Some things that you can do to spread a little love in the present gloom:-
- Set the children to creating a hand-made WE ARE THINKING OF YOU card for their grandparents. They could make use of cut-outs from the Christmas cards and its presence on their mantelpiece will cheer them up.
- Write someone a letter – a welcome addition to those tiresome bills and Chinese takeaway flyers that come through their letter box.
- Sit down in a comfortable chair, with a mug of tea in your hand, and take time for a thoughtful chat on the landline.
- Send granny a DVD to help pass the time. There are plenty of excellent old classics at modest cost.
- Persuade/bribe a teenager to guide a techno-phobic relative through how to make Skype/Zoom calls.
- With garden centres open, and many supermarkets (and M&S Food Halls) offering inexpensive hyacinths and miniature daffodils in pots, why not gift one to an elderly neighbour? It will remind them they are not as isolated as they might fear.
- Send granny a jigsaw. Wentworth make wooden puzzles incorporating fascinating ‘whimsy’ shapes; Waterstones also sell jigsaws online – including their magnificent Shakespeare one.
- Last, and not least, send them a book. Reading is good for the mental health and provides welcome comfort and escape. Imagine the pleasure a friend or relative will have from receiving a surprise package from you through the auspices of Amazon? A paperback often costs under £8 and – if you you have granny’s kindle email address – not much over £1. How much nicer to see a gifted book on her door mat, than those tiresome bills and pizza takeaway flyers?
