Hello, and Happy New Year to all at Chipolo!

I wanted to reach out to extend thanks on behalf of myself and my family, as you really saved our Christmas this year. I'm sure you're busy doing amazing work, but I'd like to share with you the story of how Chipolo saved our Christmas...

This year for Christmas, my sister-in-law was returning home from living abroad to spend Christmas with us. We've all missed her a lot so it was a big deal. Her travel was lengthy, from Dublin to Vancouver, and she arrived on December 22nd, the night of a significant winter storm. She wasn't able to get to my mother-in-law's house due to the storm, so they stayed with us. With several feet of snow on the ground, the storm evolved into freezing rain and winds. Power was out in areas, and it had been days since we had been able to leave the house. We hadn't been expecting overnight guests (now on their second night at our home), so food choices were limited.

We decided to divide and conquer that Friday night - my husband would take our dog for a walk and myself, my mother-in-law, and my sister-in-law would make the trek to the 7/11 down the road to get food. There was freezing rain and it was incredibly cold. The ground was covered in a thick layer of ice, making it difficult to walk. It was a slow journey. 30 minutes in, my husband called me saying he needed to get back into the house because it was too cold and the ice was too difficult for the dog to walk on - they wanted to go back inside, but he didn't have his keys. I left the others to wait for the 7/11 pizzas and I loaded the other groceries to walk home on my own. I made it home in good time, but upon arriving we discovered I no longer had my keys. It was dark, wet, and freezing. Guilt washed over me realizing we were locked out. My sister in law, after long days of travel; my dog, 100+lbs of soaking wet fur; my mother in law, carrying two now wet pizzas. The garage door opener wasn't working. I called the stores we went to but they didn't have the keys. They would look, they said.

We took turns searching the area. While my husband searched, I marked the keys missing on my Chipolo app. We continued; digging in deep snow, slipping on ice trying to look carefully, even dreadfully peering down an open storm drain. It was so cold and wet, we'd need to find a solution soon. We'd already been out for 2 hours. My mother in law and I took one more trip out to search, vowing to call an emergency locksmith if we didn't find the keys. Fearing how long it would take the day before Christmas and how much it would cost for someone to come at night in an ice storm, I desperately searched. I laid on the floor in 7/11, begged folks passing by to keep an eye out (to which many laughed at the ridiculousness of our situation).

Standing outside the 7/11 at the large intersection, waiting as my mother in law pleaded in a nail salon, I got an alert on my phone. A community member had found my keys, it said. I saw my husband across the block and called out, Was it you? Did you find them? I saw him shake his head. No one else was in sight (why would they be, in these conditions?). I opened the app and saw the tracker come into view. I was close to the keys, somehow. I rang the Chipolo. I wandered, hoping to hear it. Calling out to the others that it was close, we were so close. The map on the app didn't make sense. I kept walking towards the keys but it was leading me into the street. How could that be? Then, I heard them. The ringing! I was so close. The app kept insisting - they're straight ahead, keep walking. The middle of the intersection. I waited until the street was empty and moved as fast as I could through the deep snow and ice. I knelt down and dug. There they were. The middle of the road. Frozen but ringing. So close all along.

We got home, ate our cold 7/11 pizza, and dozed watching Christmas movies on the couch. Laughing and grateful. What a story, we all agreed. A Christmas miracle. By sheer coincidence, under the tree that Christmas, was a Chipolo wallet tracker for me. I assured everyone they would be getting Chipolos from me next year.

Thank you for saving our Christmas and giving us all something to remember.

Chelsea S. and family