It was one of those “oh, crap” moments when I reached into my purse and discovered my wallet missing. The last time I saw it was five on Friday night when I used a debit card at a grocery store. Now it was Saturday afternoon.

A check online revealed no one had used my cards during that time, which was a relief. Then, I tried to take a logical approach. The last time I held the wallet was at a grocery store, and then I went straight home. So Spock-like I determined the wallet was: at the grocery store; in my car; in my house; or in the hands of an honest person who didn’t know how to reach me.

I called the grocery store manager, whom I know, and he said the wallet was not in their safe. Twice.

I searched my car, which is a joke, since outside of an umbrella, it is empty.

Then, I took on my rather clean house. Maybe I put it in an odd place. Maybe the cat knocked it somewhere. I even took off the bottom grate of the refrigerator and went through the trash.

I called the police station.

Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Wanting to do more than count on an honest person, I contacted my bank and credit card companies. Of course, I couldn’t do anything about my driver’s license, which meant I wasn’t going anywhere until Monday when I would drive very carefully to work and then the dreaded Motor Vehicle Division. To understand why I use the word “dreaded” see this blog post Sweating-it-out-at-mvd

Ah, but mercifully there is a silver lining here.

Since I couldn’t leave my house for two days, I got a lot done. I finished editing the draft of my novel and emailed it to my agent. I finished a feature story I had put off for weeks. I took walks and had a thoroughly clean house and yard. I called family members.

When I went to work Monday, two colleagues advised me to go directly to the grocery store. The clerk who handed me my wallet was surprised but not put off when I hugged her. (Well, this is Taos. Nearly everyone hugs, even perfect strangers.) Everything was in it from a crisp ten dollar bill to my tiny, good luck frog created by Buddhist nuns. 

The bank gave me a temporary card. The others are in the mail. I would say I found a happy ending.