Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

 

Walking out of the house behind my husband early Saturday evening as we were heading out on a date, I saw my husband look down on the ground in the landscaping next to the driveway and proclaim, “Oh, look what I found!”

There, covered with dirt and grime but still intact, was the car key fob and house keys I had lost a few months ago while out shoveling from one of our many snowstorms.

We knew one of these days we would find the keys when the snow finally melted, though I had actually expected them to be on the other side of the driveway.

“OK, now’s the true test,” I told him as one by one he began pushing the buttons on the key fob.

First button was for the trunk. It opened.

Then came the unlock and lock buttons for the doors. They worked.

Then came the biggest test of all. Would the car actually turn on? To my surprise, my husband sat down in the car with the key fob in his hand and pushed the power button in the car. And what happened? The car turned on!

Both of us were in shock that the car started after weeks of extreme cold temperatures and the key fob being buried under mountains of snow. The keys had been missing for about two months, and I thought we would have had to at least replace the batteries, but we didn’t even have to do that.

I’ve thought about these keys a lot since I lost them. I retraced my steps dozens of times. I shoveled and re-shoveled snow, hoping to find them. I’ve prayed for divine intervention in helping find them, particularly before we realized we had another working key fob.

But for some reason, we did not find those keys until Saturday. “Why is it?” I might say.

Maybe we needed to learn a little patience. Maybe we needed to have a little more faith. Maybe we needed to learn a little bit of both.

Whatever the case, I’m glad there was a happy ending.

 

A change in the newsroom

Reporter Sam Wilmes has accepted a job with the Northfield News and had his last day Wednesday. We are excited for Sam in his new opportunity and will be shuffling a few job duties in the newsroom to handle his tasks until his replacement is hired.

Reporter Sarah Kocher, photographer Colleen Harrison and myself will be splitting up his duties in the immediate future until the position is filled.

We will do our best to still make it to as many places and stories as possible but will be stretched a little in the meantime. 

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Tuesday.