Although we do our best to keep track of our family’s stuff, every once in a while it happens—something goes missing. If not for the kindness of strangers, some of these things would remain lost.
If we can’t find the misplaced item after a thorough search, we fall back on one of our truisms, “It’ll turn up.” Usually, it does. The item will be discovered under the couch. Or it’s found in the laundry. Or it’s hiding in the car. It’ll turn up. These reassuring words help us break out of the desire to drop everything, tear the house up, and find the missing stuff immediately.
And our comfort words work well when an item has been lost at home, in a space we have control over. But when we are out and about, in space beyond our control, we work extra hard to keep track of things. Most importantly—we make an effort to minimize the amount of stuff that come with us on a trip. Especially items with many small parts!
Recently, when out shopping, we stopped at Famous Footwear and Old Navy. These stores are located next door to one another. Bluey insisted on bringing his brand new Polly car and the accessories: a pet hippo, blanket, and basket. Ooh, that’s a bunch of small parts! At the end of our trip, in Old Navy, Bluey discovered that he had lost the blanket and basket. Oh no! He fell apart. He had been so happy to purchase this great little car, and now he’d already lost parts of it.
The Manager at Old Navy reacted with empathy and professionalism! She assured Bluey that she would keep an eye out for the blanket and basket. She took our name and number and promised to call if anything turned up. She gave both kids a balloon. We were so grateful for her kind handling of our situation. And Bluey was somewhat consoled that this Manager was on the case.
The “Death Star”
On the way back to the car, TR Dad popped into Famous Footwear to see if the pieces could have possibly been dropped there. Lo and behold, the Manager of this store had spotted the basket and blanket, and had set them aside, thinking some small child might be back for them. A happy ending!
On another occasion, a frenzied appointment at Anaala Hair Salon/Hilldale resulted in TR Dad losing track of our precious “Death Star” snack container. It took TR Dad two weeks to realize that Anaala was the last place the Death Star had been used. But he called the salon anyway. He left a description and phone number with the receptionist, not expecting much to come of it. A month later, there’s an employee of Anaala on the phone, saying they’d found the container!
Lost things can be found with good people on the case. Our sincerest thanks to the staff of Old Navy, Famous Footwear, and Anaala for helping reunite us with our lost items, and helping us feel better about the world.