Oh boy, I could hear my mom from heaven reminding me of a lesson she drilled into my head from toddlerhood on. And yet, even though I share the lesson with our grandchildren at times, there was recently a time I totally ignored it.

We had gone for a week at a Condo in Hancock Mass a couple of weeks ago. The weekend was wonderful, Jeff and Amanda and the kids came up. it was great fun. Sunday after they left for home, we stayed, unsure if we would be there for the entire week or not.

Well on Tuesday we decided to head home early. This was partially due to uncertainty of weather, as there were some predictions of icey nights Weds night to Thurs, and we had planned to leave either Weds or Thursday. I personally didn’t want to have a chance of going home on the mountain roads, if, in fact, we did get ice. ( Yes I am a weather worrier at times)

So Tuesday morning we packed up, knowing we were not being rushed out on a check-out day, and we headed home. We looked back through the rooms, the drawers, the cupboards, and the closets to ensure everything was packed and there were not any problems. All looked as good as when we arrived.

Off we went, we didn’t make coffee, figuring on the way home there would be a Dunkin along the way. Alas, I found the nearest Dunkin. and off we went. Google Maps definitely has a sense of humor, but we followed it exactly. Oh, we went over roads that were narrow, even parts not paved, yet in the end, we were at Dunkin in Schodack NY.

We ordered our coffee and sandwich and decided we would eat in the restaurant, then hit the restrooms before leaving. The staff there was amazingly friendly, and even commented on an essential oil fragrance they smelled that I had on. We joked a bit about that when the girl asked, “Do you have Patchouli essential oil fragrance on”. I had to think for a minute and said as a matter of fact I do. She called others over asking if they could smell it, they all said they loved the aroma of Patchouli.

We sat down, I draped my purse on the chair, we ate our sandwiches, and took off for home. HERE IS WHERE I totally did not follow one of my mom’s lessons in life.

We took off, Mark drove for a bit, and we switched west of Albany. As I was driving I was thinking about a State Police that went by. I looked over to Mark, and the floor around him, and asked ” Do you have my purse there or is it in the back?” ( now mind you my purse for traveling is a camera bag with my Nikkon Camera and my wallet in it). He looked and said, “There’s nothing here?” ” What did you do with it?”

PANIC set in, I could not remember bringing it out of the restaurant. I am running through the exit of the restaurant in my mind, and panicking. We pulled over at the ” text parking area”, and we looked everywhere, but no purse.

So we knew we had to turn back. Mark took over driving and I looked up the Dunkin in Schodack NY, but to no avail No one answered the phone. I tried 7 or 8 times. We were 45 minutes from there, and Mark remembered seeing a police station across the street, he said to try and call them. Mark tried to reassure me that they might go over to see if it was there. He was much calmer than I was for sure. So I went on Google Maps, saw there was one, and called them. It was a Town Police Station, a woman answered. I tried to be calm and explained that I believed I left my camera bag on the chair at the table, and that the camera bag also had my wallet in it. The lady first said, “Did you call Dunkin”. I said “Yes but they aren’t answering,” She said she would try, and if no answer would see if someone could go over and check. I still can remember the incredible anxiety I was feeling when I realized I left it there. I felt my body trembling inside, and I felt my eyes tearing. I felt angry with myself, I felt bad for the whole incident.

I was feeling really shaky and remembered a couple of years ago, in a devotion I read, it mentioned that if you are ever feeling out of control, anxious, lost, or unsure, just squeeze your right hand onto Jesus’s hand, he is there to help you, even if things aren’t turning out well, he helps give you strength to get through it. Well, I squeezed my hand tight around Jesus’s hand, it helped me get through this without screaming or crying.

We continued to head back towards Schodack, and about 10 minutes later the woman at the Police Station called back. She said to not speed, they had the camera bag, and the employees had tried to chase us when they saw it on the chair, but we were driving off. They had it in the back, hoping we would come back. They heard the phone ringing and wondered if it was us, but couldn’t answer the phone because the phone was in the office, which the manager locks when she is not there. She said the police chief actually was who went over to Dunkin and retrieved my camera bag. We asked her to thank him for us, and we thanked her. Then we went to Dunkin and ordered another cup of coffee, and thanked them over and over again!

Thank God it happened where it did, Thank God the employees were honest, Thank God Mark remembered there was a police station, Thank God the Chief was willing to go over there, and from now on Mom, ( I know you are watching me from heaven) I will remember the lesson you drilled in my head… it is ” whenever you are leaving anywhere, look back and make sure that you left it better then it was when you came into it, AND make sure you have all your things.”

This could have been sooooo bad, but it turned out okay. I hope to never have this happen again.

Until later, Mrs Justa alias Cindy….