A word about our youngest. Each Sunday she is given a few coins to put in the church collection, usually collected by Caspar in his role as (probably) the only Anglican altar-boy in the Catholic church. As the basket moves along the pew towards us her grip tightens on the coins in her small hand. We exchange glances as it is passed to us and a look of panic comes into her eyes. She loosens her grip on one coin and looks questioningly at us. She puts her head in her hands and considers her options - (our neighbours on the pew wait patiently for the basket to be passed on, and politely ignore the argy-bargy going on) the second coin is dropped in the basket. To release the third coin, we grab her wrist and shake until her grip loosens again. After the service she is usually to be found still fondling the fourth coin. We explain how some children have no home, no toys, no food, no parents, etc. and when she is sure that they have absolutely nothing, she drops the final coin into the collection box before skipping off to tell anyone she can find that she has been helping the poor.
