I have been working in the gift shop of a pretty nice local hotel for almost 2 months now, and it has been great. All the people I work with are for the most part really awesome, and nice; I caught on really quick, I get along with my bosses, my coworkers, it's so far the best job I have had. On the 1 month mark, I was getting ready to go to Elitches with a group of friends from work, and with my husband, when I was dancing around the living room and....my knee cap decided to take a vacation at the back of my leg. So after the EMTs moved around our furniture, and took me to the hospital and after living at my parents' for nearly 3 weeks... I returned home. So I've been in a leg brace since the 17th of July. It has metal rods in it, and is rightfully called an immobilizer. Well, I occasionally will just get to feeling sorry for myself, and just have a crummy attitude, which makes me have a bad day. I will cry cuz I can't go swimming, I can't go to Elitches, I can't even walk, sleep comfy, I can't do ANYTHING...So I am now coming up to the 17th of August here soon, and am SO DONE with this leg brace, and ready to get the one with hinges and keep moving forward... Well I was kinda having an, eh, okay day not bad not good on the 13th, when a family of a mom, dad, and two young boys come into the gift shop, I think they were on their way to one of the weddings going on. The older boy, maybe 5-7 years of age was carrying an arm full of rocks, as was his mom. I offered the boy a bag to put all his rocks in, and he answered, with gleaming eyes, "That would be SWELL!" I got a goofy grin on my face, and told him how awesome he was for saying "swell" because it's an under used word. His dad smiled at me and at his son, as if to accept the compliment himself. So this boy and I get to talking a little bit, and he asks if I like to use that word too, and I said I do, and that I think everyone should use a better vocabulary, like his. He blushed, and then kinda walked around the shop a little bit. I rang them up, and asked the boy for his name, and he said his name was Jackson, so I extended my hand over the counter, and said "Jackson, my name is Ashley, it's been SWELL meeting you" and his parents both glowing, smiled and I said aloud, "what a neat kid" and they thanked me, and rubbed his head. I realized as they left, that his younger brother didn't get as much attention, and I sorta felt bad. He just wasn't as out spoken as Jackson. I had told him he could have one of the little American flags if he wanted them, and I hope that he doesn't feel sad that I fussed over his brother so much. Anywho, after the left, I was talking to another customer, who had been there the whole time, and we decided that Jackson was gonna be president some day, and we wished each other a swell day. I sat back in my chair, smiling ear to ear and decided to call my mom, and tell her the story. At the end of the phone call to my mom, I asked her if she'd bring our old rock collection to the hotel when she came to pick me up (since I couldn't drive myself home these past few weeks). She brought them, and I had my husband (who has been working at the same hotel [before me] in different department) to please deliver the box to their room, for the respect of the guests I will not be disclosing last names or room numbers because we do indeed respect the privacy of our guests. I wrote a little note to Jackson, telling him that it was a pleasure meeting him, and that I used to collect rocks when I was about his age, and that I hoped he enjoyed them as much as I did, and ended the note with "... Swell wishes, Ashley (in the Gift Shop)" I thought about him all that night, and told the story to my husband, to my mom, to my friends, to strangers... thinking, this is where the story would end. To be honest, if it had ended there, I would have been prefectly content with this encounter, but because this is such a special kid, the story does NOT end there.
This morning, I worked the Sunday shift, which is one person, from 8-2. Well I woke up this morning, still wondering if Jackson liked his gift, but not thinking much would come of it, and I was hoping his parents weren't upset with me, or that they didn't think me weird. I also was hoping no one thought I was trying to smoosh a tip out of them, I just truly felt a connection to this kid. Again, I digress, so I wake up this morning, feeling super sleepy, and bleh, get dressed, and ask my husband if we can stopped for some Chi tea and a scone. We get our drinks and breakfast, and head off to work, for him to drop me off. He usually works the swing shift, which is mid day to midnight, so he had planned to come back home, take a nap, tidy the apartment so we can get ready for our move in October, and then head off to work in the after noon. We are going down the high way, and I am on the phone with my mom, and ask is asking me if Drew (my husband) will be able to come help her move something out of their house (as they are moving at the end of August) and I hear/feel a big thud, and I look at Drew and was like "What the hell was that?!" Shortly after, the car begins to shake..seeing as we are a mere 3 mins away from work, he explains he will get me to work then check out the car. We start to think it's a flat tire, and pull over a few bulidings down from work. Sure enough, back passenger tire is totally DEAD! So we call work and get the shuttle to pick me up, and I get to work without a moment to spare. I am feeling sorry for myself again, and just not wanting to be there, wishing that something good would happen to me...to him, to us...A few customers came in, complaining that we don't have coffee in the gift shop, per usual. (which is not our fault our shop is just too small for a coffee machine...) So I'm thinking, UGH.. I have 6 hours of people complaining about the inconvience of having to go to one of the resturants in the hotel for coffee...when my husband is down the street changing a tire on a car that has been nothing but trouble since his Uncle gave it to us. When we got it back in May and took it to Nebraska, the fuel system was shot, and we were more or less STRANDED in Nebraska until we could get the car fixed, which cost his Uncle 1500 bucks... so yeah, this car... is a 22 year old POS beater that has been a pain. I'm still in a leg brace, still trying to save money to move out of our hell hole of an apartment and I have to listen to people complain about trivial things...."This is going to be a REALLY long day" I huffed to myself while crossing my arms and leaning back in the chair, when I see a blonde little boy walk in, followed by a smaller shadow of himself, and a curly haired mother and the shepard-like father close behind. With a smile the size of Texas, and shooting star eyes, my new muse hands me a ziplock baggy, with a note inside, and...2 small rocks. His mother thanked me for the small box of rocks and said "It really meant a lot to him, and he decided that since you gave him rocks from your childhood, he wanted to give you rocks frim his childhood, so you will never forget each other.." She was also rosey-cheeked and with a full on tooth grin, made eye contact with me, only to be broken by Jackson, urging me to read the notes right now, and explained that so I wouldn't get confused, since he wrote big, he numbered notes. I do not have the note beside me, so I will paraphrase, it said thanks, and that the rocks will look lovely in his fish tank, and that there are two of his favorite rocks, " ...love, Jackson" I tried very hard to hold composure, but when you have a little gaurdian angel standing in front of you, it's very difficult to not get teary eyed. I let him know that he has just made my day, and that I would never forget him. We said our good-byes, and I thought that was the last of them.
I called my mom and read her the note, and I began to cry, she shared a story where a woman from work gave her a gift, that meant the same to her, and that just the little things in life we need to hold on to. I, again, would have been more than satisfied with this being the end of our time together, and parting ways, as he gave me a whole new spin on the day, and made me feel hopeful and happy inside. But again, we are dealing with a little gift from God here, and he had to appear one last time. On his way out, he came in to the shop one more time, to say good bye, and make sure I liked my present as much as he liked his. I asked him to come around the counter, and give me a hug. He was alone this time, so we talked for a little while. He told me if I was ever in his town (which again, I will not be disclosing) to look him up in the phone book. He offered to give me his number, but I didn't want him to give it to me, because I didn't want his parents to be upset with him for giving his personal info to a stranger. I told him that if I ever have a little boy, I will name him Jackson, and he smiled and gave me a huge hug, and his brother came in stomping, "Dad says time to GO!" So they left, and I stared at my rocks, and just smiled. It's wonderful, because I have wanted to name my future son Jackson, so this kid is just perfect. I regained my hope in humanity, and I know that this isn't the last time I've seen my little angel. I'm sure we'll cross paths again, when we need to, God has a funny way of working things out like that.
So there you have it, my story, it may not make sense to you, you may think very little of it, you may not even think that it's that big of a deal...but it meant the world to me... I wrote today's date on that bag, and will keep them in my purse with me for whenever I need a pick me up. I know that this kid doesn't know what he has done for me, and I know he'll never read this blog, but I just hope that some day, he will realize how wonderful he is... I also hope that he will not forget this, and one day will share this story with his wife and kids, just as I will share it with my Jackson some day.
Swell wishes to everyone and espicially to Jackson and his family.
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