Brenda Smith

When I first arrived, Jim Smith’s wife, Brenda, didn’t want to shake hands with me. She said her hands were dirty because she had been baking. Finally she said, “Do you mind if I shake hands with my left hand?”

She is very simple, with a very good heart. She had all kinds of refreshments, plus four or five kinds of tea. Since I don’t drink tea, I asked for hot chocolate, and she was miserable that she didn’t have it. So I had orange juice. After I drank a second orange juice, I put the glass on the floor. Then, while I was talking I accidentally kicked the glass. I had forgotten that it was there, but fortunately I had already drunk the juice. I apologised like anything, but Brenda said, “Oh never mind, never mind. There is nothing inside.”

Before we left, Brenda gave gifts to everyone — a tie or a muffler made from their own sheep’s wool. She gave me a beautiful brown and white sheepskin, which she said I should stand on while I do my lifting.

— 16 November 1986