I’m Losing It!

I just had a birthday.  Now that I’m getting “older”, I wondered if I should do a few things to keep my mind sharp–like working Sudoku puzzles or taking up crossword puzzles.  Then I realized I don’t need to go to that trouble.  I have my own built-in system for putting my brain through its paces!

I lose my sunglasses.  Regularly.

I have a sweet little pair of sunglasses.  I bought them in a little outlet store in Virginia while on a vacation shopping adventure with my aunt and cousin.  They are adorable, and they are precious because they remind me of that delightful week with my family.  I am happy every time I put them on.  I am also grateful every time I put them on, because I lose them.  A LOT!

Sunglasses are a tricky thing to hold on to.  They are easy to leave behind on a church pew (done that).  They are easy to put down on a shelf in a crowded store while admiring something that you just have to pick up to examine (been there).  They are easily overlooked on a dark car seat when exiting in a hurry (two weeks ago).  For a sweet little thing that gives me so much pleasure, this pair of sunglasses and I have spent a great deal of time apart!

And when the realization hits that they are gone, the fear is immediate–“Now I really have lost them forever!”  My brain goes into overdrive, retracing my steps and trying to imagine any and every place I have been with them.  Where do I last remember wearing them?  When might I have put them down?  How long have they been missing?  It is a fast and agonizing process.  I go through mental agony while I try to remember each little step, in reverse order, in the hopes that I can pinpoint the place that I left them.  Sometimes it is a short list…but sometimes it is overwhelming.  And each time it happens, I am just positive that I won’t get them back.

But here’s the thing…so far, I always have!  Kind ladies at church have put them in the lost and found.  After two trips and about an hour of searching every aisle at TJ Maxx they have been found perched at eye level in the stationery aisle.  Dear friends have mailed them back to me after finding them in the car.  And helpful little students have helped me search around the classroom when I just knew they had to be at school.

In the meantime, though–it is definitely a mental exercise!  I just wish it weren’t accompanied by those feelings of panic and despair.  A friend suggested I just buy a mannequin head and keep them at home on the dresser to enjoy, rather than wear them and continuously lose them.  I’m just going to keep working on my mental acuity–both in my frantic detective work and in trying not to lose them in the first place!

My sweet little sunglasses are a good reminder for me to enjoy the little things, because I am truly grateful every time I put them on.  I will have to remember that feeling, once I get them back.  I left them in my parents’ car last weekend, and now they are in Illinois.

At least I know where they are…

This time.