What you receive is just wonderful. You don’t receive it in money. Just the pleasure of seeing their faces.

Reflections of Life produces gorgeous short films that uplift the personal stories of ordinary people, with the goal of sharing ideas and inspiring change. We feel hugely blessed to feature video-stories that filmmakers Michael and Justine capture with exquisite expertise, and which so beautifully illustrate grateful living principles and practices. In this short film we hear from Peggy.

Learn more about Reflections of Life (formerly Green Renaissance) through our Grateful Changemaker feature.

Video Transcript

I’m a very lucky old lady at 83. I’ve had a lovely life. And I’m ready in the departure lounge…ready to go up there…to die.

I just said that they must make sure that I am dead. I said to Tania, ‘Now listen here…I don’t want to lie in a hospital with a pipe in my mouth. You look to see who’s looking, and you pull those pipes out, and you run.’

I love life. We’re so fortunate to be alive, aren’t we? Lovely, day after day, every day is a challenge. You never know what’s going to happen, or what’s round the corner. It’s great to be alive. And you must enjoy every minute of it.

I never get bored. You must think positive. Rule number 1: I never, ever, ever — do you understand what the word ‘never ever’ means? — never get lonely, because it’s up to you. It’s beyond my understanding, I don’t understand it, how people can get lonely. I don’t understand it. You mustn’t get lonely. Make a cup of tea if you are lonely, or knit. It’s like a pill to me, or a cigarette. If I feel tight, I just knit a few stitches or a few rows and I calm down completely. I love to knit.

Well now this year so far…Here’s electricity… there’s my income…there’s my hair that I have done…there are my jerseys…there’s my Honda, every time I put petrol in, I know…municipality rates, electricity…just ask me anything, I can tell you! Jerseys! I have knitted this year so far, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven…twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen…sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty…twenty one…I’ve knitted twenty five jerseys so far this year.

When a jersey is finished, I walk where I know there is a busy outlet, and I see somebody with a baby…’Do you want a jersey?’ And then they’ll say, ‘But I haven’t got money for it.’ And I say, ‘no no no, you can have it.’ They don’t trust me sometimes. ‘You can have it, it’s for you, it’s a gift.’ To be able to give something, like that, a little jersey for their baby. What you receive is just wonderful. You don’t receive it in money or anything. Just the pleasure of seeing their faces.

You know, one year I was on the Shosholoza, on the train, and the train was packed like a sardine can. And I was sitting knitting. And there was a lady, and she said ‘What are you knitting?’ And I said ‘I knit little jerseys and I give them away.’ And she said, ‘What a wonderful idea.’ And she said, ‘And wool?’. And I said, ‘It just arrives.’ And you know on that train, people brought me wool on that train. I’ve never bought wool, it’s just arrived.

I just love it, it’s part of me. As long as these two ugly hands — I was born with these terrible nails, can you see them? I was born with them — but at least they…look at them…at least they can knit. I love it, I love…It’s my life. If you were to take my knitting away from me, I would be very heart sore. And I thought, if ever I go to jail for something or other, they won’t let me knit because needles are dangerous. So what am I going to do in jail? I don’t know.

I so badly want to be remembered. But I will be, I know. I will be. Because somewhere, somewhere, tonight, a child is going to sleep in my jacket.

(How will that make you feel?)

Great! Great! Now that’s what I like.

To support Michael and Justine in their film-making journey, visit Reflections of Life.


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Reflections of Life

Reflections of Life

About the author

Justine and Michael are a creative couple living in South Africa.  Their project, Reflections of Life (formerly Green Renaissance), works to spread positive stories that reflect the wonder of the world. With the goal of sharing ideas and inspiring change, they produce gorgeous short films that are posted online and available for anyone, anywhere, to watch and share freely.

 

Through their films, they explore what it means to be human. They touch on topics that can often be difficult for people to discuss – from loss of a loved one to aging and retirement to friendship to love and courage – universal themes that we all deal with at some stage in our lives.

 

By sharing these stories, Justine and Michael hope to remind us of one simple truth – that we are all human – that inside our hearts and minds, we are all facing similar challenges.  We have so much to learn from each other, and our connections run so much deeper and stronger than we think. Learn more and support their work at reflectionsof.life.