The Kindness of Young Strangers
A few weeks ago, on a very cold day, my 93 year old mother had an emergency in her home. A fuse had tripped and she had lost power to all her sockets, which meant that she was unable to use the telephone to summon help. Also the fuse box was out of reach and entailed standing on a chair to access it. She is very hard of hearing and has limited mobility.
In desperation she went to her door and waited there hoping that a neighbour would pass by, unfortunately, because of the cold weather everyone was inside. A short while later she noticed two teenage girls waving at her as they walked by on the other side of the road. She beckoned them over to ask if they would phone my sister, who lives locally, on their mobile. They kindly did this but because my sister didn’t recognise the number she didn’t answer.
My mum then asked them if they could climb onto a chair to sort the fuse. As they weren’t sure what to do one of the girls contacted her father for advice, she sent him a photo of the fuse box. He gave them instructions and hey presto power was restored. My mother was so grateful but didn’t think to take their names. When she discovered what had happened my sister returned the phone call and thanked them for their help and kindness.
Later, a man, who we presume was the father, came to check that everything was alright. We also think that he may have also contacted the landlord who, the next day,sent an electrician to check her appliances.
We are all so grateful to these girls for their help and kindness, thank you both so much!