THE FRIENDSHIP SWEATER – A Magical Gift
The Friendship Sweater. Photo courtesy of Pauline Mansfield
“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. ”
Just a few months before Christmas, I strolled the isles of my favorite store in downtown Atlanta. I felt like a kid in Walmart looking for a favorite gift, anticipating it would be one of the colorfully wrapped gifts under our Christmas tree at that time. Indeed, this was a fantasy stroll because there was very little along these isles that I could afford. But sometimes, there is a level of joy in just looking. So look, I did. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw an item that immediately grabbed my attention. The moment I saw it, I was wrapped in a blanket of warmth. It was a sweater, just a simple sweater, but what it made me feel was far beyond its functionality.
I was drawn to the table that displayed this one "simple" pullover sweater with a colorful printed flyer describing its creation in detail. First of all, it was hand knitted by a group of women halfway across the world in a small country in eastern Europe. I could envision them sitting in rockers like my mother and grandmother, creating knitted or crocheted items for our family. Woven into the sweater displayed on the table were images of things I loved – bluebirds, children, lovely trees, and, front and center, home. At the very bottom of the flyer, I then saw the price - $365!!! This was over 30 years ago; that was a fortune! My soul was shouting, “YES!!! This sweater was handmade with love just for you!” But my head was yelling, “Are you crazy?! Get out of this store right now!!” However, before I stepped away, I grabbed one of the flyers with the image and description.
I taped the image above my desk, front and center, looking at it all day, every day. All I could talk about when I returned to work was this sweater. My colleagues just laughed at the thought I would even put the idea of having this sweater in my spirit, but I had already done that. They all continued chuckling about this really absurd notion – UNTIL…
One morning, a colleague stopped in our office as she always did. She saw “my vision” posted above my desk as I continued talking about my desire to own it. Without pause, she calmly said, “Pauline, you can have that sweater without paying a dime. Everyone who loves you can contribute to its purchase, and I will be the first one." I laughed. She then said, “I’m serious! And I will collect every contribution for you and deposit it all into your credit union account until you reach that magic number 365.”
Much to my amazement, my colleague and still friend for almost 40 years, "B" Scott, became my missionary of love. With absolute dedication, joy, and audacity, "B" went office to office, approaching any person she thought would contribute to buying this sweater. I was embarrassed that anyone would solicit funds for any reason on my behalf, but for this?!! OMG!! RIDICULOUS!! The more she collected, the more excited she became while I remained in the shadows, baffled by the commitment of a colleague who had not yet become the close friend we became over the many years we worked at the same hospital. This pure and unselfish act of kindness was really mind-blowing; it had become The ”B” Scott Crusade. I could almost hear the words of the song “The Impossible Dream” playing in the background as she worked daily. It took a couple of months to collect the contributions needed to buy this sweater,
“This is my quest, to follow that star, No matter how hopeless, no matter how far….”
Christmas was swiftly approaching, but I wasn’t even focused on this sweater as a Christmas gift, but as it turned out, it was that and much more. Just a week before our office closed for the holiday, the money needed to buy this sweater I loved was now in my account. I immediately withdrew the funds necessary and, on my lunch break, made a mad dash to the store, praying the sweater would still be there. When I arrived, breathless, two sweaters were left, one in my size. What a joy that moment was for me! I attended our office Christmas party on the upcoming Friday, proudly wearing my treasured sweater. Most people in the room knew about the Friendship Sweater Venture and were a bit underwhelmed but so happy for me. A simple act of kindness led to a friendship for life.
I will never forget this magical series of events that happened to me decades ago. This magical memory will be a special memory for me for the rest of my life. In the words of Debasish Mridha, the author of Verses of Happiness,
“There is nothing ordinary in life because life itself is mystical, magical, and extraordinary.”
