Time truly is a precious gift

One of the best gifts you can give someone is your time.

On Friday I finished work at 1:00pm and instead of going home chose to join my husband who runs his own solar tinting and sign company.

He had a job to do for a small local village shop in a beautiful setting in the countryside. A twenty minute drive from our home.

On arrival he set up his small ladder and started applying the lettering to the front of this little shops window.

It was a beautiful sunny day and I had the window open.

You could hear the birds randomly singing. There was a gentle breeze with the smell of lavender in the air. It was a peaceful and pretty place.

I was observing from the van, half watching in between checking emails on my phone.

5 minutes into the job and I could see an old couple slowly walking down the path towards the shop.

As they got closer they stopped and watched my husband working.

"What are you doing? The windows look really nice, did you do all of that"?The old lady said as she rested on her walking stick. Her husband nodding in approval.

My husband turned around and politely replied.

The old lady then turned to me. "Isn't he talented?"Yes I said.

She then turned her attention to compliment me -"Your a pretty lady."

Thank you I replied -in a coy manner.
I was not expecting that.

She then said,
So many people ignore me and write me off because I'm old and frail.

They don't take the time to speak and they have no idea of the many things I have achieved in my lifetime.

I said that's a real shame and it's their loss, your a very kind and lovely lady.

I never had children she said, I couldn't but I got a job in education so that I could be near children. I love children . I told her that I could see her passion and sense her achievement and she should be proud of her efforts.

Her face beamed the most beautiful smile and she had lovely smoky blue eyes. She expressed her gratitude for my time and told me it was lovely speaking to me.

I enjoyed talking to her and having a snap shot of her life.

I think by just listening and paying an interest in what she wanted to say made her day.

We can all make snap judgements and judge a book by its cover.

Sometimes we should take the time to read and know more about the author. We may be pleasantly surprised and may even learn something new and valuable.

Time truly is a precious gift and a small act of kindness can go a long way.