This is a love story about life, being in the right place at the right time and the choices we make.
Last year in the ladies washroom at a campground in northern Washington, my earring fell into the toilet. I chose to ask the staff person who was there cleaning the men's room if he could rescue my earring.
It was the beginning of the most magical soul connection with another human being. So many life lessons I would have missed wrapped into one choice.
Starting with asking for what I want, which led to being grateful. Then wondering if I could ever wear the earrings again!
Note here if you are wondering - the cleaner had just finished cleaning the ladies room so the earring was in a clean toilet. I bathed it in hot soapy water and wiped it down with baby wipes. My husband also disinfected it. Then I set both earrings out on a rock in the sun for a couple of days. Now I didn't know which earring had been in the toilet.
Fear still gripped me with all the what ifs. Another life lesson - facing the fear. Or the other choice - letting go and throwing them away.
It was a week later when I was safely back home in case I needed medical attention, when I finally wore the earrings again. All was well, my ears were fine. I am so thankful that I made the choice to keep and continue to wear them.
A couple months later back at the same campground I saw my rescuer and we had a wonderful conversation. He shared that his 16 year old cat had cancer. The next day he invited me to meet his cat. When I asked what the cats name was, I thought he said "Mirky Way". Turned out he said "Milky Way".
What a wonderful title for this story about life I thought.
Milky Way or Mirky Way. Which path do you choose? That's as far as the story got until now, a year later when I again saw my rescuer at another campground in northern Washington. And that's when I heard the most beautiful love story of how Milky Way died in his arms and saw the most beautiful pictures of her before she died.
This remarkable human being now has another kitten he got at Halloween, named Pumpkin.