Categories: uncategorized
Date: 20 December 2005 21:52:43
I have to (carefully) share with you the most special moment which happened this week.
A truly heart-felt compliment which has stayed with me all week, and will do for a long time to come.
I was sitting in a cafe with Tiddles, drinking hot chocolate and eating cake and discussing our Christmas shopping (In particular discussing a policy of Woolworths', which I think extremely dubious, of not issuing receipts for purchases under one pound - for my son who has had difficulty with sticky fingers in shops in the past, it is essential that he be able to prove he has paid for things). I noticed the people at the next table were quite interested in our conversation, but neither of us knew them so we just carried on. Then we split up to do a bit more Christmas shopping.
The couple came up to me, once Tiddles had gone, and shook my hand. "You must be Tiddles' adoptive mum. I just wanted to say how well you've brought him up, how good he looks, how articulate he is. Well done - he does you credit". I was chuffed (of course) but perplexed. Who were these people? They then introduced themselves - they were fairly close members of his birth family who had known him well as a small child.
They had no need to speak to me - they could have walked out of the cafe and I'd have known nothing of who they were at all. They had good reason to resent me or feel a misplaced anger towards me. But they gave me probably the best gift I'll receive this Christmas in their generous words.