How an act of kindness during the 1st COVID Christmas created a lasting friendship

A stranger's kindness during the first COVID Christmas has blossomed into a friendship that's still going strong two years later.

Joanne Kimm and Katrina Ashton met by chance when Kimm posted online in December 2020 that she was looking for a restaurant in Halifax that cooked turkey dinner.

She and her husband had just moved to Nova Scotia from B.C., and when their deal to buy a house fell through, they found themselves spending the holidays in a hotel.

Ashton responded to Kimm's Facebook post with much more than a restaurant recommendation — she volunteered to make the family an elaborate Christmas dinner with all the fixings.

She delivered turkey, ham, stuffing, coleslaw, potatoes, squash, all kinds of veggies and pumpkin pie. 

"I don't cook often but when I do I want a good meal," Ashton told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia. 

Since that meal, the two women have stayed in touch.

Even when the pandemic meant they couldn't get together in person, they texted one another, and when Kimm's family finally moved into a new house this month, Ashton was there to help.

"She has such a heart of gold and is so giving," Kimm said.

It's been a difficult couple of years for Kimm and her family. Earlier this year, her husband, Jack, was diagnosed with cancer. 

"These months have just been a whirlwind, just between doctors appointments and blood tests and CT scans and more CT scans," she said. 

"We're taking it day-by-day and just grateful for what we have and the time that we have."

Ashton said she's so glad Kimm and her family moved here.

"It's so good to see that finally she and Jack and her family finally have their cozy home," she said.

Kimm sat down recently to write a Facebook post updating her friends on their journey, and her mind immediately went to Ashton's generosity two years ago.

"It's something I'll never forget," she said. "[I'm] grateful and thankful and making long-lasting friendships ... especially around Christmas time, that's good."

Ashton hasn't been inside her friend's new house in Halifax yet, but she's seen it from the outside, and calls it "magnificent."

"And the way she's described it, it sounds lovely," she added.

For Kimm, saying thank you to her new friend just doesn't feel like enough.

But Ashton brushes that off. 

"That's what Christmas is for, is to share," she said.