I took my 85 year old English neighbour out for coffee this morning. I could quite easily have stayed at work following up an email campaign i launched earlier this week, but I didn’t. I wasn’t procrastinating (even though the work I was doing was quite tedious), I was just staying in touch with my micro-community.

As we drove to the cafe she told me about yesterday… a cold and hailing day with whipping winds and a downcast edge to it. She was standing on the bus stop, in the rain (probably wearing a rain coat as she hasn’t lost her marbles yet) when a car pulled over on this very busy road and a woman jumped out.  She ran up to my neighbour gesticulating as her native language wasn’t English.  She was trying to offer her an umbrella.  My neighbour was part shocked, part surprised and a very big part of her was touched warmly in that moment.

A person she had never met and would probably never see again was showing her a random act of kindness. Someone from a different culture, a different world from hers was connecting to her in that moment in the rain. This was not ‘staying in touch’ but rather ‘getting in touch’. This strangers’ action triggered something that my neighbour needs right now, to feel connected.

This neighbour’s daughter went into palliative care last week. I can only imagine how sad and hard that must be. A good friend’s mother died last week and I have tried to stay connected to her, as my small contribution to her wellbeing.  At times I wanted to call her but at the same time didn’t want to intrude or become too burdonsome. So I simply sent her a text message with “xxxxx” in it. Nothing more. Simply staying in touch.

Perhaps it might be nice if you took a little time out today for “staying in touch” with someone in your micro-community.