to go to a babysitting job I had at 8:30.
I only had to go to the next station and catch a bus from there.
When my bus arrived a few minutes later, I reached into my bag
to get my transit pass out of my wallet...
only to discover it wasn't there!!!!
I keep two little zippered pouches like this in my bag.
One holds my wallet and keys, the other my make-up.
And sadly, the only one I found in my bag was the make-up bag.
After taking everything out of my bag and realizing
that yes, it definitely was not in there, I started to freak out a bit!
Since I obviously couldn't board the bus without my pass or money,
I couldn't get to the babysitting job and when I called to explain
what happened, my call went straight to voice mail!
Then I decided to call my sister in case it fell out at home
or somewhere along the three flights of stairs I rushed
down while trying to catch the exit gate before it closed.
She looked around, but didn't see it anywhere.
I called DART and spoke to someone in Lost and Found,
described my bag, what it contained, and which train I was on.
They said they would contact dispatch, but that nothing could be
done until the train reached it's final destination...
more than 45 minutes later!
Finally, I told the logical part of my brain to stop for a minute
so I could say a little prayer, asking for guidance and comfort
and protection for my missing belongings.
After my prayer, I felt a feeling of peace.
I hoped that meant that I would be reunited with my wallet,
rather than that He would get me through this loss.
[And it still didn't stop me from thinking the worst and
thinking of all the phone calls I'd have to make to get replacement
cards and what I'd do about money until then and sad about the
gift cards and free movie passes I wouldn't get to use.]
Meanwhile, I'm still trying to make contact about my babysitting job,
but it's still going straight to voice mail.
Oh, and did I mention that a cold front had come in?
So it was rather chilly, with temperatures in the mid-40's.
[A big difference from the 80's it's been earlier this week!]
So I sat there and waited....and waited...and waited!
And just like Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride,
"I hate waiting!"
Finally more than half an hour after calling,
I got a call back about the babysitting job.
Her phone died, which is why it was going straight to voicemail
and she couldn't come get me, because she was no longer home,
because she had to be somewhere by 9:00am.
So her husband was bringing their son to work with him.
So now I'm not only missing my wallet, I'm missing out on $75.00!
I wondered..."What is the reason for this?"
"Would something have happened to me?"
"Was there a reason I wasn't supposed to be there?"
"Or a reason I was supposed to be home?"
I figured I'd probably never find out the reason why,
but that there was a reason or lesson to be learned from this.
Well, since that was no longer happening, the only thing keeping me
there was trying to figure out how to get back home without my pass
or money. I really didn't want to walk two miles in the cold to get home.
It would just be a quick two minute train ride to get back,
but they occasionally have fare inspectors on the train and
if you don't have a ticket, you have to pay a fine.
I figured with my luck, that there would be an inspector on the train.
[I even called DART to see if there was a way I could ride without
being fined, since they have documentation that I called about my
missing wallet, but they said I could still be fined. DUMB!]
So I called my friend and neighbor to see if she could pick me up.
She said she could, but it would be about 15-20 minutes.
It ended up being closer to half an hour, since she needed to wait
for someone to come over to watch her sleeping baby.
While driving back she wanted to know what happened.
As I started explaining to her, my phone rang.
I thought perhaps it was DART calling me back with news,
but when I answered it, there was no response.
So then I started to tell her the story when my phone rang again.
This time after saying 'Hello', a woman's voice answered me.
She had an Asian accent of some kind, so she was a little difficult
to understand at times, but what I could definitely make out was that
she had found my bag on the train!
She was unable to locate DART police to give it to them,
so instead she called the Lost and Found and they gave her my number.
I was in tears with gratitude that my prayers had been answered
and that a Good Samaritan had found my wallet!
I told her I would call her back so we could figure out a time and place to meet.
After hanging up, I was finally able to explain to my friend what happened.
She was relieved as I was that this story had a happy ending!
When I got home, I dropped on my knees and said a prayer of gratitude
for His answer to my prayer and watchful care of my belongings.
I called the Good Samaritan to set up a time to meet, but got voice mail
instead, so I left a message. She called back an hour or so later.
I figured the best place to meet up would be at the station next to where I live.
She told me what time the train she takes leaves and what time she would
be there by, so she can return my bag to me, without having to wait for another
train. I thanked her immensely and told her I would be there waiting.
A little while later, she called me back to let me know she had given me
the wrong time and that she would be at that station 15 minutes later
than she originally said. She also told me that she usually sits in the last car
and that she is a Chinese woman wearing a white coat. I thanked her again
and we were about to hang up when she remembered one more thing she
wanted to ask me. "Did you have any cash in your wallet?"
I told her I didn't. [I spent the last dollar I had the day before.]
She just wanted to make sure that no one else had picked it up first,
because she didn't see any cash.
Just made even more grateful, that if I had to lose my wallet,
that it was found by someone with honesty and integrity.
It restored my faith that there really are good and honest people
out there!
I'm going to be making Oreo Balls for Trunk or Treat.
I will definitely be setting some aside to give to this sweet lady
as a small token of my gratitude.
Update:
Reunited and it feels so good!
My bag and all it's contents are back where they belong....with me!
I wrote a little note and put together a goodie bag with the Oreo Balls
for my Good Samaritan. When I handed them to her, she said,
"Oh no, no, no!" Not even a thought of reward for her good need.
She eventually took them, after I asked her once more to take them.
I thanked her again and then the train doors shut.
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