BELLA BAMBINA

I was delighted to bump into Eleonora, a friend of our friends in the next door flat, when I was walking up to the shops. I met Eleonora and her husband, Filippo, when I went to church with our friends, but hadn't seen her for some months, in fact, since their beautiful baby was a few weeks old - she is now 7 months old and smiling well.

It was good to catch up with her, and of course, you know me, I couldn't pass up the chance of a good blip - so here is A, a "bella bambina" - very much loved by her mother, and I am sure her father and all their relatives back home in Italy.

Eleonora told me how much she enjoyed being a mother and that was so obvious in the way she looked at her baby and spoke about her. It brought back such happy memories for me of when my two boys were small - such precious times and those years pass so quickly.

I couldn't make up my mind whether A looked better in the colour photograph or in black and white, so when I went in for a coffee, I asked two young ladies who were at the next table and they both thought the black and white portrait. Of course, this doesn't show the baby's beautiful blue eyes, but now you know they are blue, you can use your imagination.

I then had a lovely conversation with Laura and Fay - they are both college students and I sensed Laura was quite like me and enjoyed talking to strangers. She told me that she was studying travel and tourism and was looking forward to getting a job and jet-setting all round the world. Fay thought she might like to do something involving films or food - and fancied being either a film or food critic. I hope both these young ladies do well in their chosen careers - they certainly brightened my morning.

So, all in all, a great start to the day and tonight I have been invited out to supper by some other friends - so I don't even have to cook. My Lent Challenge will be to take some flowers with me tonight, but I also gave some to a lady I saw in the street - she was quite surprised!

"Motherhood is not a hobby, it is a calling.
You do not collect children because you find them cuter than stamps.
It is not something to do if you can squeeze the time in.
It is what God gave you time for."
Rachel Jankovic