How 2 botched batches of fudge forged a new friendship

Friendships are rarely formed over a plate of fudge, but two Prince Edward Islanders are now forever linked because of a couple batches of sweets.

But like most stories, this one begins with hardship.

Violet Wright, a 58-year-old woman from Summerside, P.E.I., has had a horrible few years living with cancer.

In 2015 she discovered she had stage three colorectal cancer and in February of 2018 she got a call from her doctor.

The cancer had moved into her hip, pelvis and spine and a CT scan on her chest revealed lesions on her lungs

"And then he told me it was terminal."

'We hit it off the first day'

Her radiation began, and then chemo, and in the fall she met Hospice P.E.I.'s Lisa Arsenault — who then spent many days sitting with her and listening to Wright's stories.

"It's great because it's somebody I can talk to that's not involved in the situation and she's great, we hit it off the first day," Wright said.

"She comes in and brightens my day up, if I'm feeling miserable I don't even have to talk to her she'll just sit there and be with me."

And one of these stories had to do with a special taste for fudge.

'I'm going to burn my mixer out'

One particular time Arsenault was listening in, Wright had explained her love for the sweet treat and how she'd always had divinity fudge at Christmas time.

This past Christmas was fudgeless, so Arsenault thought she'd do something special and whip up some divinity fudge — though she hadn't tried making it before.

It didn't go well.

"I tried the first batch and it turned out like really stringy, it turned out like toffee," Arsenault said. "The second one  … I kept mixing and mixing and it got thicker and thicker and I thought 'I'm going to burn my mixer out' so I put that in the pan and it hardened out to be a brick."

With two botched batches of fudge on-hand, Arsenault thought she'd bring them in anyway so at least Wright would get a kick out of it.

What Arsenault perhaps didn't expect was that her effort "meant the world" to her.

'It's special. People like that are special'

"It meant a lot to me that she cared enough to try and make my wish come true, and I know it costs a lot to make divinity fudge," Wright said.

"To do that, to take the time and the effort to make me happy, meant the world to me. I think I've made a life-time friend with Lisa."

Arsenault said she just did it because she wanted to give her new friend "something from my heart.

"From all my visits, Violet is just so inspirational. I love listening to her stories and just her courage and her inspiration that she speaks in her words," Arsenault said.

That said, Arsenault wanted to make it right. She shared the story with the East Prince co-ordinator of Hospice P.E.I. who then called on expert fudge maker and volunteer Helen Muttart to whip up the perfect batch of fudge.

It meant a lot to me that she cared enough to try and make my wish come true— Violet Wright

And Muttart, of course, was happy to help. "Anything I could do to help hospice or anyone else."

In having so much support, Wright was overwhelmed with emotion.

"I've never met this lady before in my life and for her to even do that means an awful lot to me," she said.

"It's special. People like that are special. Like they say, God put angels on this Earth and I think I got two good ones right here."

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