Saved...By My Favorite Local Garden Center

No, not a story about finding a long-desired rare plant at my Favorite Local Garden Center, exactly.

Every day, I walk the pups to the park, and pull bags out of my pocket to clean up after them. Last week pulling out a bag, I [presumably] dropped my car key there in the park and didn't notice. I didn't notice my car key was missing until a couple days later when I tried to drive somewhere.

I don't know about your car, but my car doesn't work at all well without a key. I knew right away I'd lost it, rather than misplaced it. Luckily I had a spare key, so I shrugged off my error. Mistakes happen. Forgive self, and move on.

Today I got an envelope in the mail from my Favorite Local Garden Center. Yes, my car key. My idea of a key chain decoration is the "frequent buyer" card from yes, my Favorite Local Garden Center. And there printed on the back of the "frequent buyer" card was "If found, return to the Garden Center at..." And some unknown, very kind person dropped my lost key off at my Favorite Local Garden Center, which then mailed it back to me, because they have my address for mailing out coupons. Whoever you are, kind person, I am grateful.

This is threatening to restore my faith in the innate goodness of humanity. I wrote out a thank-you card of profuse gratitude and sent it off to the Garden Center.

I can only hope that the unknown kind person who dropped it off did so partly because my Favorite Local Garden Center is also their Favorite Local Garden Center, and it gave them the perfect excuse to go and buy yet another plant they don't have a spot for.

By accidentally losing my car key, I inadvertently enabled someone to go have fun buying a plant. Does it get any better than that?

Quite a few years back, when I was still living with my Mom, I was walking the dog I had 3 dogs ago, "Little" Ziggy (he weighed 95 pounds). As we were walking along--or more accurately, as he was rapidly dragging me along--on the sidewalk I found a driver's license and a Social Security card bearing the same name that was on the driver's license. I put them in an envelope and mailed them back to the address on the license and forgot all about it, until today. Does what goes around really come back around?

Whoever you are, unknown kind key-returner, I am grateful. And not just for the key.