Old Woman Sends Handmade Clothes to Orphanage for 5 Years, One Day Gets 2 Boxes in Response — Story of the Day

An older woman who spent five years knitting clothes for a particular orphanage returns home one day to find 2 boxes on her doorstep — someone had caught her.

Carol May was an old woman who lived alone in a small town. Her husband, Jerry, had passed away decades before, but because the woman had loved him deeply, she chose never to remarry.

The woman at once channeled all her energy into knitting. She abandoned her work immediately after retirement, choosing to keep any knitting she did minimally.

One day, she was working on a blanket when she ran out of yarn, so she had to leave her home to get some.

"Magic would really come in handy right now," she thought to herself as she left her home that day.

Despite her pining, venturing out like that was something Carol enjoyed doing because then she got to meet new people. The old woman once met an interesting couple who wanted her to help them settle an argument.

Of course, Carol had sided with the woman, and the woman and the man had angrily walked away, claiming she had taken sides with her gender.

Carol had a good laugh after they both left because, truly, she had been biased in her judgment.

As she walked to the store to get her things, Carol promised herself to tell the man he had been right should they run into one another again.

The old woman quickly bought her knitting supplies, but more things caught her eyes, so she bought more than she planned to.

It was all fun and games until it was time for her to return home. Carol had gotten too many things and was having a hard time carrying it all at once.

While she struggled to walk with all her shopping bags, she felt someone tap her. It was a teenage girl who offered help.

"Hi, I'm Diana, it seems your load is a little too much for you to handle. I can help you if you like, I'm going your way," the girl said.

"Why thank you young lady, I'd be very happy for the help," Carol said before passing some of the shopping bags to the girl.

They walked in companionable silence, and after Diana brought her bags to her home, Carol suggested that she come inside and have a cup of hot tea.

"I'm sorry but I should probably get going," Diana said in reply.

"Please accept the tea, your parents raised you well and I'd like to show you gratitude for your help. I insist."

"But I've never had parents," Diana muttered, and Carol immediately felt bad for saying what she had.

"I'm sorry, young one," she said.

"That's okay, the orphanage isn't so bad; it's just a couple of blocks away. I should go now, thanks for the tea," Diana said, then left.

"I didn't even get her phone number," Carol remembered thirty minutes after the girl had gone.

As the older woman cleared the table of the teacups, she noticed some bills under the saucer of Diana's teacup — the girl had seen that Carol seemed to be frugal with her spending and had assumed the lady was short of money.

Carol wanted to thank her, but since she no longer earned money like she used to, she decided to thank her differently.

From that time, she started knitting clothes for the orphanage where Diana was being raised and kept doing it for five years. Carol would take the things she knitted to the orphanage every month then simply leave them on the doorstep.

One day she returned home from taking her latest batch of knits to the orphanage and found 2 boxes on her doorstep. She went on alert as she approached the box because she knew she had not ordered any deliveries.

After a few minutes of examination, she opened it and found an envelope with money, a note, and a new knitting machine.

Carol couldn't believe it, so she quickly opened the note and read.

"Your kindness is limitless," it began. "Thank you so much for what you do. Recently our orphanage received a donation and we would like to share this money with you and also give you this knitting machine. Our kids absolutely love the clothes you make and we would like to pay for the hard work you do. Please accept this arrangement as we would like to give back in some way."

As she finished reading the letter, Carol heard a noise behind her, and when she turned around, she was staring at an older Diana, accompanied by a few kids from the orphanage.

"They wanted to meet you," Diana said about the children, who all collectively hugged Carol and thanked her for the clothes.

"But how did you know it was me?" an emotional Carol asked Diana while she watched the kids run around her yard.

"I work at the orphanage now and I saw you bring clothes last month and the month before so I decided we had to find a way to reward you."

"You inspired it, my dear," Carol said with a smile before ushering all of them into her home for tea.

What did we gain from this story?

• Good is cyclical. Good never stops with one person because that person passes it on to another who reciprocates by doing more good. Such was the case with Diana and Carol. Their short interaction five years before inspired Carol to do the things she did, and many more benefitted from it.
• Don't forget to reward goodness. This is the only way to keep the cycle going. When a person does something good, if praised or rewarded for it, such a person will repeat the same action or do even better. Carol rewarded Diana for helping that day by making clothes for five years; if anything, it will make the older woman more committed to the cause.

Share this story with friends and family to inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about an orphan who waits for his mother at a bus stop every day until a woman gets off the bus one day and offers him help.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.