82-year-old fills 21-storey building with acts of kindness

When a Victoria senior is not making scones from scratch, and delivering them to neighbours up and down their building’s 21 floors, “just because” — she’s leaving thoughtful cards and gifts to surprise people on their doorsteps.

When she heard the woman she’d seen around the building whistling in lobby, Jane Vatcher was curious.

“She’s always so positive and I’m not always positive,” Jane says. “I thought, she has a secret that I would like to know.”

So, when Margaret Spark stopped whistling and started inviting Jane to their condo building’s music room for a sing-a-long, she accepted.

“It was my first time there,” Jane smiles. “And we had a lovely time.”

So lovely, the neighbours became fast friends, and Jane started learning the secret behind Margaret’s perpetual positivity.

“You can choose to be happy or sad,” Margaret says. “And I’ve never been a ‘poor me’ type.”

But that was tested at an early age, when Margaret’s husband died unexpectedly, leaving her with three young daughters to raise, and night classes to attend so she could qualify for a better job to support them.