I was down on my luck , out of work , with a house and mortgage round my neck I didn’t want and death came early that year when she died and then the drama of the will and the argument and dismemberment of family and I was living in a town I didn’t like and I had felt never so alone as that day. It was my dark night of the soul come early. I wandered down the street to get some things , it was the week before Christmas and I came across a Church. They had a sign out front giving away

Christmas hampers so I went in. I wasn’t religious, church was for the birds I thought , but that day I walked in and met an old man called Bill. He was in his eighties I’d reckon and he was the sort of guy who listened. I mean most people say they listen but if they were honest they’d already made up their minds , but this guy was different. He came around to my house and I opened up about my mothers death and my brother’s estrangement. Somewhere in the conversation he said, ‘would you like to have Christmas at my place with me and Jean?’ I thought for a second and said, ‘hell why not’. I bought a few beers and walked over to his house . The day was a real stinker and I knocked on his door. I could hear laughter from different voices and his wife Jean greeted me . ‘Come in , you must meet the others’. There was about twelve of us and we sat down to a long table that was filled with turkey, ham, roast potatoes, pumpkin, beans and sauces . Two big puddings were placed in the centre. It was a mighty feast that Jean had put out for us. I got to talking to a few of the people and asked how they knew Bill and Jean. Well each person said they didn’t know them only by going to the church for those hampers where Bill sent everyone an invite. It was one of the best Christmas days I can remember. That was thirty years ago now and Bill and Jean have passed on and still to this day I marvel at their kindness and compassion and generosity in a world so consumed by consumerism and social media platforms , it was like stepping back in time like meeting Jimmy Stewart in ‘Its a wonderful life’.