Sometimes when being preoccupied or simply by unexpected circumstances, everyone eventually loses something belonging to them. If the missing item is of value – sentimental or otherwise – it tends to hurt a little more when it is lost, but then when found or returned the enjoyment is that much sweeter.
Some months ago, my electric razor needed charging. The cord to do the charging had always been plugged into the same outlet for years. This time it had vanished. I searched the whole house for three days. Desperately in need of a shave, I bought a new Phillips shaver, an upgrade of the one rendered useless. In fact, I have stuck with Phillips since I was eighteen.
Yesterday I was rooting through a drawer in the kitchen and came across an electrical cord that looked familiar. After attaching it to the older razor it began charging it. Now I have two razors in working order.
The remote controller for our DVD player had been lost for three weeks. It was driving me crazy. I had searched carefully in the living room, where the DVD player is and eventually every other room in the house. Not that I am successful at meditation but I thought it necessary to do so as long as I could concentrate and then once again as a “Hail Mary” for good luck. The next morning while moving the kitchen table and chairs for cleaning, I noticed a pile of magazines on the chair least used. Checking them out I found the remote within the pile. I got goosebumps when I found it.
I had crafted another story for Whitewater News about a winter road trip by Mr. & Mrs. M. from St. Catharine’s to Westmeath with a pit stop at Napanee for gas and chow. Walking the dog first, Mr. M. dropped the one and only Fob and it couldn’t be found. The car had to be towed to Westmeath. Later it was towed to the Dealer in Pembroke to identify a new Fob. Two were ordered to be on the safe side.
Now it’s summer and Mr. and Mrs. M. were going through older clothes and trying on to see if they were still suitable to wear. In one pants the bulge in the pocket was a Fob which was the mate of the one lost in Napanee.
This lady I knew told me that when she was pregnant she lost her glasses for three months. She found them shortly after her son was born. They were in a pair of shoes.
She said, “The shoes had laces, so I must have put my glasses in there the last time I took off the shoes, which was when I stopped being able to bend down to tie them.”
One time in Wasaga Beach I borrowed from a neighbour the ‘Buddy Holly complete boxed set’ in mint condition for a few weeks. It took more than a week to finish listening to all the CD’s. Later that week my cousin dropped in. We chatted about Buddy Holly songs before she left. The next week I was ready to return the set to my neighbour. Regrettably, the set had disappeared. Two days of searching didn’t turn it up. I called my cousin twice checking if she might have mistakenly taken them. A definite no.
Rather than admit I was careless; I bought a new record set for my neighbour. First though, I unpackaged them, ruffled some so they appeared used and returned with no explanation except a thank you. It was about a month afterwards when I knocked off a chair-cover that was rarely sat on. Buddy Holly somehow had had been under it all along and was now smiling up at me! Oh well. Most of the songs were okay.
Some years ago in Toronto I went to an early evening movie. Returning home I realized my wallet was missing. My first impulse was that I lost it in the theatre. I raced back just as the theatre was filling up for the next showing. An explanation got me into the theatre and I went directly to the seat I had sat in. I felt around underneath the seat. It was there. I was so grateful.
Even though I’m more thoughtful about losing things, it so happens I misplace or forget them more often now. Maybe it’s an aging quandary!
