THE IMPACT OF AFFECTION

IN J.M. Barrie’s “Auld Licht Idylls” we encounter the character Cree. He’s a poor man, a hard worker, and his mother’s only support.

When he leaves town for a while, his mother takes her scribbled attempts at a letter to the school teacher for him to tidy up.

The teacher is surprised by how many endearing terms are in it, because he has never heard such words ever exchanged between them.

It turns out Cree has been teaching her to write and made up a sheet of phrases for her to practise with.

There are everyday words and statements like “the peats is near done”, but there are a number of disproportionate phrases like “God watch over me Cree”, “Oh, my beloved son”, “Dear son Cree” and “Loving mother”.

In teaching her to write, he was also – perhaps without realising it – teaching her how he wished he had been loved.

Our actions might be the best way of displaying our feelings, but there’s a place in our soul that longs to hear these things.

Don’t let your words of affection go unsaid.

– J M Barrie was a Scottish writer and journalist