This was originally posted on my first photography blog on December 16, 2009.

Lost and Found

This fall I lost two bracelets that I’ve had for years.

You can see both of them in this photograph of me with a cat who was lucky to find a home on the island of Samos.  Darling kitty, isn’t it?

And, here they are in color.

If you’ve spent any time with me since 2004, you would know that the yellow Livestrong bracelet was a permanent fixture on my arm.  Dressing up or dressing down, I wore it every day.  Over the years, that simple rubber bracelet, that I paid $1 for in 2004 to support a friend whose mother had cancer, came to represent many different people to me.  Some of them were facing cancer.  Some of them had other health concerns.  Sometimes it was to show my support of Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France.  Perhaps I was being superstitious by never taking it off, but I believe that wearing the bracelet made a difference, and prefer to think of it as being faithful instead.  If, by virtue of looking at it, my mind drifted to the person I love(d) for just a moment, then maybe they got a little boost.  And, that is a good thing.
But now it’s gone.  I think it popped off when I was gardening, but I can’t be sure.  I just know it’s nowhere to be found.

Losing the other bracelet is even more of a bummer, but since life is about loss at times, c’est la vie. Regarding its origin, my best guess is that it was a childhood bracelet of my mom’s.  It was tiny and fit my wrist just perfect.  I “tried” to lose it on the trip to Greece at our embarkation port.  As I put on my backpack, the clasp came undone and it popped off.  After walking a nice distance, I realized that it was gone, ran back, and there it was on the ground, right where it had fallen.  Lucky me!  People actually thought that I got this bracelet on the trip to Greece because of its design, but alas no.

Now it is gone, and I know that I lost it in Chicago on the way to a delightful farm dinner at Birchwood Kitchen featuring Seedling Orchard with Jen, Mike and Nate.  My only hope is that someone picked it up and gave it a good home.  It was a darling bracelet and I do miss it.

My takeaways.

• The best things in life aren’t things.
• One’s belief is more powerful than a thing can ever be.
• Even though it sucks to lose both of these items, the reality is that they are just things and you can’t take them with you. Right?
• At least I have photographs!
• Maybe I’ll find other ones to take their place…someday.

Are there things that you’ve lost that you wish you could get back?