So there I was doing a bit of grocery shopping in El Corte Inglés yesterday when a woman holding a clip board came up to me and said I had just won a shopping cart full of food and stuff! It was then I noticed they had a few such carts next to their Christmas basket displays and I guess were randomly giving them away.

Well, I had just done the week’s food shopping and when I looked at that full cart I remembered how many times throughout my 21+ years in Spain I would have been totally blown away by such a windfall. But lately I’ve been doing okay and so my first thought was that I would give my prize to a food bank. But where? Luckily Twitter came to my rescue and a couple of people told me of food bank locations, one of which was not far from the supermarket.

As my little-old-lady shopping trolley was already full I made arrangements to pick up my loot today and Peter came along to help. It didn’t occur to me that the food bank might not be open all day (duh!) so I was a bit crest-fallen when we were just arriving and saw two food bank trucks driving off… yep, they were closed. For a wild moment I considered just piling the food up in front of their door, thinking if anyone swiped it, well, that’s what it was there for. Then I saw that an office of some sort was open a few doors down and I asked if I could leave my donation with them. No problem! The woman said she’d bring it over to the food bank in the morning. So hey! A good deed. But also paying it forward. I remember how when I wasn’t able to work after operations and during chemo, and how so many of you helped me out with donations. Yeah this was just a cart full of food, but I like to think someone who needs it, like I would have not that long ago, will have their heart lifted (and stress level alleviated) a bit. And that will have come from you guys too because I wouldn’t be where I am today without your help and support.

It’s beginning to feel like Christmas! 🙂