Another story--A thank you gift

[Photo: Soapstone carving with
 First Nations design]

Here's another story. A heart warming story told to me over lunch the other day.  Jill (not her real name), a woman I know went to an aboriginal conference four years ago. It was a three or four day conference held at a large hotel. While there, she met one of the hotel staff members who admired a bag she carried. The bag had a First Nations design silk-screened on to it, designed by a friend, so it meant a lot to her. Jill, who coordinates a major program to support young aboriginal children and their families, has a big heart. When she was leaving at the end of the conference she gave him the bag. He was overwhelmed with her generosity.
Four years later, she returned to the same hotel for another conference and was surprised to see him and even more surprised that he remembered her amongst the thousands of hotel guests that he probably meets every year. He was excited to see her telling her he had been searching for her--for four years!   He only knew her first name, but at every aboriginal conference held at the hotel he would ask participants if they knew Jill. He never gave up and sure enough, the right conference came along and someone told him 'Yes', there was a Jill at the conference who looked like the woman he described.
He told her he was so grateful for the bag that he took it with him to South America where he knew a soap stone carver. He had the carver make a few things for her. She had just received the package and she opened her bag (you can tell Jill is more of a bag than a purse person) and brought out a large package and opened it up. Tissue paper protected a large item and many smaller ones. She carefully opened each item up and placed them on the table. They took up half the table: earrings, pendants, necklaces and a large flat panel carved with the same First Nations design that the bag had on it that had meant so much to her.