Francis Gay

Each week, Francis Gay shares heart-warming, moving and humorous stories from his daily diary. 

Say hello if you see Liz on her front step

LIZ REID, from Kilmarnock, has a back garden complete with decking where she can relax when the weather is nice. 

However, when the wind gets up, her front garden is much more sheltered, so she moves there and perches on her front doorstep enjoying a cuppa and reading her book.

There’s no hedge so she gets to see all the passers-by — students from the nearby college as well as local people just going about their business.

Liz is always up for a natter with anyone who’ll chat back and she just loves it when children and neighbours stop for a chinwag.

Hurry by

But sometimes when people see her they put their heads down and just hurry on by as though it’s really strange for someone to be sitting there, saying “hello” cheerily.

It prompted Liz to put pen to paper and write a short poem called Watch The World Go By. 

“I sit on my steps and watch the world go by,
Many would pass without saying ‘Hi,’
I catch them off guard as I smile and nod,
I see their look, ‘Who’s this odd bod?’
It takes fewer muscles to smile than frown,
So lift up your spirits, don’t let life get you down,
And when you see me here on my step,
Give me a smile, you’ll feel better I bet.”

So if you happen to pass a friendly woman sitting on her front step, don’t forget to say “Hi”!

CAROL’S been a runner for a long time but a recent virus laid her low and kept her from pounding the paths for a month. 

Now she’s finding it difficult to get back into her old stride. “My goal used to be to do 10k in under 40 minutes,” Carol told me. “Now my goal is just to keep going for five minutes without stopping.”

For other folk, of course, their goal might be to walk to the front door, or get through another day without crying, or to put aside some money for a rainy day. 

There are as many goals as there are people but they have one thing in common — we get nowhere without them. 

Because our goal, no matter what it is, is what will see us cross that finish line.

Any correspondence for Francis Gay should be sent to: 
The Sunday Post, 2 Albert Square, Dundee, DD1 9QJ 
or email francisgay@sundaypost.com

© All copyright D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd., 2010