Last week I had one of those days where nothing went right. It was a Monday, of course, and by the time I arrived home I had worked up a nice migraine and wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep away my bad day. I managed to get my cell phone and myself into the house, but carelessly left my purse in my car.

I recently moved back to where I grew up in, in a suburban town I consider to be one of the safest places on Earth. So when I walked to my car the following morning, I didn’t think much of the fact that the door to my car was partially open. I figured, in my hurry to end a terrible day, I had not completely shut my door. I got in, started the car, and drove about a block before I realized I didn’t have my purse. I quickly pulled to the side of the rode and frantically searched my car. It wasn’t there. So began an even worse day than the one before.

I spent the day canceling credit cards, filing a police report and being angry with myself for leaving my purse in the car over night. It was a horrible feeling knowing that most of the things I needed for the day were now gone. It was inconvenient to have to spend time getting a new license and waiting for my new credit cards to arrive in the mail. But the worse part was losing the little things that meant a lot to me. Inside my wallet was a letter from an old friend that made me smile every time I read it. Tucked in a hidden pocket was the lucky dime my grandma gave me. I was pretty bummed all week about losing these things. It wasn’t too hard to find a new purse and wallet, but it was nearly impossible to fill it. My replacement debit card looked lonely next to my new insurance card.

By Friday, I had received most of my replacement cards as well as my new driver’s license. I was in the midst of telling one of my co-workers my story when my favorite little first grader tugged at my shirt. In her hand was a thank-you note she had written to me for helping her with her work the day before. It was written entirely in pink glitter crayon. I thanked her for the letter and told her I knew just where to put it.

As I walked to my car that day, I was nearly blinded by a shiny penny lying on the ground. I picked it up and placed it neatly in my wallet next to the thank you note. Even though I could never replace the old letter and lucky dime it was nice to know that I had something to fill up my new wallet. Suddenly, the wallet didn’t seem so empty.

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