Last Friday, we asked kids to draw pictures of something they had lost and something they had found.
The first drawing we got was from Joe, who has spent the past few weeks in Japan.
Lost:
I once lost a remote control toy car.
It was a cool car.
Very fast and loud.
I was sad.
Found:
I like to find coins.
Sometimes I save them in my green piggy bank.
Coins from a travel to Mexico, Canadian coins,
and an American quarter Daddy gave me…
I like numbers and graphics on coins.
I feel Joe’s pain. Remote control cars are pretty great, and losing them would make even the most stoic among us feel a pang of regret. Perhaps Joe will take comfort to know that if he finds enough coins, a replacement can be his. Call it the circle of life or plain economics.
As for Spencer:
Lost: I was in a key shop with my mom, and the guy making my mom’s key gave me an old key for a sports car that he said I could keep. It was very special. But then we went to the store to buy clothes and I lost it there. I was really sad.
Found: I went with my family to the beach on Monday and my Po Po [grandma] helped me to find a big piece of coral. It’s my favorite thing that I have found on the beach.
Again, I am left adrift thinking of Spencer losing his newly acquired treasure. Spencer, if it makes you feel any better, I lose my keys all the time, and sometimes when I do, I say impolite things.
As for Spencer’s brother Tyler:
Lost: When I was in Taiwan, my mom and dad gave me an allowance to buy something at the night market. Like a dollar or something. I put it in my pocket, but then it wasn’t there.
Found: These are my best seashells from Half Moon Bay that I found on the beach. I only drew three, but actually I have a lot of them!
Ah yes, Tyler. This is a problem you will come to know much better as you get older. The dollars you think you have often seem to disappear before you can spend them. Thank goodness the world throws us colorful seashells to keep things in balance.
As for Robbi, one day when she was very little, she was at the airport. At the time, she had a very special friend named “Nicey,” who was the very soft edge piece of a baby blanket—but without the rest of the blanket. Nicey was Robbi’s best friend in the world, so when she suddenly realized that he was lost, she proceeded to howl as if the world was ending. As far as Robbi was concerned, the word WAS ending. A frantic search ensued, at the end of which, Robbi found Nicey poking out of a trash can. Finding Nicey was the best moment of her life.
Until she met me, that is.