On my travels with my best friend Kym, we stopped just outside Munich at Lake Starnberg to grab a bite to eat for breakfast. It was a gorgeous day and Kym is quite the swimmer, so when we got word there was a nearby freshwater lake we could go for a swim in down the road, we grabbed our swimsuits and hit the beach. We left our phones, money & everything else important in the car except for a small bag to put our clothes in when we were in the water. After a most beautiful swim, we decided to walk back to the car in our swimmers and it was only upon arriving there we realized we did not have the key to the rental car anymore. 

    Not knowing if we had somehow misplaced it, or if by some chance someone might have come along and taken it, we started to retrace our steps back to the lake. We came across a lovely woman named Margaret who saw we were distressed and offered to help us look for the key. When it didn’t turn up, she offered to help us call the local police in hopes they might be able to help and given that neither Kym nor I spoke German, her kindness and willingness to help to strangers who were lost with no money, phones or access to a car was really comforting and reassuring. 

    Kym and I also realized how important it was to work together during this experience. We never once turned on each other or started to blame the other one, but instead we worked together and decided whatever happened, we would figure it out. In the end, we said a few prayers, asked our guardian angel (who we share in common, but that’s a story for another time), and lifted it up to the universe. We ended up finding the keys when they were turned in to the nearby restaurant in the middle of the park. 

    We found Margaret and gave her a celebratory hug. At the end of the day, everyone was fine and we were able to go on our way, as planned. We were restored in knowing that when the going gets tough, the tough “just keep swimming” as Dory would say. We had our faith restored in humanity and saw that people won’t usually steal a Mercedes Benz just because they find the key to one in a park on a sunny morning. And also that people in general are just GOOD.