I had a custom order to deliver in Coquitlam and took the opportunity to get right back on track with my mitt (which I am loving knitting). I was so in to it that I didn’t notice I was attracting some attention drafting roving and working on my project.

When I got off the sky train an elderly Eastern European man put his hand on my shoulder and stopped me. Watching me knit on the train reminded him of his mother who he had lost so many years ago and he wanted to thank me for putting those memories fresh in his head. He then handed me eighty cents and told me to get a small beverage on him as thanks—-and then he was gone.

I burst into tears. Okay, they weren’t heaving, hulking sobs, but I definitely did not look like a Christmas shopper. I didn’t know what to do, so I crossed the street to meet Joan. I was a bit early so I thought I would pop into the Safeway to pick up a few groceries, the whole while holding the change in my hand.

It was then that I saw the Salvation Army Kettle so I put the change in there. Then suddenly I panicked, wait, he wanted me to get a small beverage, that was a significant gesture for him. I should have put my own separate money in the kettle and then used his for the beverage…just then the Safeway loudspeaker blares…..

“we have samples of our Christmas Blend at the Starbucks counter. Please come by and sample a bit of Christmas on us.”

So, it was possible to get a nice small beverage for eighty cents. I sat in the parking lot in the rain, waiting for my ride and thinking that knitting in public was the best thing in the world.