A Surprise.

Sara and I had made plans to stay in the city Saturday night. We were going to visit an Italian Festival up in Baltimore, meet up with some friends, and go see a band play in Fells Point. We had planned ahead and our very nice friends invited us to crash at their house in the city. So we pack our bags in anticipation of the trip.

Our luggage, it should be mentioned, belonged to my mother and recently were given to us by my father. They're Vera Bradley! Apparently, that's a big deal. They're not to my tastes but they were a gift.

Sara discovers in a pocket of one of the bags a silver chain necklace. It was still in its package. She also found a pair of my mother's bifocal sunglasses. We soon realized that the last time this luggage had been used my parents, and maybe my Aunt & Uncle, visited Mexico for a cruise. The chain was a souvenir my mother had purchased on her last vacation.

My dad chuckled when I told him of the necklace. "Yeah, " he says, "We bought that as a thank you gift for the dog-sitter. Your mother had been looking for that necklace for months. It was driving her crazy." Sara and I laughed, too.

Knowing my mom I can imagine her scrambling through the house, and berating herself for her own forgetfulness, or as she liked to call it her 'chemo brain'. It made me smile to recall one of my mother's funny little habits - of misplacing things. I couldn't help but hearing her laughter in my head as I imagined myself teasing her again for her senility. She would laugh, tell me to leave her alone and then, more than likely, blow a raspberry in my direction.