Buddies

Happy buddies, Dilly and Amy, on a walk in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire. A special heart memory.

We are grateful to our local garage. Their service is great, and they are always busy, so we don’t mind waiting to get our vehicles serviced and looked after. A bonus is that we can walk to and from their premises.

I dropped the car off yesterday for her service, and it was a beautiful day, so I was keen to get cracking on my walk home. Much had been happening, and like a horse heading for home, I had the scent of a long list nearly completed. Something made me pause and turn back. The young lass on reception, always friendly and calm, no matter what is happening, asked if I’d forgotten something.

‘We just talked about the car, and I forgot to ask how you are.’

Her silence for a few moments was eloquent. Then she said,

‘No one asks about me.’

There was no self-pity in her; it was simply a realisation.

She was more comfortable talking about her colleagues’ struggles returning to part-time work after maternity leave than herself. She asked how I was, and I found myself nodding and saying, ‘Good.’

Walking home, I found myself noticing more, and I chose a different path.

The families of the three children who have become buddies over the Easter holidays had gathered outside one of their homes to chat, as their children rode their bikes up and down. Their younger siblings were outside riding miniature cars and wooden trikes, and one of the dads got his bike out and joined them. Neighbours were out doing a bit of gardening and coming home from work, sharing smiles and greetings.

The two girls have been making colourful little rubber-linked bracelets, and they’re selling them. Tim and I gave them some pocket money, and later on that evening, a little packet landed on our front doormat, with a bracelet and a drawing with a thank you note.

Our landscaping neighbour came over to talk about our next project that he and his dad are building for us, and Tim came outside for the first time that day and stood chatting in the sunshine.

A new neighbour asked (jokingly) if he could have our Acer tree, and another neighbour shared that he opens his curtains each morning and pauses to look at the tree, and it makes a lovely start to his day.

💛

An excerpt from this week’s Thoughtful Tuesday entitled Broken Trust.

The full episode is available here;