Two blankets form the cover to our spare bed. They don't quite match, and we have a purple spread which would probably look rather better, but I love these two blankets, and I'm so pleased that I see them daily because they remind me of two truly beautiful people who once came into our lives.
The blankets were sent to us soon after we left Rhodesia in 1970. It had been a bitter parting because we had hoped and planned to spend our lives there, and had met and made friends with some dedicated, selfless but fun-loving people, but the country we had come to love was sliding into civil war, and we needed, for health reasons, to be back in the UK.
Bibi Witt knew how devastating the retreat had been for us. She knew we weren't looking forward to life in a cold country, and were soon in a damp, cramped ground floor flat in Bristol into which we would shortly bring our first child, so she sent us these blankets to keep us warm. The blankets, woven by local African women, wouldn't have been that cheap, and the postage must have been horrendous, but she did it out of love.
That was all many years ago yet the times we spent with Bibi and David are still fresh in our memories; and all we can add is a heartfelt 'thank you' to them for being such a rich part of the pattern of our lives.
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