Community of Bigfork stepped in when it was needed
In December of 2014 my Daughter and Son-In-Law along with my Father-In-Law came to visit for Christmas. My Son-In–Law, Chris was raised in Georgia and had limited experience with snow. He was hoping to be able to see what real winter might be like; little did he know what he had signed up for. During their visit there was lots of coming and going, work, shopping, sightseeing, tons of shoveling, and finally, blissfully, the warmth of the home fires.
One evening we decided to go into Bigfork for a little shopping and dinner. Bigfork is the place to go during the holidays, decorations, lights, fun shopping, fine dining and friendly people. We wandered around a few shops, made some purchases, had a lovely meal and headed home with full tummies and happy hearts. It had started snowing that evening and we didn’t think much about it as we settled in for the night.
The next morning the amount of snow that fell had us scrambling for our woolies, hats and gloves. With exuberance we headed out to clear the driveway and clean up the cars. Next thing we knew it was after lunch and our zeal was flagging. Chris realized that snow in all of its beauty represents a lot of work and we teased him about being initiated into the “season of shoveling” in Montana.
During the cleaning of the driveway, I realized that my keys had gone missing. My key chain is fairly large as I like to keep all of my keys together (bad idea). I did my normal hunt, and with no luck, enlisted everyone else to search. We all looked and discussed when I had used them last. After ransacking the house and wasting most of the afternoon we decided to stop and get back to enjoying what was left of the day. I decided I must have left them somewhere in Bigfork the night before so the next morning I called all of the places we visited but to no avail. No one had seen or been given any lost keys.
That evening we had another big snow and the next, another big day of shoveling. While shoveling I decided in my infinite wisdom that I must have dropped my keys in the snow the night we returned from Bigfork. The keys had to be somewhere in the large piles from the plow. We all dug for awhile but feeling frustrated we put the keys out of our minds, deciding it was better to enjoy each other’s company while we had the chance.
Too soon our family returned to their homes and our lives went back to normal. Me being in my normal state kept looking for my keys, for some reason I could not let it go, how could I, “miss organized” lose my keys, besides they were going to be expensive to replace. With increased vigor, I began shoveling through every pile of snow in my driveway. As the snow stopped and the temperatures moderated I systematically went through every pile until the green grass was poking through and mocking me. That is when I truly gave up; I think it must have been March.
Last week I was wandering through my yard and had a fleeting thought, “I wonder whatever happened to my keys”. Shortly after that I was listening to my phone messages and there was one from Sally Beaulieu from the Crown of the Continent Foundation, in Bigfork. She stated that she had received some keys in the mail from the Flathead County Sherriff’s Department and thought they might be mine. I had worked for the Crown in the previous year. As told to me, Travis Bruyer from the department had mailed them there. When Sally asked why, he said that last December someone had found them in Bigfork and turned them into the Bigfork Public Library. The Library had decided to turn them over to the Sherriff’s Department where at that time they ended up in the lost and found.
Eleven months later, Travis was going through the lost and found and realized the keys had a PO Box key on them which he tracked down as belonging to the Crown of the Continent Foundation; he passed them on through the mail. Sally began asking around to see whose they might be and it was decided I was the only one during that time who would have had a key to their PO Box so they called me! I was completely shocked and went right over, lo and behold my keys!!! I was so excited; I felt like a little kid and felt silly about how excited I was.
In reflecting on this, knowing my keys were such a small thing, I realized it was not my keys that had me so excited. It was really about how they were returned to me, by caring, considerate people, from a great community. Family, friends, and even strangers, took a little time, knowing that we all need help now and then. I still don’t know where I dropped my keys in Bigfork that evening, but I do know that it was a gift to me that someone took the time to pick them up and drop them at the Library ,along with all the others who did their part in bringing them back to me,. It’s the little things.
As you celebrate the holidays remember to look up or down for the small things you can do to spread your love around, knowing the best thing we can give is ourselves, our time, and attention, those are the things that are truly the keys to Christmas.
Thanks and Cheers!
Dana Marchetti
Bigfork, MT