A lovely tale...

Today my boyfriend told me the most lovely story & I decided I had to share it.

Greg is a policeman in Hertfordshire, & today was the funeral of PC Nicola Hughes - a police officers in Manchester who was tragically killed a few weeks back alongside colleague Fiona Bone.

Officers around the country, including Greg traveled to Manchester to line the last leg of the funeral procession leading to Manchester Cathedral & pay their respects. Virgin trains let officers travel for free throughout the day so they could get there, & around the country police men & women offered their services to police the city, so it was possible for Manchester constabulary to attend the funeral of their friend & colleague.

Hundreds of police officers, dressed smartly in their uniforms, stood shoulder to shoulder as the procession went past, heads bowed & in complete silence. As it passed they took it in turns to join the back & follow the horse led entourage down to the cathedral, where the funeral ceremony was played on a screen outside for the officers in attendance. A wonderful example of a colleagues & whole a community coming together to support one another.

After the funeral Greg & one of his colleagues, Steve, went for lunch at a buffet restaurant, & as they sat down, an old lady, who was sitting alone at the next table having lunch, asked what time the funeral was. They told her it had already finished & that it had started at 12 o'clock. The lady was a bit upset as she'd thought it was at 3 o'clock & had wanted to go & pay her respects. They carried on talking for a while before Greg & Steve went up to get some food from the buffet.

As they were piling up their plates the old lady walked past, saying she was going now & that she hoped they enjoyed their lunches, before leaving the restaurant. When they got back to their table the waiter came over & told them that the old lady had paid for their meals. She had asked the waiter not to say anything to them until after she'd left. The waiter went on to explain that the old lady was terminally ill, & there was nothing that the doctors could do for her, so she was trying to do nice things for others while she still had the chance. Obviously Greg & Steve were both completely shocked & moved that this complete stranger had decided to pay for their meals, & as the lady had left there was no way for them to thank her. She had given completely selflessly & expected nothing in return.

So there you go, a lovely heart warming bedtime story for you all. Let's all try & do lovely things for others & make a difference to someones day.

RIP Nicola & Fiona.