On Friday, I started looking for it just before I left for my friend's Open House Hari Raya celebrations. We could not find it so we left for the gathering. Then, my husband and son were quite confident that I had misplaced it somewhere in the house. Upon our return, we all looked for it high and low to no avail. Then, I had to come to terms with the loss.
We called the number which still rang and sent smses. I always believe I have strong intuitive abilities and even when I sent the sms, I felt that when I found the phone, I would be laughing at the smses which offered a small reward for the return of the phone and pleas for the finder to contact me :-).
My husband and son were convinced that I had mistakenly thrown away the phone as I love to tidy the house and throw away lots of junk. He said that it was ringing away in some landfill and that was the reason why no one answered the calls.
Still, I believed that the phone was somewhere in the house and searched every single drawer, shelf and area in the whole house. My older boy said, "It is in the house, Mom. You just forgot where you put it."
On Saturday morning, I was so troubled that I woke up at 4 a.m. and started another search and was looking high and low till 6a.m. Yesterday, I looked for it twice - once in the morning and another in the afternoon and finally decided that I would cheer up and read as many jokes as possible to laugh my woes away :-).
In between, I backtracked my steps and went to/called the restaurants and places I had been to in an attempt to see if someone had found it and kept it for me. All I received was negative responses but I must say they were very helpful, considerate and kind.
This morning, I prayed very hard and asked God to really show me where was the phone and to lead me to the exact spot. Then I walked to the console table of the living room. My eyes looked at my hubby's bag. We all had searched that spot many times but just now, I did something else - I picked up his bag and lo and behold, my phone had been hidden under the bag!! Yipppeeee!
Yesterday, I wrote to a friend to share the lessons I learnt from that episode and I am sharing it here in this post with a few additions.
Lessons learnt from this episode
1. I am more careful now and more alert about where I put my stuff. At my age, I tend to be very forgetful and cannot let my brain rot!
2. The house is even neater now and I found many a few things which I had misplaced before. :-)
3. I have changed handbags to a sturdy leather one instead of the nubile soft leather one I used - stuff can fall out from the latter because I sometimes forget to zip up the bag.
4. I have come to terms with the fact that I am slowing down in age and must take it easy and not rush to acoomplish as much as possible like what I used to do in the past.
5. I realize I am not as emotional as I used to be and have a better control of my feelings and did not cry, not even a teardrop!!!
6. I am thankful I did not act rashly to register for a new number or to buy a new phone. I am glad I have become a pragmatic old lady. As it is, I have difficulty remembering my own telephone numbers :-) and as a retiree, am very careful with my resources.
6. I remember that there is MUCH that I have to be thankful for in life and even if I had lost the phone, it can be replaced but life, health, family and friends are precious and cannot be replaced.
To all readers and friends who empathized with me and sent me inspiring and encouraging messages or prayed for me silently, I just want to say "Thank you very much" for you have made this journey a much easier one to travel and to complete.
God bless you and thanks for reading! Have a nice day. Next post will be up soon as I now have the inspiration and motivation to write again :-). Cheers!
KoSong Cafe Was it on? You did not call when in the house? Unless it was off, or you were away long enough till the battery went flat, I would expect this to be one of the initial attempts.
The other one is calling while in the car. When my daughter 'lost' hers, there was no one else in the house so this could not be tried and when I tried, she was not in the car.
Anyway, I share your relief after having found it.