Hope for the Future

In the locker room at the gym the other day (yeah, again, another gym story!) I witnessed a conversation amongst three high school aged girls. It went something like this: Sue: You're taking Algebra, right? Amy: Oh, of course! I'm having a hard time with squares though. Rachel: Squares? Oh, those are so easy! Sue: But cubes are more fun, I mean, squares are easier, but I like cubes. Rachel: I don't know, squares and cubes aren't too bad - it's the radicals that give me trouble. Amy: I don't get radicals at all. Sue: I just love solving problems with cubes! Rachel: As long I don't have to deal with radicals, I'm fine. Rachel: Does my hair look stupid? If I could have hugged them for having such a frank conversation about an Algebra class, I would have! Best not to be labelled the 'creepy old lady' though... I was so happy to hear very typical girl teenagers talking about math, and worrying about their hairstyle, I could have just popped. The future of WIT is alive, I say! All names are made up...in case you were wondering.

After a lunchtime workout, I looked in the mirror to notice one of my earrings was missing.
There was a frantic search which included my gym bag, the floor all around where I was changing, and a conversation with the other person in the locker room. She also joined in the search, but to no avail. The earring could not be located.
My search expanded to the area around the treadmill I had used, which now had another patron. She was also very kind in helping me search the area thoroughly. Alas, still no earring.
My only choice remaining was to retrace my steps and hope against the odds it has dropped somewhere near my car, or on the walk to/from the car and buildings. Sadly, none of these places revealed the location of my missing earring. Now, we all lose things from time to time, and often we have to resign ourselves to the fact that we may never get it back. This particular set of earrings was made especially for me for my wedding day. The emotional value far outweighed the actual value of the item, so I was eager to keep hope alive.
For all I knew, it could have fallen off any time from the time I put it in that morning until I had happened to see it missing. That was a span of many hours, and it could be almost anywhere.
I continued to retrace my steps back to the office building and decided that it was at least worth asking at the front desk if anyone might have chanced to find it.
As I approached the desk, I took off the remaining earring and showed it to the attendant, knowing it was a long shot. To my utter surprise, his face lit up, and he turned around and pulled my missing earring out of the inbox! To say the least, I was amazed - and very happy.
I have no idea who the person is who returned it, or even where they found it. All I can say is a very heartfelt THANK YOU to you for doing so. It was a small thing to you, but a very important thing to me. How many times have we seen something we *could* have done something about, but felt that someone else would do it, so why bother?
Please remember that in your daily routine even something small and insignificant to you could mean very much to someone else. Thank You!