The little sisters in arms don’t need lessons in love

With uncertainty still around,

All we can really do,

Is look back upon the good times,

And keep them right in view. Let’s try and keep a hopeful heart,

A smile for every day, And have faith that even better times,

Will surely come our way.

I was walking down some granite steps when I slowed and looked back.

Behind me were three girls who all looked to be under five years old. Their mother was behind them and I wanted to be close enough if any of the little ones needed catching. Realising my intentions, the mum said: “Just watch.”

The girls locked arms. The one on the left held the bars of the fence on that side. The one on the right let her hand run down the banister on that side. “They are tiny,” their mum said, “but together they fill the space of a bigger person. And, arm in arm, or hand in hand, they make sure no one falls. I didn’t teach them that!”

I smiled at mum, told the younger ladies “Well done” then walked on, having just witnessed a wonderful lesson in interdependence.

Or, how much better we are when we lean on each other.

It was another of those kerbside send-offs where people who can’t be at the funeral service because of the current restrictions gather in the street to say their goodbyes. Because the deceased’s home was off-road, the mourners and funeral cars gathered in a nearby car park behind a row of shops.

It was a pretty bleak vista, to be honest. Then, seeing the people gather, a shopkeeper came out with a broom and swept a stretch of pavement. A mourner picked up some larger trash and dropped it into a skip. Others, without necessarily even talking about it, joined in the tidy-up. A woman with a bunch of flowers even scattered petals on the path from the deceased’s home.

It was still a car park, but by the time the grieving relatives came out, it was a nicer car park. Respects can be shown in many ways.

Cameron was kneeling on the hall floor as his 14-month-old grandson played peek-a-boo by the kitchen door.

Each time Kyle peeked, his grandad would pretend to jump in surprise.

This went on for a while and was ridiculously entertaining for Cameron as much as the little boy.

Then, perhaps thinking he shouldn’t scare the old man any more, the little lad walked over, put his cheek against his grandad’s chest and gave him the biggest, tightest hug. “Now, I’m not a small man,” Cameron told me. “And Kyle still has a lot of growing to do. His outstretched arms didn’t even make it halfway round me.

“But when I felt those little hands patting my ribs to comfort and reassure me, well, my heart just melted.”

Love, it seems, isn’t dependent on size.

And, when it comes from the heart, there is no such thing as half a hug!

The lady of the house, like so many others, was delighted when Covid restrictions were relaxed and hairdresser appointments became possible again.

Her hairdresser, Karen, arranged an appointment for her, and that’s when she heard the story. You see, Karen knew of a mother and daughter who, because of the restrictions, hadn’t seen each other for a year. So, when she saw they were both looking for appointments, she did some rescheduling, and without telling either, booked them in at the same time. They were in the chairs and gowned up, the only two customers, before they realised who they were looking at through the Perspex screen. There were squeals, tears and laughter – and beautiful new hairstyles.

All because one hairdresser really did listen to her clients, and put what she heard to heartwarmingly good use!