Knitting at the starting line

to keep your nerves in check?
A friend sent me a photo yesterday - taken from somewhere off the internet - of the coach of the Finnish snowboarding team at the winter Olympics. Yes, he's knitting. 
Apparently the team is making a blanket for the newborn son of their president. They made a scarf in Sochi four years ago.
Obviously most of them - if not all - can knit. I think it is still a skill taught in Finnish schools.
About ten years ago I took over teaching a small group of young kittens to knit. A good friend of mine who lived permanently in hospital had started them off. 
M.... had a range of medical conditions. There was nowhere she could live apart from hospital but she made the most of her all too short life. Each morning the staff would settle her into her specially designed electric wheelchair and she would "speed" around the hospital. At the request of various members of staff she would sit with nervous patients, visit those who had no visitors. "Find M...." and "Is M... available?" were common. 
And she took her knitting wherever she went. She made socks for the surgeons and things for the hospital shop. She taught people to knit and crochet - and she taught them about life. 
There were varying numbers in her "kitten" group. It started with one child who wanted to learn to knit. He had seen M... knitting and didn't know what it was. She showed him. He was fascinated. While she was showing him another child was watching and wanted to try too. It went on. The fact that knitting is a slow activity didn't bother them. Their lives tended to be slow.
When M... died there were seven children who wanted to continue. They were all going in and out of the hospital on a regular basis. They all knew each other. Their parents knew each other and had the good sense to realise the children might benefit from seeing one another occasionally. The friendships grew - and so did the knitting. M... had started something. She had long since made me promise that "when I'm not here you will go on helping". 
It's been an easy promise to keep. There are five of them now. One of them is sadly no longer with us and another moved away. It has left three boys and two girls. They have knitted their way through primary school and secondary school. They have met on a regular basis. I've taught them not just to knit (and started them on crochet) but helped with schoolwork when they missed school. One of the fathers has helped with maths and science. Other parents have fed and transported them. People in the UK and the USA have become their friends and sent them yarn to use that they would otherwise never see. The mother of one still scours the local charity shops for the yarn they use to make things for charity. 
They are all at university now. This year they won't be meeting regularly. Their varied schedules make it too difficult. They will be meeting when they can though because they tell me that knitting has got them through some tough times. It's always there, tucked into the bags S.... in South Dakota made for them before she died.
Yes, there have been some tough times. Yes, there have been some moments when they have had the usual teenage fits and moods. But, those moments have been rare. They have grown into thoughtful and caring young adults who have already contributed a lot to the community.
I sent them the photograph of the man at the starting line and another of one team member helping another. They all responded with enthusiasm and one of them said,
       "Knitting at the start and all the way to the end!"
This year they are all teaching someone else to knit too. Each of them is teaching someone who is at the starting line of something, someone who needs to keep their nerves in check.
M...knew what they needed at the starting line.