Writer hopes he’s not losing it
I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly misplacing or losing things. It’s extremely frustrating and also a major time burner.
Most of the time, though, it’s no big deal. After 10 or 15 minutes, the missing item suddenly appears in the most unlikely of places. It wasn’t where you thought you put it, but you found it and that’s all that matters.
However, there are some things that you never find, and that’s about as frustrating as things can get. I recently lost three items and the chances of finding them seem to be getting slimmer by the day.
One was a Steelers tossle cap. I took it to the Steelers game when the Black and Gold played the Denver Broncos at Heinz Field in December. I went with my son, Bryan, who drove. I remember wearing it during the game because the temperatures were in the mid-30s for the game, and I needed it to keep warm. I’m pretty sure I wore it home too, but if I didn’t, I probably would have put it one of my coat pockets or laid it next to me in the car.
I didn’t think much about the cap for the next couple of days because the temperatures warmed up and there wasn’t a need for it.
But about a week later, the temperatures got colder and I went looking for the tossle cap, which I really liked, and I couldn’t find it anywhere.
I checked the shelf in the coat room, where I usually put my tossle caps. Nothing there. I checked my the pockets of the coat I wore to the game. Nada. I looked down in the basement and up in the attic. Zip. Bryan even checked his car and came up empty. It was like the cap simply disappeared or walked out the door on its own.
I’d like to think that it will pop up sometime. But it doesn’t seem likely. With each passing day, the cap is becoming a distant memory. I have other caps so it’s no big deal. But I did like it, and it’s very frustrating because I have no idea what happened to it.
Then, I was driving up to Beaver County over the holidays for a family get together. I got out some CDs for the ride and put them on the seat next to me. When I arrived back home, I got all the CDs together and went to put them back in their cases. That’s when the mystery began. I couldn’t find the cases for two of the CDs. I checked everywhere in the car, including under the seats. I also checked the house, just to make sure I didn’t drop one of the cases there. Nothing. Now again, it’s no big deal. I have the CDs, which is the most important thing. But what the heck happened to those cases. Is it possible they somehow fell out of the car? Who knows?
Finally, there was my favorite Steelers jersey that came up missing. My daughter bought it for me last Christmas, and I really liked it. I wore it a number of times since last Christmas and remember washing it several times.
I wanted to wear it during a recent Steelers game, but it was nowhere to be found. I checked all over the closets and bedrooms in our house. It was nowhere to be found. Now of the three items, I think this is probably the most likely to pop up. I’m pretty certain that it never left the house, at least that’s what I’m hoping. Again it’s no big deal. I have several other Steelers jerseys and shirts. But it’s just so frustrating not knowing what happened to it.
Now, I know some of you are probably thinking that age is catching up to me and senility is finally settling in. Well, that’s probably true to some degree, but the fact is that I’ve been misplacing things my whole life. If losing things was an indication that the nursing home was right around the corner, I would have been in one a long time ago. However, I’ve never lost three things like these items in such a short period of time before.
Who knows? Maybe all three will pop up at some point. They’re probably right in front of me, and I’m overlooking them. Or maybe they’re in a corner somewhere just waiting to be discovered.
At any rate, I’ll keep looking. It’s driving me crazy, but I’m not giving up. I’m just hoping that I haven’t lost my mind along with the tossle cap, CD cases and Steelers jersey.
Mark O’Keefe is the editorial page editor for the 蘑菇视频. He can be reached by phone at 724-439-7569, by email at mokeefe@heraldstandard.com.