Mind How You Go: A Gentle Way Forward In Rocky Mount, NC

Years ago, I spent time with a fabulous woman who was a therapist, a nun living away from her order.

I was there for hand-holding over some adult children issues. One of the things I learned was, you no longer tell a grown-up son or daughter, but ask.

Example: Not: “I want you to open this now.”
But:
“Can you take a minute and open this?”

I know this is not one of the most profound, life changing, take aways, but it was part of a wonderful experience where I found that if asked the right questions, I had answers! To this day, I remember what I learned in those sessions.

Each time I left my appointment, (Chris) would say to me, “Go gently.“ It remains a healing admonition my heart repeats when needed. A final comment to this story is that the six ‘children’ are now grandparents.

They are wonderful people, with interesting pursuits. Each one is uniquely talented. They have worked hard in their individual careers as they have grown and changed through the years. When looking up the definition for the word PROUD, I find the children’s names

I heard this little phrase, “Mind How You Go” on a TV-series starring John Thaw as James Kavanagh Q.C.

While John Thaw was still appearing sporadically in episodes of Inspector Morse, he also starred in another TV series called Kavanagh Q.C. (1995-2001). I am watching it now and throughly enjoying it. The “Q.C.” stands for Queen’s Counsel. Thaw plays a middle-aged barrister who practices law in London.

I thought about how these two phrases suited my thoughts about preservation; gentle wisdom found in phrases like, ‘Go Gently’ or ‘Mind How You Go’

Preservation asks us to go gently. We must guard against bulldozing history willy-nilly. .

We’re not to treat old buildings as problems, but as potential. We are to walk with care through the lives that came before us.

Two of my Great Grandchildren – Going On After Me.

Sometimes the most lasting lessons don’t come in lightning bolts.
They arrive softly, like footsteps on an old wooden floor.

If we learn to ‘mind how we go,’
We begin to notice what’s beneath us
The cracks worth mending, the echoes worth keeping. We need to choose with care.

Gentleness isn’t just kindness
It’s how we honor where we’ve been,
And how we shape where we’re going.

My byline, Honoring the Past, Building a Future, still captures what I want this blog to promote. Maybe the by-lines, by-line should read……..