All the accolades have been said, broadcast and printed about Nelson Mandela over the past weeks. I mean, what’s more to be said about the man?

In 1997, he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Scotland, which I covered as a journalist for The Malta Independent. Needless to say, I didn’t know him personally. He was at his peak, when all celebrities and politicians were falling over themselves to get their picture taken with him.

Former colleague Karl Stagno Navarra and I were heading back to our hotel when we came across an impressive motorcade pulling into a hotel (not ours) – journalistic instinct (OK, it was just curiosity) told us to stop and check who was in the cars.

Naturally, it was President Mandela, barely 30 meters away from us. To my amazement, Karl shouted out ‘Nelson’ at the top of his voice and waved as the President was making his way up the stairs. We both looked on as he turned round (as did so many security officers) – what happened next made my jaw drop.

Now remember, this is a man who is being schmoozed by the entire globe…

President Mandela smiled and waved back at us – he actually gave his trademark one arm wave. I looked around to see whether he was waving at anyone else, but we were the only two people there. He didn’t have to wave back, but he did.

The greatness of the man shone because despite being who he was, he still stopped for a few seconds to acknowledge two (tired-looking) guys who had called his name.

We’ll miss you, sir!