We were rained out one Christmas at Disneyland. Sheets of rain poured on us at 6 a.m. as we walked to the park for a planned breakfast. J and I were there for a Christmas parade on Main Street her dance studio had been invited to. Weeks of practice, rehearsals, costume fitting, photos, travel there, pet sitter arranged, and then one parade and it was all over.
The next morning rain. All the dancers begged their parents to get up before the crack of day break to go to the breakfast for the dancers. We got up, trudged in the rain from the hotel, in rubber boots or in my case furry ones (not waterproof) that were toasty when we left but drenched inside and out in a matter of minutes as we made our way down the street to get breakfast burritos.
We were soaked, staying in a hotel, a day before we had to leave, wearing our last set of clothes. There was no way these clothes would dry out and, well, it was a water soaked disaster.
The only place opened at that hour was a CVS drugstore that had everything from food, and souvenirs to clothing items, umbrellas. And that’s when I bought a black fleece parka, light weight, inexpensive, and easy to stuff into a backpack.
I brought it home and guess what. It was my new staple. It was warm, could go over any shirt, not too heavy or bulky and best of all, it hid the waistline.
And now I can’t find it anywhere in the house. I was wearing it almost every day! Does this happen to you? A main item suddenly disappears. I looked everywhere, in the laundry room, in the wash, in the dryer, in the closet. No where to be found.
Around the same time, my checkbook went missing. And my cross-over-the-chest brown saddlebag tote, missing, too. I took that thing everywhere and suddenly I can’t find it.
What is happening to me? Why are these needed items suddenly getting lost?
I continued to look, think back to last steps, and I reasoned that the checkbook was probably in the tote. The parka, I have no idea, but I knew I wouldn’t have placed it somewhere like in a drawer that I never pulled open or way back in the closet that I’d forget about. It had to be somewhere, someplace, obvious. I know me.
And then one day, removing shoes from the basket to slip on as we’re heading out the door, there was the tote. Dusty, smashed under the weight of the other shoes. I picked it up with relief and looked inside. Yep. The checkbook.
Two down, one to go.
But I kind-of gave up on the parka. I was beginning to think I’d find it one day in a year or so. This was just too much of a mystery. Did the cat sleep on it and push under a couch? Did it slip behind something (again, the cats)? I looked behind the washer. Nope. Under the hanging clothes in my closet. Double nope. I looked on Amazon for a replacement and then just lost interest.
And then one morning after brushing my teeth, I noticed the chair in my bathroom, “triage” for once worn hoodies (black), a shirt I put on and tried to wear one day, but when I looked in the mirror I said to myself, I can’t wear this, and on the chair it was dropped.
I hadn’t realized it, but the pile had grown to two black hoodies, a black jacket, and as I lifted each article of clothing to hang it up, there is was, the black parka!
My drugstore find and I had be separated for about two weeks. But it seemed like no time had passed. At last, we were reunited. Back to business, I thought. It was a little crumpled and lonely wondering where I was, I figured. I picked it up, spruced it up and put it on.
Sometimes looking too hard produces nothing, and it’s not until you let it go that it comes back to you.
—SBM
Single Busy Mommy 