It was 1932 and my late grandfather met Tony Yurkew, an ordinary man of Jewish descent, first in Pennsylvania and later by coincidence in Minneapolis in America. Granddad went to visit his brother but instead he met somebody who changed his outlook on life. Mr Yurkew was a young man coming from a large family with a small income. Saying they were poor is putting it mildly, they were on the verge of starvation and every day his family looked like the skeleton types locked up in Auschwitz. His clothes were worse than those dressing up a scarecrow. A piece of bread and cheese was like a four course dinner to him.

His teacher at school, a certain Ruth Hanson took pity on him and although she was no Ivana Trump herself, she bought him a pair of socks and a pair of shoes for the hard winter that was about to come.

Time waits for no one and 50 years later Mr Yurkew learnt that Mrs Hansen was still alive and living in California. By hook or by crook he was determined to see her and meet her he did and forked out for a fantastic meal, which he thought she thoroughly deserved. When each returned to their own lives, Mrs Hansen wrote a moving letter where she wrote: “What you did to thank me was the greatest moment of my life”.

We are living in a society where we hardly have time to pause and think.

It is rush, rush, rush all the time and sometimes we are such egoists that we don’t give a damn about others who go through traumatic difficulties with no shoulders to cry on. Everybody is concerned about his life, his job, his money, his way of seeking life’s pleasures. We don’t have time for words of encouragement for anybody. All that matters is us, us, us.

Maybe one might ask himself “I need people to encourage me, not the other way around?” True, but what we don’t realise is that with kind, gentle words of encouragement to somebody who’s going through the gender will be our own medicine. Expressions like “Come on, you can do it” or “Don’t quit kid, you’ve got what it takes” or else something like “Congratulations on your success” will help the person in dire straits. Why should we keep harping on about irrelevant stuff like “Did you clean your room?” “How much did the outfit cost” bla, bla, bla, bla.

No wonder they’re so eager to get away from our sight if we keep repeating disparaging remarks like parrots.

Our kids are facing dilemmas coping with peer pressure, examinations and no part-time jobs available for them to earn a few quid. A word of encouragement costs nothing but the one at receiving end earns a lot. Words of wisdom go a long way.

Valerie Borg

MLP Councillor

Valletta