Thursday, December 18, 2008

A Truly Lovely Person

Well, once again I have been humbled by the kindness of strangers. This is a bit long-winded but worth it for the ending.

I have done many radio interviews about the work of the Alzheimer's Research Trust and why it's so important. A couple of years ago a fellow runner was listening to BBC Radio Kent on her way to work when she heard me talking about running the London marathon whilst knitting. She recognised my voice (having a distinctive Lancashire accent in the South of England does make me stand out a bit!) and realised that she knew me.

When she got to work she excitedly told her boss about what I was planning to do. He had lost his own dear mother to Alzheimer's and his father had been her carer until her death so he understood about the disease. Later that same day she emailed me to say that not only was she going to sponsor me but that her boss would too. True to their word, they both made a donation.

This year he sponsored me again for the London marathon which was wonderful - but it doesn't end there.

As the scarf I knitted in the London marathon was being auctioned off I emailed him to let him know, adding that I would be sad to see it go but glad that it would raise more money for the charity. I did actually intend to make a bid for it so I could keep it! Almost immediately I received an email back telling me that he had made a bid of £100 for the scarf and that if he was the winning bidder then I could keep the scarf.

Yes, that's right, not only had he placed a very generous bid for the scarf but he was giving it to me to keep. I'm filling up just writing about it. And so it is that I am now sitting here typing, a bright pink scarf across my lap with a happy ginger cat on top.

In a world filled with doom and gloom, as it is at present, I am bathing in the glow of human kindness.

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