A granny is highly proud of her granddaughter after she teaches her how to knit, and the girl helps someone in need through it. But things just don’t end there, as the little girl receives an unexpected reward for her kind act – and it’s all just the start of a beautiful journey for TWO young girls!
12-year-old Alice Johnson was raised in a modest household by her parents, Sheila and Ronald, who worked hard to provide for her. They ran a small bakery that was doing quite well, thanks to Sheila’s secret recipes that made their bakery stand out from the rest of the market.
However, because Sheila and Ronald were working parents and knew how important it was to keep their businesses running so that Alice wouldn’t miss out on anything, they couldn’t give her enough time.
During her school vacations, Alice spent all her time at her grandmother Edith’s home, and the older woman loved having Alice around. They would plant fruits and vegetables in Edith’s mini garden in her backyard, bake cookies together, and Edith would make Alice’s favorite mushroom soup. Overall, they had a lot of fun together.
Edith loved that short period she spent with Alice during the little girl’s vacations, and so did Alice. Gran Edith was like a bundle of joy that Alice wouldn’t trade for anything! And one year, when she visited Edith, Alice was excited to learn how her grandmother knitted and crocheted so wonderfully…
“Gran!” Alice told Edith excitedly one day. “I want to learn how to knit too! You always make such pretty scarves for me! I want to make one for you too!”
Edith grinned. “Oh, is that so? Do you love my knitted scarves, Alice?”
“Of course I do, Gran! Please, please! I want to learn to knit! Please, Gran!!!”
“All right, all right! You have seen my bedside drawer, right?” Edith asked, smiling. “When you open it, you’ll find a box. Hurry up and grab it, and I will show you how to knit, okay?”
“Yay! You’re the best, Gran!” Alice chirped as she hurried over to Edith’s room and returned with the box she had requested.
Alice’s gaze remained fixed as Edith opened the box to reveal its contents. She showed her the many colors of yarn she had, knitting needles, and the essential tools she used to make knitting simple. She also showed Alice several knitting samples she had made before the final piece.
Alice was excited to start knitting. | Source: Pexels
Alice was pretty excited to start knitting, so from that day on, Edith would spend two hours teaching Alice how to knit every evening. To Edith’s surprise, Alice turned out to be a fast learner, and within two weeks, she made her first knitted piece – a bowed headband.
Edith was quite impressed by how dedicated Alice was to her knitting lessons. One night, she went to Alice’s room to kiss her goodnight and found she was sleeping, cuddling her half-knitted sweater.
A skill should always be valued, no matter how small or large.
Edith couldn’t help but smile at Alice’s innocence. “Oh, dear! She really loves it!” she thought as she silently withdrew the knitted piece from Alice’s grip and placed it on her bedside table. Then she kissed her on the cheek, said good night, and exited the room.
In the next couple of days, Alice finished her first knitted sweater and it was perfect. Edith couldn’t believe Alice had made it when she showed it to her.
“It’s absolutely lovely, darling!” Edith complimented her. “I am so proud of you.”
But Alice frowned. “Thank you, Gran! … I wish I could stay longer with you so you could teach me how to make scarves! Can I just skip school for a few days?” she asked innocently.
Alice’s vacation was coming to an end, and she was leaving Edith’s house the next day. Though she was a fast learner, due to time constraints, Edith had only been able to teach her how to knit headbands and sweaters. The little girl wanted to learn more, but her vacation came to an end pretty quickly, and she was not happy about it.
Edith noticed Alice was very upset about it and consoled her. “I will surely teach it to you the next time, Alice! I promise! … Skipping classes is not a good thing, honey.”
“But Gran, I really don’t want to go! Please tell mom and dad that I will be a good girl and never trouble them. I will do anything, Gran! I want to stay with you for a little longer! PLEASE!”
“Darling, you can come here whenever you want. I will ask Ronald to bring you here this weekend, okay? But for now, you should go and start packing your things. Daddy is coming early in the morning to pick you up.”
“Fine, Gran….As you say,” Alice replied sadly as she went to her room and began packing her stuff.
The next morning, Ronald picked up Alice from Edith’s house. Alice left with a frown, and Edith felt terrible to see her so sad. She was hesitant to let her go, too, as she missed her terribly. And so it happened that a few days later, Edith decided to surprise Alice by picking her up from school as she couldn’t resist her urge to see her.
She informed Ronald and Sheila about it and arrived just in time at Alice’s school. When the dismissal bell rang, a swarm of students filed out of the building. Edith was waiting for Alice to come out when she observed something strange: a girl was wearing the sweater Alice had knitted. She wouldn’t fail to recognize it as it had a small floral design that she had taught Alice.
Soon after, she noticed Alice running up to the girl.
“She is like an angel in disguise for us.”
“Alice!” Edith waved her hand and called out to her.
Alice was thrilled to see Edith and ran up to her with the other girl. “GRAN!” she cried, hugging her. “Wow, I had no idea you were going to pick me up today! Gran, meet my friend Cynthia! I knitted her a sweater! Cynthia,” she told the girl. “This is Gran Edith. She taught me how to knit! Remember I told you about her?”
“Hello, ma’am. I’m Alice’s friend, Cynthia,” Cynthia introduced herself, and the older woman blushed nervously.
“Nice to meet you, honey, and yes, you may call me Gran Edith too…”
Edith asked Cynthia if she could drop her home and Cynthia replied that she lived nearby and would walk home. But when Edith insisted that it wouldn’t be any trouble for her, Cynthia caved in.
During their car ride, Edith asked Cynthia about her parents and learned that her family was struggling financially. Her parents were daily wage workers, and she was studying on a scholarship.
When Edith arrived at Cynthia’s house, the girl invited her to meet her parents. Stepping inside the house, Edith felt bad for the terrible conditions they were living in and was surprised to see Cynthia’s parents wearing similar knitted sweaters.
The couple offered some tea and biscuits to Edith, and during their tea chat, they revealed the sweaters were gifts from Alice. They said they were very thankful to her as they were on a tight budget that month and needed warm clothes but couldn’t afford them.
“She is like an angel in disguise for us,” Cynthia’s mother told Edith while the girls were playing in Cynthia’s room. “We’ve been wanting to meet her parents and thank them. We are so grateful we got to meet you today.”
Alice knitted sweaters for Cynthia’s parents as well. | Source: Pexels
Edith was very proud to see that her granddaughter was helping a needy family. When they left Cynthia’s house that day, she hugged Alice tightly and said, “Do you know how proud I am of you, honey? You did an incredible job by helping Alice and her parents.”
“Thank you, Gran. But…” she paused. “I don’t think that’s enough for them, Gran … Alice doesn’t get pocket money, and her parents don’t take her to amusement parks like mom and dad take me. Her parents are very poor, and she says her scholarship can’t cover her studies completely. She might drop out of school soon. Is there nothing we can do to help her?”
“Oh dear,” Edith lamented. “That isn’t good…We should be doing something….”
That night, Edith couldn’t get Cynthia’s family out of her mind. The thought that a young girl would have to compromise her education bothered her, so she decided to raise a significant sum to help Cynthia’s family.
She enlisted Ronald and Sheila’s help and created a GoFundMe page for Cynthia’s family. She also began making sweaters and caps and selling them to raise funds.
On weekends, Alice offered to help Edith, and they gradually became well-known in their neighborhood for their hand-knitted items.
Edith sold knitted pieces to raise money for Cynthia’s family. | Source: Pexels
When people learned that Alice was helping her grandma produce those pieces, they were very proud of the little girl and did their part in extending help to Cynthia’s family by purchasing the knitted pieces.
To Alice’s surprise, she became famous in her small town for lending a helping hand to her granny to help a low-income family in need. And the knitting, which began as a small act of kindness for helping someone in need, turned into a small business, the proceeds of which would go toward Cynthia’s education.
One day, a stranger, moved by Edith’s story and how she was assisting a needy girl, contacted her and wrote her a special letter. In the letter, he expressed his admiration for the gesture and stated that he and several others had made a particular request to the mayor’s office to assist Cynthia’s family.
Edith wrote back to the man, thanking him for his support. A few days later, the mayor actually got in touch with Cynthia’s family and offered to fund Cynthia’s education expenses until she turned 18 years old. And not just that, but Alice received a government grant for higher education as a result of her kind act.
In a way, one random act of kindness of helping someone in need turned two young lives around – Cynthia could now finish her basic education without any hurdles, and Alice received financial help for her higher studies. Not to mention, the GoFundMe donations were a significant amount through which Cynthia’s parents have launched an online business with Edith.
They decided to enlist Edith’s help in continuing to make knitted pieces, and Edith gladly agreed. A small skill of knitting brought Cynthia and Alice’s family together.
What can we learn from this story?
- A random act of kindness can turn someone’s life around. Edith and Alice worked together to raise a substantial sum to help Cynthia’s family. It not only provided Cynthia and her parents with financial stability but also protected Cynthia’s future education.
- A skill should always be valued, no matter how small or large. When Cynthia’s family was in need, Edith’s knitting skills came in handy. Not to mention, Alice did a wonderful thing for her friend by contributing what she could and assisting Edith with the knitting.
- We should always encourage children’s curiosity and support them in learning something new. Edith supported Alice’s curiosity and helped her learn to knit. This allowed the girl to help Cynthia’s family by knitting sweaters for them.
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.
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