Sarah Harlow’s United in Kind coach, has been finding out about local people and how they have managed to connect with others during the pandemic. Many people have found new ways to connect socially, and many have embraced technology. At the weekend while out walking with a friend I had a great experience connecting with someone through a simple wave and hello.
We have walked the same way on many occasions without much thought. We have quite often stopped to say hello to people we pass or people out in their front gardens. This time however that didn’t happen. We were in the middle of a conversation when my friend turned to me and said there was an elderly gentleman waving to us from his window. We promptly waved back and this seemed to make the gentleman smile.
My friend and myself had a chat on the way round to the local shop about how the gentleman seemed really pleased that someone had stopped to wave back. We decided that on the way back, we would knock on his door to say hello. As there was two of us, we felt it was safe to do so. After shopping we went back to the gentleman’s house, and stopped and knocked at the door. We waited and to our surprise he opened the door. We told him that instead of waving we wanted to say hello. he was shocked that someone had stopped as most would wave and carry on.
We had a lovely conversation about matchstick models he had made of famous landmarks which were truly amazing. We gave him a packet of biscuits we bought so he could enjoy them with a cup of tea. He explained that he had not seen his sons since the pandemic started, which had been really hard. he had coped by waving to people who walked past.
We had walked the route many times, and afterwards we wondered how many times we must have walked past the gentleman waving and never noticed. Sometimes we forgot to take time out from our busy lives, and take notice of things around us. There are many ways in which you can help support someone who is lonely. If you would like to learn more about this why not join one of our free webinars.
The links are below. You too can help support someone in your local community and make a difference.
#Do something kind today!
https://westessexcan.org/our-work/training-loneliness-and-isolation/
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/coronavirus/coping-with-loneliness-during-coronavirus/
