Real world is made of stories — it’s worth remembering…

Listening is a key to all types of effective communication. Without the ability to listen to others, communication is lost and people go unnoticed. Because we have stopped listening to each other, we have stopped learning how to recognise meaning and learn our lessons.

..It was a sunny September day when

an elderly wheelchair-bound dialysis patient had an ambulance journey from one of the London hospitals. On the way to her home we got jammed in a very heavy traffic. The ambulance moved very slowly passing a nearby school when she said: “children are back to school..”, and smiled. She then began her story…

I instantly related to this patient as a mother of a little girl, who was about to start her school reception year. That September was very special to me.

This old woman, who was very quiet at the hospital, shared her story with us. She invited us to visit her life through it. She said that she would never forget when her daughter went to school for the first time and cried for her all day long. She was deeply touched that her little girl did not want anyone else, but her mother.

(Being a mother is something very special, I though at that time. The connection between a mother and her children is a unique power that no one can break.)