pleased about!”
“Not at all,” said Ann, “You saved a life!” “Maybe I’ll get a medal!” Barbara laughed. Later on, Ann remembered a conversation from a year ago. Talking about their youth, Barbara had said that all she ever wanted
Blended families can be difficult. When John married Joanne they both had children of their own. They worked hard at it, but he was never really sure all the children saw themselves as a real family. Last week, John’s dad died, and it knocked the feet out from under him. Everyone rallied around in support, but it was something his step-daughter Nicola said that he wanted to share. “She told me: ‘You’ll get through this. You’ve got us and we’ve got you. You just need to do what you told me to do every week when I was away at uni’. “I hoped my grief would excuse my forgetfulness, so I asked what I’d said and she replied: ‘You ended every card you sent with the same three words - walk in love’. “That’s when I knew the work had been worth it,” John told me.
“And it’s exactly what I plan to do.” in primary school was to get a gold star for something –but she never did! “And when I was older,” she added, “no one believed me when I said it was all I wanted.”
A few days later a gold-star badge, with the words “Bee-saver” engraved on it, dropped on Barbara’s doormat.
There was a lot of laughter – and not a few happy tears!
And I’d have to say it sounds like Barbara has a gold-star neighbour!
Jenny looked tired when I met her in town. Without getting too close, I guessed the baby in the pram she was pushing was sound asleep. “Oh, yes!” she said with an ironic laugh. “She can sleep during the day all right, but not at night. She’s teething, so she will cry and sing through the night, but not sleep!” “Cry and sing?” I repeated. “Ohh, we’ve sung to her since before she was born. So, we think she must be singing to comfort herself through the pain in her mouth.
“No words, and not much of a tune, but she’s definitely singing. It might be a tune only she knows but it’s a song all right.”
How wonderful! What a gift music is to our lives – even before we are born, it seems. What good parenting. And how often have the two gone together as parents sang to calm their babies?
I wished Jenni enough energy to get through the day and the night, and off she went – humming to herself!
Small businesses are struggling these days.
So, when someone stole from Susan’s business, it could have had serious consequences. The community rallied around and soon she had a name for the thief. But, did she prosecute him? No. Why not? Because he was a drug addict, stealing to support his habit.
“Is that an excuse?” I asked. “That same weekend, my brother overdosed,” she told me. “Paramedics brought him back to life because they saw someone needing help rather than labelling him an addict. So, the police warned him, then I said a prayer for his family, for mine, and for everyone caught in that awful trap.” Because she is that sort of person, I think people will flock to her business. As backto-front as it seems, it’s my opinion that Susan will always do more than break-even, as she always gives more than she gets!