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Little kindnesses go a long way, in my opinion. So much is complained about these days, so many people suffer at the hands of others. It seems that everyone is out for all they can get with as little effort as possible.

Last week I had two incidents where I experienced the kindness of others. The first time was when I left my sunglasses at a place where my husband took me to have lunch. When I realised I had left them behind, he said that I could get them the next day when I went there again with my friend. Fintons is a family-run, fairly newly opened café in a nearby village that specialises in gluten-free foods, which I have to have. When my best friend Chris comes over to visit from near Newark we go there for a cake because they do both gluten-free and normal so there is something for us both and hubby knew we would go there. However, when I asked about them, I was told that the owner had taken them home, thinking they might belong to her daughter and she wasn’t working that day. However, they called her and I gave them my number to give to her. The next day she messaged me to say that her husband was going to bring them to me. Now, I would have happily gone back to the café to fetch them; he didn’t have to deliver them to my door but he did and I was very grateful for his act of kindness. The sceptics among us might say they only did that to encourage me to come back again to their café, but the plain fact is they know I will come anyway.

The day after that we had our three small grandsons for the day so their mum could go to work. We took them to a ‘soft play’ place in the next town. It wasn’t very busy but the boys had a lovely time climbing and playing. However, the eldest one, Jacob, who is about to turn seven in a couple of days, lost his wallet on the apparatus somewhere. I sent the two older boys back on to search but they came back without having found it. Naturally, Jacob was upset because he had almost ten pounds in his wallet which he had been saving up.  In an effort to try and make him feel better, we went over and ordered some food and while I was there, I asked if the wallet had been handed in. The woman said ‘no’ but wrote down my name and contact number. As she did so, a young woman came up and said that she’s handed the wallet in because her little girl had found it on the apparatus and brought it to her mum. When I thanked her and said I’d like to give her daughter something for giving it in, she replied that wasn’t necessary because she wanted her children to learn to be honest without expecting reward.

I thought that was wonderful, particularly as I’ve worked in a school and seen what some parents expect of their children and it isn’t what that young mum was teaching hers! Having said that, I knew many more decent parents with children that they were bringing up in a good way.

Amongst all the bad in the world there are many little pockets of good, seemingly insignificant, but actually they are so important. There are so many lovely people amongst the authors that I’ve met over the years that I’ve been writing; so many have helped me willingly and without asking anything in return. I do what I can, I buy their books and post reviews and I help others who don’t know as much as I do. It is a lovely place to be and I am grateful that every day I can grow and develop because of all of you.