05/10/2026
Some people call it fate, some call it destiny, others call it luck or coincidence but I call it the kaleidoscope thing!
With a twist and turn of the kaleidoscope, the image changes from oranges and reds suddenly to purples and greens. And so on. Colourful patterns keep changing as the kaleidoscope is twisted.
Being in and amongst things in the Geranium Op Shop is a bit like a kaleidoscope.
We have some constants; the days we’re open, the people who volunteer and stuff like that.
But then the “twists and turns and coloured patterns” start happening, when people walk through the doors.
Each person brings their own colour and personality into the space.
The record that’s spinning, sends out happy tunes, the things sitting on the shelves with their own story, play around together to make the shimmering pattern!
Some days are extra shimmery. Like the day I randomly set a Beach Boys record going and the customer in the shop said-
way back when I was doing Year 12, I only had one cassette tape that I listened to and guess what it was? This one!
Another time a guy walked into the op shop and his eyes were drawn to a white shelf where a Saint Christopher (Saint of travel) pendant sat. He told me how his mum had given him a Saint Christopher pendant but he’d somehow lost it. And now he’d just spotted this one. It made him think of his mum, tears in eyes.
Another twist of the kaleidoscope..
one of our volunteers had made a lovely Mother’s Day display with photos of volunteers’ mothers.
A customer was browsing in the shop and came up to me and said-
I’ve just been looking at the photos of volunteers’ mums. One of the mum’s name is Roma. My mother’s name was Roma and it made me get all teary thinking about and remembering her.
There have been so many kaleidoscope moments in the Geranium op shop and I’m grateful for these times.
