Francis Gay

I’M impressed by medals and acts of valour, but I hope we never forget ordinary everyday heroes.

Donna was telling me she is about to be made redundant.

It’s a big shock and it will mean a lot of changes.

“But,” she said, “someone told me the Chinese symbol for ‘crisis’ is the same as the symbol for ‘opportunity’. I’m going to look at it that way.”

Then she smiled. And then she started to cry.

I made a sympathetic noise and she protested: “Oh no, these aren’t tears. They’re just me washing away the old way of looking at things, so I can have fresh eyes to see the new opportunities!”

Somebody give that lady a medal. BILLY had to go private for an operation that would greatly improve his quality of life. He was embarrassed to say exactly what it was.

Then something happened and the money for the operation – several thousand pounds – was no longer available. He didn’t want to get into it.

After a long discussion about his situation his consultant went away. She came back with the information that someone else was going to fund his operation. When he asked, in amazement, who it was, the consultant said: “You will never know and you will never hear from them.”

“So,” I asked, “what exactly is it that you’re telling me?” “That such people exist!” Billy replied. It’s good to know.