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Celebrating 9 years of the Kindness of a Stranger (or “The Jacket”)

  • Writer: Jenny Wynter
    Jenny Wynter
  • Aug 13, 2011
  • 1 min read

2002. I’m a new mother on one of my FIRST NIGHTS EVER out of the house since my darling Ella arrived. It’s a balmy evening in West End and my friends and I are enjoying some groovy tunes downstairs at Tongue and Groove.

In the bathroom, I see a woman wearing a red, flower-covered jacket.

“Wow!” I tell her. “Your jacket is identical to my baby daughter’s! I have always wished I could get one in my size, I love it!”

The woman smiled at me. Then she said “Well, you know what? You can have it.”

“Huh?”

“Totally, I think it would bring you more happiness than it brings me, you can have it!”

I was gobsmacked. I offered to buy it off her, but she refused, insisting that I simply take it.

I thanked her profusely and floated away into the evening, buoyed by the warm fuzzies.

I never saw her again.

I wish I could tell her how much the recollection of that moment means to me even now.

And I wish I could tell her how much the jacket itself means to my family.

Each year, you see, we photograph Ella wearing it on her birthday.


And yesterday was her 9th. 9 years of awesome. 9 years of daughter love.

And 9 years of documenting my darling Ella’s growth into a jacket from a wonderful stranger who will never know what it means.


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I acknowledge the Gubbi Gubbi, Wakka Wakka and Butchulla peoples, the First Nation Traditional Owners of Country, and custodians of the land and waters on which I live and work, and all the peoples who have welcomed me on Country. I pay respects to all Elders past and present and acknowledge the young leaders who are working beside Elders in our cultural industries in the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices. I recognise all First Nation peoples as the original storytellers of these lands and acknowledge the important role they continue to play in our community.

Jenny Wynter

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