The Lost Pearl

A few weeks ago we were at D'Raymond's Restaurant with a wonderful group of great friends. It was shaping up to be one of those amazing nights in life, full of food, wine, laughter. One couple was a week from having their second child. The other couple was just beginning their life together. As for me and my wife, we were on top of the world. The best was yet to come.

That night my wife lost the pearl earring out of her right ear. She was devastated, but searched the parking lot and restaurant quietly, so not to ruin anyone else's time out. That's the type of woman she is. When the rest of our party eventually got wind, I told them not to fret, promised them that she would find that pearl earring. This woman is the only good thing that has ever happened to me. She is the only thing I have ever loved. She is my good-luck charm. She is kind, and caring, and compassionate. She loves animals and never says a bad word about anybody. I believe in Darwinism. She believes in Karma. I promised all at that dinner table that she would find that pearl earring.

And . . .

The next day she went to Macy's with the one earring remaining, and they gave her a second set for free. They knew she wasn't lying. They knew she was a genuine person, and her sadness over the lost earring was real. In less than 24 hours she had three pearls instead of two. This is who she is. This is how it goes for the good ones.

But then . . .

One week later the man who delivers bread at D'Raymond's pulled a single pearl earring off the snow-and-salt covered parking lot outside the restaurant. Our waitress called us and my wife had her lost earring back. At the end of it all, she walked away with two sets of pearl earrings and more proof to me that she is an eternally blessed and charmed woman. She is the woman who saved my life when I had no hope. I am dead without her. She is always able to take the saddest, most-dire situation and make it good again. She beats the odds. She shocks the world.

Now . . .

Life has tested us once again, a much greater test, perhaps the scariest of all tests on Earth. This week our family received news about my wife that we never saw coming. I can now tell you what being in Hell is really like. I can now tell you about a level of fear that I never knew capable for a human being to feel. We planned on a pregnancy announcement this spring. Plans have changed. My family has gone to war. My world has gone dark.

In the end . . .

My wife is a charmed and blessed woman. She brings the light. Now the world is about to find out how strong of a person she is. And very soon, we will pull that missing pearl off the snow-and-salt covered parking lot of life. Soon we will be whole again. My wife will take the saddest, most-dire situation and make it good again. She is the star of our family and I can't wait to have kids with her then grow old and gray with her. There will be light again.

Brian Huba
4.7.13