Lost & Found

On Saturday, after my two photo shoots, my mom, sister, and I went out to a new Bubble Tea place that had just opened in town. My mom was going to treat, but when we got there, the debit card machine hadn't arrived yet. I paid, and then stuck my wallet in my sister's purse. We had our tea, laughed about how weird it was, and then went on our way.

On the way out, I said, "Court, I DID give you my wallet and camera, right?" She laughed, said yes, and we went on to my sister's work, a consignment shop. We shopped around, tried on some clothes, and then went to pay. I asked my sister for my wallet, and then my stomach totally dropped as she said, "I don't have it. It isn't here."

We called the Bubble Tea place immediately, and they said they didn't have it, hadn't seen it, and that no one had been sitting where we were since we left. The decor is really modern/minimal there, so there weren't many places that it could have been hiding, but we went back, and looked EVERYWHERE. We looked inside, outside in the flower beds, all along the parking lot, etc.We even looked through the trash can to see if someone had taken the cash from my photo shoots and tossed it. No dice.

We headed back to my parents house, where I probably scared the living daylights out of Justin and my dad as I ran inside hysterically crying. They scoured the car, and then grabbed flashlights and then drove me back to the Bubble Tea place, where we looked through all the flower beds AGAIN. We talked to all the surrounding businesses, etc. Again no dice, so we went to file a police report just in case any one turned it in there. They hadn't, so I began canceling all my cards, and was able to successfully do that within about 30 minutes, even on a weekend. I also changed my privacy settings on Facebook to allow anyone to search for me by name and also to message me. I TOTALLY recommend this temporary change if you ever lose your wallet--I know several people who were contacted this way when people had found their belongings (wallet/purse/backpack).

I left my parent's house determined to feel optimistic, but actually feeling pretty pessimistic about the situation. I really felt like someone had stolen it--it had been about 5 hours, and I felt like had it been left, a 'good samaritan' would have either turned it in to one of the businesses or attempted to contact me already. Either way, I was (a) relieved that I still had my camera, which was also in Court's purse and (b) was overwhelmed by the generosity of my parents, who told us that they were giving us cash equal to what I had earned from my photo shoots that day, which was of course in my wallet.

We went home, and I fell asleep exhausted, trying to remain optimistic. In the morning, when I woke up, there was a message for me on Facebook--"Hey, I found your wallet this morning. Call me." I did immediately, and arranged for a time for her to meet my parents to return it. And I received it back with everything, including the case, inside.Honestly, I wouldn't have even cared if the cash was gone--it was really the driver's license that I cared about most because we had JUST replaced both mine and Justin's, and I was really irritated to have to do it again.

The odd thing about this situation, was that the girl who returned the wallet was definitely in the Bubble Tea place right after we were the day before. My sister has had classes with her in college, and it was abundantly clear from her Facebook picture. But when I asked where she found the wallet, she said in the flower beds in front of the Bubble Tea place that morning. The flower beds that we scoured four or five times, both in daylight, and with a flashlight. I don't know whether she did take or find the wallet the day before, and just had an attack of conscious, or if she loved the Bubble Tea (we didn't for the record) and went back the next morning for more. It's interesting to me that the girl was at the Bubble shop the same time the wallet went missing, but I honestly really don't care. I'm just so relieved and thankful to have anything back.