The Story Of Katie

I'm the type of person that believes everything happens for a reason. Every person that is brought into your life and has a significant impact on your life, was placed there for a reason. Over the years I have tried to figure out the reasons people have been brought to me. Some are easy to figure out. Most are difficult. And some just seem to be thrown into and then out of your life so quickly, if you blink, you'll miss the entire reason they were there.

I started working at The Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park in California in October of 2001. I had no idea what to expect when I arrived there. The place was gorgeous. There are no words known to man that can even begin to describe the beauty and grandeur of this place. Cliff walls sore over half a vertical mile all around you. Waterfalls plunge as if falling from Heaven. This is mother nature and God's work at its finest.

I came here to work, not to sight-see, and between the two choices offered to me, working in housekeeping at one of the most prestigious hotels in America seemed like a much better occupation than "dishwasher." And so with that one decision I sealed my fate for the next six months, not knowing what lay ahead.

It was about a week before Thanksgiving that I met her. She had appeared, as many others had, seemingly out of nowhere. With only 10-15 people working in the housekeeping department on a daily basis, it was easy to know who the new people were but little did I realize the impact that Katie would have on my mind, my heart, and my soul.

For the first few days Katie was working I didn't get to talk to her. It was on her second or third day that we ended up in the employee lunchroom together when she asked me a question that I had never in my 24 years of exisistence even thought about pondering, let alone actually did ponder. Of course, I can't remember the question anymore, but it was very deep, very profound. Something along the lines of "When was it proven that women in cavemen days did go out and hunt with the men?" A girl that can think this abstractly about anything earns top billing on my list of people to meet. Of course I didn't know the answer and if I did, I probably would have said I didn't just because who in their right mind really knows this stuff? If I knew the answer, I sure as hell would not have been working in housekeeping.

The next day fate lent me a hand in my quest to meet this mystical girl. We were paired up together on housekeeping duty because, by some strange quirk, Katie had not been assigned to any other section. After a very brief introduction we headed to the third floor of the hotel and my assigned section.

Now let me explain a bit about how housekeeping works at The Ahwahnee. After a short meeting to get everyone up to speed on what has been going on and what is going to be happening soon, everyone is issued a clipboard and key for their section. Many housekeepers had the same section everytime which was nice because it gave you a chance to get to know the guests in your section and possibly receive some good tips. I got $50 in one room once because I cleaned the guest's room everyday of their stay and got to talk to them. They even sought me out when they left to say goodbye! Generally a housekeeper had 9-10 rooms to clean and worked alone. Typically cleaning time for me was around 30 minutes for a stayover and 45 minutes to an hour if it was a check out.

Katie and I worked out a system where I would clean the bedroom and she would clean the bathrooms. The first room was not a problem and we got it done very quickly. The second room we came to took us forever. It was not trashed. This was just the time that me and Katie decided to get to know each other. We spent most of the time talking. I learned that she was from New York state originally. That she had graduated from college with a history degree in Washington state (the reason being she wanted to get as far away from home as possible). And that she had spent some time working at Glacier National Park in Montana. I learned more, but for her sake I won't include it in this.

The rest of the day went by quickly. Too quickly. We didn't talk as much in the other rooms, but I was really enjoying her company. The day ended and we went our seperate ways. But of course fate wasn't finished with us yet.

About a week after Thanksgiving, I was just getting to the food court at the Yosemite Lodge for supper when I saw Katie leaving. We ran into each other and after a short conversation I found out that she almost always eats there. She used to eat there with a couple that worked at The Ahwahnee with us, but since they had left for home the week before, she was mostly eating alone now. Well, I probably don't have to tell you what happened next, but I'm going to anyway.

A couple days later, or maybe the next day, I don't remember, I was talking to Katie during our afternoon break (union rules specified a 15 break every 2 hours). She asked if I was going to the food court for supper again, which of course I was because I always ate there too, to which she said Maybe I'll see you there. Well, I was going to make it a point to see her there! By another great twist of fate, we ended up getting done with our sections at the same time, so we walked each other out. She lived at The Ahwahnee dorms, which were right next to the hotel. I lived in Lost Arrow, which was a half mile down the road. I walked her to her dorm building and then caught the bus to my cabin.

A brief word about the bus system. During the off-season (aka winter) only 2 buses run at a time, meaning if you just miss the bus, you have a 20-25 minute wait for the next one to come along. Knowing this, I timed myself. I changed and was back at the bus stop in time to catch the next bus to the lodge. Katie wasn't on it which meant I was going to have to wait on her. I got to the food court, checked just to make sure she wasn't inside already, and then waited, outside, in the freezing cold. 20 minutes later the next bus arrived. Katie disembarked but she had someone else with her. She couldn't believe I had waited for her even though I explained that if I would have gone ahead and ate, I would have been done by the time she got there.

The other girl with her was Crystal. She had just recently started in the Ahwahnee housekeeping department. I gotta be honest (and Crystal does know this) I didn't really like her at first because she was infringing on my time with Katie, but me and Crystal grew to become really good co-workers, always there to lend a hand to each other at work. She also became one of my favorite people to work with.

Supper lasted over an hour that night. We were there until they kicked us out at closing time. We talked and talked, something that me and Katie became very very good at. Upon leaving, Crystal wanted to go visit her friend working in the lounge so me and Katie were left alone, exactly how I wanted it to be. We waited for the bus inside since it was below freezing and had a nice chat. Not a long chat, but a nice one none-the-less.

Over the next week, Katie and I had supper together two more times. Both times we met at the bus stop near my cabin and walked that half mile to the food court. One time we actually were able to eat together just the two of us. Then came the day I had been dreading.

I knew she was just a temporary employee. She had been trasferred to the valley from the high country when the first snows came and she was only planning to stay a few weeks. I knew this from the moment I met her. Finally she decided when she was leaving. It was mid-December and her final day at work came. She had been debating all week when to leave. Contract rules allowed a terminated employee to stay in housing for 72 hours before they were kicked out. Her last day was Sunday so she could stay until Thursday if she wanted to. I had spent one night at dinner with her trying to convince her to stay until Thursday. My argument was that if she stayed until then, we could go down the hill on Wednesday (my day off) and see a movie since neither of us had seen one since we had gotten to the park. Sunday night I was at dinner with her and Crystal again and I got Katie to agree to stay until Thursday.

I have to tell you this story. Why was she debating about staying til Thursday so much? It was the 13th. Katie was a somewhat superstitious person and she was rather paranoid about driving on the 13th. It took our supervisor to convince her that 13 wasn't bad because she was born on the 13th and Katie then realized that her birthday was a 13 also. Thus she came to the conclusion that 13 isn't all that bad so she would stay until Thursday December 13th.

On Wednesday morning I woke up and got ready and met Katie at the bus stop at 9am. From there we walked to the food court, where we had a quick breakfast. I mean that. This was probably the fastest meal we have ever eaten together. After that meal we walked back to my cabin and my car. We had received almost 2 feet of snow in the past couple weeks and my car had been plowed in so we spent the next 45 wonderful minutes digging out my car. I really felt bad about this. I hadn't even though about the snow. Katie helped and actually seemed to really be enjoying it. That made me feel so much better because I knew she wasn't upset or annoyed.

As we drove the 2 hours to Fresno we talked a lot. I learned that this was the first time she had been out of the park since she arrived. I thought she was nuts. She had a car, she just didn't like to drive. In our usual style we had no problem finding things to talk about on the way into Fresno.

We had decided to make a day of it because I also needed to get Christmas presents for my mom and sister. Katie willingly helped me find them. I knew exactly what I was getting them, but she helped me locate them in the stores. We walked to the theatre and then fought over what movie to see. I had wanted to see Monsters, Inc. and she really wanted to see Life As A House. Eventually we compromised and saw Ocean's Eleven. Well, the movie didn't start yet so we walked down to an outdoor pizza cafe and each had a slice of pizza. It was perfect. Beautiful warm weather, palm trees, a fountain in the background, sitting at an outdoor cafe with a very pretty girl. I even mentioned to Katie that I was living a dream in that moment.

Most of the day went by way too quickly. We had dinner at the Macarroni Grill and I insisted on paying. The only way Katie let me pay though was if she were allowed to leave the tip. I agreed and commented to her that she was a very cheap date.

We drove the 2 hours back to Yosemite and I spent most of that time trying to convince her that leaving the park and moving back home was the right decision. Katie is a girl that is insecure and questions everything she does. She always seemed to need me to back up or validate any decision she made. I even had to convince her that buying a cd she wanted at Best Buy was a good move. That's just the type of girl she was and I felt very comfortable being serious with her and analyzing her life and her decisions with her. I greatly enjoyed doing it.

When we arrived back at Yosemite, I walked her back to her dorm. I could have driven her, but walking her the half mile back seemed like the best way to end the night. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I wanted to make an imprint of every feature of her body in my mind so I would never forget her. I knew that the 15 minute walk would most likely be the last time I ever saw her. Even in the bitter cold, I tried to walk slowly, trying to force as much time with her as I could. I didn't want to let her go. I had grown so close to her in such a short amount of time.

We arrived at her dorm and went inside the small lobby. She gave me her e-mail address and I gave her mine. She wished me the best with everything in my life. I did the same to her. I told her to be careful and told her again that she was doing the right thing. I told her to e-mail me as soon as she got home and she promised she would. There was a very awkward pause. It seemed like neither of us really wanted the night to end. We didn't want to say goodbye. She hugged me, the warmest hug I have ever received. I didn't want to let go. I wanted to stay in that embrace forever. When we pulled back I studied her one last time. She said goodbye and then I said goodbye. Slowly she turned and I watched her round the corner into the hallway as she walked out of my life.

The walk home that night was cold. Katie had stolen my heart in a timeframe of about 3 weeks. She had stolen it and she left with it that night. I took the long way home, walking through the moonlit meadows, thinking about her and the times we had spent together. My face was made colder by the frozen tears on my cheeks. I could have met her for breakfast the next morning but I opted not to. That night was the perfect end to a perfect friendship.