Echoes of the past bring comfort for the future

An extra hour of daylight, Makes a difference to the heart,

Raising spirits that have dropped,

Allowing winter to depart. Make the most of every minute,

Enjoy some brighter days, Look forward to the joy and cheer,

Mother Nature then displays.

Peter had just arrived to babysit for his daughter-in-law Meg. As she organised one-year-old Ryan to go with his papa, the postie delivered a book she had bought online.

“It’s a memoir of childhood in the 1880s,” she said.

“Ohh,” said Peter, “I’m reading Charlie Chaplin’s autobiography. His childhood was at the same time.

“And when I’m not reading this,” Meg pointed to a book on the couch, “I’ll be in the 1920s reading Winnie the Pooh to my boy.”

Telling me about it afterwards, Peter said: “It’s no surprise, given how difficult the last year has been, that people are seeking the reassurance of the past, even if it is only in stories.”

He hoisted little Ryan into his arms. “But the babies are no less wonderful now than they ever were. This little lad, and all the others like him, are hope for the future.”

Martin had to phone Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs – no one’s favourite thing to do.

After being cut off three times and listening to several recorded messages there was a long wait. Then he got to speak to a human being. Quickly, but without much hope, he explained the mix-up. “Susan” looked at his account.

“I see that,” she said. “Now there’s normally a written appeals’ procedure to go through, and I’ll probably get told off for this, but... there...it’s fixed.” Martin thanked her and said that she had been incredibly kind. “Well, you started it,” she replied. Confused, he asked how he’d done that. “I had you on hold for over half an hour,” she explained.

“But when I asked how I could help, you said hello and asked how my day was going. Have you any idea how rare that is in this job?” Kindness, it seems, breeds kindness.

Michelle was walking in the park with her spaniel, Daisy, when a young woman approached, making a fuss over the dog.

Then Daisy settled down and the two women chatted for about 20, very pleasant, minutes.

Saying her goodbyes, the younger woman explained she wasn’t really all that fussed about dogs, she just really, really needed to talk to another human being. They “air-hugged”, then Heather shared her phone number. “It’s something I would never normally have done,” Heather told me, “but, Daisy and I are the only ones at home, and I felt exactly the same.” Could it be that the days of not wanting to intrude, not wanting to encroach on each other’s personal space, be coming to an end, at least for a while? If the pandemic and social distancing have taught us one thing, it might be just how much we need each other.

Annie told her children she loved them the other day.

How is that unusual? Well, it was the first time and her children are in their 30s!

“It was the day after my dad’s funeral,” she explained. “After he’d gone to join mum. My parents never told me they loved me, and they never needed to.

“We always knew they did. It was like they took pride in showing it, as if that was better than saying it.

“I’d hear others saying it and wonder, but I was always afraid mum and dad would think it was foolish.” “So, how did it feel?” I asked. “Foolish,” Annie replied. “And embarrassing. And...lovely! “When they said it back, I almost melted.”

There are many different ways of expressing love. Each is important and each adds its own special something. Instead of limiting it, let’s find more ways of sharing it.