Last year, I went to a concert with my godmother, who is in her late 70s. Nothing unusual about that, you may think but, for me, there was - I had only ever met up with her on rare occasions and our past was complicated. I am so glad that I invited her to that concert and we are now in regular contact. I care about her deeply and I enjoy having her in my life.
For me, this had become a ‘now or never’ relationship. With a backdrop of turbulent and worrying times globally, reaching out to another person in the hope of forming a closer bond seems far less daunting; what better buffer against the difficulties we face in this world than to nurture yourself with positive relationships?
The worst that can happen is that the person wants to keep the status quo and you can’t miss what you don’t have. Surely it is better to feel empowered by the fact that you tried than to have the gnawing regret that you didn’t? I had always admired my godmother. She had a childhood illness that almost killed her and credits the NHS, then in its infancy, with saving her life - but the disease left her with a disability. This didn’t deter my godmother, quite the opposite; she got a senior job at a time when few women had a career, let alone took charge.