St. Anthony And Serendipity

It was a typical St. Anthony surprise. Deborah drove up to the Curbside Donation Drive in a van and asked if we could use some hand knitted shawls. She had never heard of our knitting drive to have 2500 scarves knitted by hand to give to our guests in the Dining Room Christmas day. Deborah knits shawls and had knitted some that she wanted to give to us, if we had any guests who could use them. I took a quick look, thanked her profusely, and sent her home with a stack of cards about the knitting project for her friends.

Later, we looked at the contents in earnest. A knitter who was helping us sort said, “There’s knitting and there’s art. This is art.” No jealousy, no competition, just heartfelt admiration. We spread them over cubicle walls and decorated the volunteer office with them for days until it was time to pack them up for our guests. It wasn’t the first time someone met a need at St. Anthony’s without knowing it was a need. Actually, it’s typical of life in this organization. But it was one of the more enchanting experiences of a fairly enchanting holiday season.