My Mum is 87; she is very nearly deaf and has dementia so my sister and I take care of her.

It’s a funny thing, dementia, because each case is different. Mum is quite happy frequently seeing her grandkids and great-grandkids, she doesn’t wander, she knows who we are and what year it is, still dresses neatly and sticks to a routine.

But her speech has been pretty much reduced to a series of scripts, and she’s lost motivation to do anything that isn’t in her routine, including start conversations. She’s very clear, she does *not* want to do social activities for seniors.

She adores babies and animals, so she always waves and smiles at them. On a walk round the park she loves to stop and ask their names and how old they are, and share stories about her own family.

The other day I had her in the car. We were both in masks as my husband had just been diagnosed with COVID, so we couldn’t even chat. To compensate I was doing a lot of pointing things out that she likes: a red sports car, a cattle dog with his head out the window, wearing that big happy cattle dog grin.

At the next set of lights we pulled up beside the truck to see the cattle dog now standing half on the driver’s lap, licking his face and having a big cuddle. Cool young bloke in his 30s, long hair in a beanie, hi-vis, tats and earrings.

Mum smiled and waved at the dog. The driver noticed. He tapped the dog on the chest mid-lick and pointed Mum out, waved, then lifted the dog’s paw to wave.

Mum was tickled pink! She smiled for a couple of kilometres and asked me twice if I’d seen.

Kindness really doesn’t have to be big or flashy. It really can be as simple as smiling and waving at a little old lady in the car beside you at the traffic lights.