Francis Gay

WHEN Kenny has his granddaughter Cara staying with him, they take the dogs for walks in the nearby woods.

The other day, the three-year-old asked to go visit a patch of daffodils she had been entranced by the last time.

He had to explain the leaves were still there, but the flowers had withered.

“Everything has its time,” he explained, feeling it wasn’t quite enough. Then he caught a flash of colour, quickly adding: “And this is the time of the bluebells!”

The bluebells were as exciting as the daffodils had been and Cara said: “Grandad, isn’t it good that all the beautiful things don’t come at the same time?”

Isn’t it? Or we might stop seeing and appreciating them. I MET a friend today I hadn’t talked to for a long time. After catching up I recalled a story she had told me about a kindness someone did for her.

She said: “Oh, I still tell that story. In fact, I told it to someone only yesterday.”

Neither of us knew the name of the Good Samaritan in question. She came into my friend’s life, did her good deed, and left. And there we were talking about it – 27 years later!

Why am I telling you this? To encourage you. The next time you consider doing something for someone, and you wonder if it’s really worth the effort, remember that one act of kindness warmed a heart (and the hearts of the countless others who heard about it) for 27 years.

And that’s probably not a record!