Trust, such a small word but vital.
When you face estrangement you feel as though you will never trust anyone again, the feelings of rejection are unimaginable.
When talking to grandparents who are feeling so vulnerable it is important to work hard to try and build up some form of trust with them. They need to feel they can trust you with the most personal of information.
It doesn’t happen overnight, it is a steady progress over a long period of time.
Grandparents need to know that what they tell you is confidential, unless they say otherwise, that they really can tell you their very inner most thoughts and fears.
Trust is a two way experience, I also share things, personal to me.
I have got to know a huge number of grandparents in the last decade, I have been with them in the most terrible of times and been with them in the best of times. Some I have known now for several years.
Maybe we never actually do trust others completely, always looking out for those signs of betrayal.
The truth is that 99% of people are good and kind and unselfish. We just need to be mindful of that 1%.
Jane