I want to share the story behind this custom made earrings. In 2005, I was working at Yellowstone National Park with my J-1 visa (work and travel program for exchange students), it was one of my best summer ever, and we met H during one of our epic hitchhike adventures from Old Faithful to Cody, WY (It was a little over 100 miles of the trip). Yes...i know... we met a friend through hitchhike....
I've always have some fantasy about the wild west and cowboy/ girl culture, I invited (or more like insisted) my friends to go to Cody with me so we can go watch some rodeo show. The trip wasn't very well planned, we just decided to take off one day after work. It was early evening so there weren't that many cars leaving Yellowstone, we were waiting and waiting, hoping our luck will pick up somehow, we were just about to give up and head back to our dorm, there was this huge Ford F-150 showed up, it was H.
H: Are you guys OK? Do you need some help?
Us: We want to go to Cody to watch rodeo show, can you give us a ride?
H: Sure, I'm heading back to Cody from Idaho, just hop in.
We were so thrilled and excited, and amazed by how lucky we are, without a doubt, we jumped right in! We had a great time during the three hours of ride, right before he was dropping us off to the rodeo arena, he mentioned if we had booked hotel for the night after the show, since we didn't really plan the trip, we didn't have any hotel reservation. He seemed really surprised and concerned, so he offered his guest room for us to stay the night, and again we gladly took the offer.
Next day in the morning, before he dropped us off to downtown Cody, he told us he can totally give us a ride back if we want, but we didn't want to trouble him more, so we graciously turn down his offer. We enjoyed our day in Cody, visited Buffalo Cody's Museum, cruised the downtown a little bit, had some good meal at Irma's hotel, by end of the day, we had to face the reality, apparently nobody is going to Yellowstone in the evening (what would they? ). It was getting dark, and we still have no luck to find a car to take us back to Old Faithful, we were struggling to call H as our last resort. Right this moment, there came a white pick-up truck, we were just celebrating our good fortune, we realized it was H who came to the rescue (he changed the truck), we were so embarrassed but so grateful, he brought us back to Old Faithful safe and sound.
A week after, he even brought his father to visit us since we were leaving the park within a week, we hung out. catch up, and he even took us to Yellowstone Lake Diner for the dinner. Everything was so surreal and wonderful, good times always gone fast, there were some tears when we had to say goodbye because we didn't know when will we really meet again.
Thanks to the modern technology and social media, we got to stay in touched even though we are thousand miles away. The connection is always there, the friendship never ends. I've always thinking about going back to visit, 11 years after, I finally was able to visit Yellowstone and Cody with my husband, we took a two weeks road trip this summer, and we stopped by Cody as our last road trip stop. H welcomed us just like 11 years ago, he shared his love of Cody with us without reservation, we had so much to catch up, some have changed yet some still just like the same, and we got to stay at the same room again this time! Again, good times always gone fast, we had to say goodbye, just before we were leaving, he mentioned that he wants to consign me to design a piece of jewelry for his daughter-in-law as her birthday present, I was thrilled and honored to take the job, the design process was pleasant and smooth, and he is very happy about the end result.
I truly learn a lot from H, he's a great businessman, entrepreneur, son, father, grandfather, friend, and just a great person with a big heart. He helps people within his power without expecting or asking for any return, he's generous and loves to share with his family and friends, he has a great work ethic and a man in his word. I cherish the friendship and connection we have, thank you for picking us up that night 11 years ago.
