Good Luck!

Moss Stitch scarf in Riva

Special Order to his own specifications for my godson, Jonathan, last year

My godson, Jonathan, is about to go to take up his first proper job in London...Right now, he’s probably busily tying his belongings up in a bundle to sling over his shoulder and make for where the streets are paved with gold. So in case he ever needs one, here’s  my character reference for him… 

I have known this young man forever and cannot speak of him highly enough. He’s not just lovely: he’s also an old style trooper. When he was a child, with little warning and often, an asthma attack would knock him out for around a week.  He never made any kind of deal of this: it was pretty much part of the annual rotation that   "Jonathan's bug" would strike from time to time -  a thing we all knew that happened and not much more.

One morning when he was seven or eight his mother called to ask if I’d sit with him for an hour or two. He had just got sick and there was somewhere she absolutely needed to be….  I said I would and went straight over to where poor Jonathan was going through the wars in a most horrible way.  All I could do was sit, but in any case, it was apparent that Jonathan knew the routine all too well himself.   I was a lot sorrier for myself at having to watch than he seemed about what he had to endure... he had already worked out that to  just get on with it was the best course by far...Smart at any age, but at seven or eight - like I said: a trooper!

So without reservation, I can categorically state that he's more than equal to whatever life casts up, and all those with whom he comes into contact should count themselves lucky.  He may yet be in a position too to add self pity to his achievements because of the numbers of visitors from home planning on arriving on his doorstep imminently.

We miss you already... Good luck, Jonathan, and keep us posted!