Hope shared
This story involves two people from different age groups. They have never met but now share a symbol of hope.
The common thread in their lives is that they both experience social difficulties. One is a 40 year old woman and the other an 8 year old girl.
The woman’s challenges have led her to bouts of homelessness, living on the streets.
The little girl in spite of her own challenges displays a keen interest in participated learning.
The woman came to stay three nights in respite accommodation at the SAFE PLACE, a place where people can sit in quiet spaces, wander around the wetlands and paddocks, pick flowers and mingle with four miniature donkeys trained for therapy.
Within the wetlands there is an island connected by a timber bridge. The view from this very special place takes in water reeds, native birds, grazing paddocks, trees waving in the wind and space. The pathway on the island leads to a seat where one can sit and feel the peace.
The woman spent much time on this island as she began to heal. In gratitude she placed beside the seat a small treasure she had found when she was living on the streets which she had kept as a sign of hope for a better life. She left her gift of love as a thank you for what she had gained. She felt she could now move forward.
I didn’t know that the gift had been placed on the island nor did I know the story of the gift. I didn’t know this beautiful act of love had taken place.
The little girl comes to the SAFE PLACE to play on the island. She loves to collect small stones from the island’s pathway to stick onto her drawing paper in the SAFE PLACE art room. This day she held in her hand the gift she had found, the one left behind by the woman. She asked me what it was and I said it is a very special gift from the island which she can hold in times of trouble to keep her safe.
I thought someone must have dropped it during a previous visit.
The next day as the women was preparing to leave she said she had left a gift on the island. Straight away I knew what she had done. I told her how the little girl had found it and wanted to keep it so she could feel safe.
She just smiled and told me the story behind the gift.
That moment showed me that there is still love and generosity within us.
The value of the gift is measured by the giving not what it was.
Story by Michelle Lowe.