When I was a teenager my Godmother Nancy used to knit me these wonderful polar neck wool sweaters that were fantastic in the cold Manchester winters. There was a orange, a white, a purple and a black one, I think, over 4 years reflecting my changing fashion colours. I wore them for years.
Well she got too old to knit but had a friend who used to knit wool socks so for years I got these socks instead for Xmas. They were great for hiking in but virtually indestructible. I didn't have the heart to refuse them. Then she went into a nursing home as I have mentioned on previous blogs, so no more socks.
Well a number of people in my Quaker meeting are involved in work with asylum seekers including a winter night shelter based in the Meeting House and other local churches. There was an appeal for clothes and I thought of these socks. They went down a treat and before the first night was over they were all being put to use.
It is a lovely thought that those hand knitted socks given to me by my Godmother Nancy are being put to real use in this way. She was a Welsh woman from the valleys in which all the men in her family went down the mines. She once said that Margaret Thatcher had not got the milk of human kindness in her. This was perhaps an unusually forthright statement for her to make but it showed where her heart was. I think she would have been right pleased to see these socks being put to such good use.
Best to all,
Bill on bike
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I use this blog to cover various things that interest and delight me. This includes creative writing: the adventure of the mystic detective, the lives of some imaginary characters (including my spiritual director Q who can be consulted by email) and some poems.
