Living well on a shoestring

Would you like to come to my stained glass class? Asked my friend Terry. I’ve always admired stained glass so I was interested and willingly agreed. Stained glass in old homes and buildings catches my attention and I often stop to take a closer look. No charge, it’s free, says Terry. Wow that’s a good offer, I’ll be there. Terry had invited several women to come along and on our first evening six women were waiting in his workshop. We were so industrialist, Terry immediately had us working hands on, learning to cut glass and arrange it into a pattern. What! … Quickly I realised what a tricky business this was; it’s not easy, there’s lots of technique. Like anything else it takes dedication and practice to learn a new skill. Over three sessions we managed with a fair bit of help from Terry to complete our first piece of stained glass. Only after we had finished did Terry divulge the reason behind offering the class to women for free. A woman had anonymously donated a large sum of money to Terry’s organisation to provide hands on classes for women. Besides stained glass, Terry plans to hold free DIY classes for women to learn about tools and how to do repair jobs around the home. The generous donor wished to remain anonymous and definitely wanted to do something to benefit women. Many wonderful people are out there who think of others and want to do good in the world. I was lucky enough to be a beneficiary.