The kindness of strangers: A triathlon, cherished earrings and a jewelry clerk with a special name

CBC Radio One's The Early Edition is asking listeners to share their stories of kindness from strangers for a series that runs on Thursday mornings.

This week's instalment took place last year, when Gillian Hurtig was training for a triathlon to commemorate her mother.

Dear stranger,

We met in a jewelry store in downtown Vancouver last year.

I wandered in one busy afternoon in March, clasping a pair of beautiful pearl earrings that I'd inherited from my mother, who passed away from ovarian cancer.  

I've worn those earrings almost every day since, for nearly three decades.

My mother died when she was just 55 years old and, as I approached the age she was when diagnosed with cancer, I really started to think about my own health. I want to do everything I can to be strong and healthy, both mentally and physically.

So I signed up for a triathlon.

It was a huge accomplishment for me personally and something my mother never had a chance to do. When I crossed the finish line on a blustery, rainy September day, my mother was with me in spirit and in the beautiful pearl earrings I had worn.

I trained for a couple more triathlons after that first one and always wore my mother's earrings.

I noticed that the backings were loose after so many years of use and so popped into your jewelry shop a few days before I was flying out for a race in Hawaii.

I explained why I needed the backings to be very tight — so there would be no chance of the earrings falling off while training or competing — and told you about why these earrings mean so much to me.

I could tell you really cared about what I was telling you and I got a little teary-eyed because you don't share those kinds of stories with strangers normally.

You also told me about your mother and we bonded over the counter talking about our families.

You eventually found the perfect backings that kept my earrings really tight and secure. I was just so happy knowing I could wear them again.

We hugged and you told me your name is Eileen.

I just couldn't believe it. My mother's name was Eileen, too.

What were the chances that I would stop at that jewelry store, find someone so kind and caring, and that your name would be Eileen?  

I have chills right now thinking about it. It was just magic.

I told you this and started crying. You embraced me with the kind of motherly hug I had not had in so many years.

I later went to the race, wearing the earrings, and I was able to take both Eileens with me over the finish line. It was beautiful.

Thank you.

Yours,

Gillian Hurtig

If you have a story about the kindness of strangers, email The Early Edition at earlyed@cbc.ca.