Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Stolen Backpack

The backpack was last seen hanging from a restroom hook as my elderly mother went out to check her grocery cart. By the time she realized she'd left her backpack, it was gone.

Gone - with her wallet, cash, checkbook, debit and credit card, an uncashed pension check, address book (crammed with doodles, recipes, birthdays, and observations), and a cellphone that held hundreds of photos of her grandchildren that she had been intending to take off the phone someday.

Gone.

At 81, she is taking this very hard. I find her often in tears, which breaks my heart. But I'm too busy to be sad for long, caught up in a whirlwind of damage control: Police reports, fraud alerts, replacement of bank account and credit card, stop payments, replacement of ID. I am tired and the list is long.

It's infuriating to know someone got away with this, with no concern for the pain and trouble they left behind. When I tell others about it, it seems they all have a story: Purses grabbed from shopping carts, cellphones snatched from people's hands by passing cyclists, wallets lifted from bags slung over a shoulder. I am disgusted. But there's no point in belaboring the issue. 

Have managed to lift her spirits by reframing the loss into a new beginning. And I am pleased by the simplicity of her affairs - just one ATM and credit card! It makes me wonder why I would ever need to carry more? 

TIme for a handbag and wallet review.

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