Near where I live there’s a little garden wall that’s seen better times.

It’s only about two and a half feet tall with a row of capping stones along the top. These capping stones are rectangular pieces about three feet long by a foot wide by a foot tall.

You would think they were solid enough to last forever but one has split lengthways. Half of it sits on to of the wall; the other half has fallen off and embedded itself in the dirt and the flowers.

It would take a strong man with a big chisel quite a while to such damage – but raindrops did it!

Once upon a time the wall had a wrought iron fence on top. During the last world war railing were amongst the many iron product gathered up for the armaments industry. Taking the railings away left a line of holes in the capping stones. They were only about an inch deep but that was enough.

Rain drops filled the holes and every winter they froze. The ice would expand ever so slightly. Not enough to do any damage. Not at first.

But year after year after year the rain drops filled those holes and froze.

One year, many years after the railings were taken away, that capping stone split!

It would have been sudden and completely unexpected (especially for the flowers growing under the piece that fell!)

Love works the same way. You might think you are wasting your time loving the unlovable, trying to get through to a heart of stone. Don’t give up. Remember what gentle little raindrops can do.

Keep loving, and one day …

David McLaughlan copyright 2009 david.mclaughlan@btinternet.com http://www.wayfarerstales.com/