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This month’s Corner is more about relationships and connections than it is about nature, but in a way, that’s not true. The wildlife surrounding us has survived because of the relationships and working connections that have evolved over the years. All creatures in nature have to share the same limited space, just like us. And it is not easy. Those species that survive are able to do so because they have learned to share resources and then learn from each other.

This Corner is simply a Christmas story about a gift to me that I’ll never forget. It’s about a connection that I never would have imagined. And it has shown me just how small this world is when it comes to caring for each other. Here the story begins:

Before I went to study at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in 1967, my mother told me to make sure to buy a wicker basket if I ever got to the Norwich area of England because that’s where wicker baskets were traditionally made. When I went with my friend Frances to North Walsham, England, that following spring, Frances took me to Norwich and I bought a basket. That basket, plus a lot of ’treasures’ that I had accumulated during my year at St. Andrews, is the reason why I had to take a boat home in June – too much to put on an airplane. That basket is one of my favorite memories of my visit with Frances and my time in England and Scotland.

About 10 or 15 years ago ,I filled that basket with food, or something, for friends to take home.  Of course, I told them to bring the basket back. That did not happen. I think that the basket went home with close friends, so I’ve been looking around their basements, nooks and crannies many times when I’m at their house, but I have never found the basket. I basically gave up the search.

Two days ago, I was in Saluda, doing errands, and decided to take a book (about Deitrich Bonhoffer) to a German woman who often goes to church with us. The book was in the car and had been there for weeks, but we had not gone to that church, so I could never get it to her. I was not busy that afternoon, so I decided to stop by their house, although I had never been in their home before. Luckily, they were at home. I could finally get that book out of the car. So that’s what I did.

The German woman Sabine and her husband Gilbert were at home. They invited me in for coffee or tea, and I accepted the invitation. We walked into the kitchen, and there I saw the basket hanging from a hook in the ceiling. I just stared at it, and then I told them the story of how it had gotten lost and how long I had been looking for that basket. 

It turns out that Sabine and Gilbert had helped clean out the church’s storage building after it was flooded by Hurricane Helene. A lot of the stuff had to be thrown out because it was rotten or moldy, but Sabine took the basket home and cleaned it up. I told her this long story, and they quite happily gave me the basket. It is now hanging in our back room, where it had hung for so many years in the past whenever it was not being used. I have another basket that I’ll take to Sabine and Gilbert, with cookies—Scottish shortbread of course, maybe today.

Why did I decide to stop by their house on that Monday? I’d never even been to their house before. Why did Sabine take it home and clean it up? Why was that basket in the basement of the Methodist Church in the first place? Did someone buy it at the Saluda thrift store (how did it get there?) and take it to that church? There are so many “whys?” 

I’ll never know. But I do know that every time I use it I will think of Norwich and North Walsham and my dear friend Frances. And I’ll always be grateful to Sabine and Gilbert, and I will remember them whenever I look at that basket too, the basket that I’ll use to take cookies and apples to friends. It’s amazing what a wonderful place this world can be when we take the time to work together. Connections and relationships are what give us all comfort, and memories, and—you can fill in the blanks

PS: I emailed Frances and told her the story. Here’s her response: 

“Oh Betsy, what a wonderful story! My eyes are almost too misted over to be able to write this!!! I’m afraid the shop that sold the baskets (Howell’s) has gone out of business but how wonderful that at least one of their baskets lives on! Xxx”This experience confirms my belief that there is no such thing as coincidence.