Some say eyes are the window to one’s soul and I believe the same can be said of hands.
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You can tell so much from the spots, dots, lines and marks that are visible.
Have those hands spent their days in the sun? Or maybe they were inside kind of hands.
But then even more is revealed when you feel the smooth skin or touch hard calluses.
An office job or perhaps a builder.
And finally who is the person they are attached to?
Can a handshake tell you if you are meeting a strong and confident being, or perhaps a more timid retreating kind of character?
I have just sat with my 96-year-old grand mother who lives in New Zealand, and our entire time together was spent holding each other's hand.
She is almost blind so touch is very important to her.
We chatted for some time about children, the books we like to read, family members and all the while, her grip around my fingers did not loosen.
Her hands are as strong as any man’s. Her knuckles went white as she held onto me and I felt completely safe and secure in her unwavering grip.
I only met this grand old lady ten years ago.
Being adopted as a baby meant my life path didn't cross with hers until I was an adult.
But her hands shared many stories of a life I never knew. She must have been a hard worker. For these hands have tended gardens, swum in the ocean and nursed countless babies.
She has loved deeply and her firm and relentless grip felt like a message from her heart that I was special to her, despite three decades unaware each other even existed.
As words failed us it was our hands that joined us together.
I don't know if I will ever get to hold my grandmother’s hand again so I spent much of my time this last visit soaking up every sun spot, every wrinkle and every line on her palms. I don't ever want those memories to fade.
The connection of our hands speaks volumes. It's our hands that protect our children when they are little and crossing a road.
It's the very first sign of love blossoming between two people.
It’s hands that embrace in times of sadness and then clap together in times of celebration.
They can be used to defend the ones we love, but can also be used to do harm.
While some of us long for the gentle touch of a hand, sadly there are others who have learnt to fear them. So if our eyes are the window to our soul, then perhaps our hands are the pathway to our hearts.