In the Last Place I Looked

There's an adage about finding lost things that says, "You always find it in the last place you looked." That's true in a way. Obviously when you find the thing you lost, you stop looking because you just found it, so you found it in the last place you looked.  But on the other hand, sometimes you don't find what you were looking for, so the last place you looked did not yield the item you were looking for. It was only that--the last place you looked and nothing more.

This morning I was loading my pockets with the stuff I carry out into the world every day, car keys, cell phone, etc.  I reached for my wallet  on the night stand where I always keep it and it wasn't there. That's okay, since I wasn't concerned that I had lost it or even misplaced it I looked at the next logical place I would have left it.  I walked downstairs and looked on the computer table where I work and it wasn't there.  I still wasn't concerned because I knew that I hadn't lost it or even misplaced it and I looked at the next logical place.  I looked on the dresser in the guest bedroom where I put my stuff sometimes when I don't want to bother my wife's sleep when  I get up early.  The wallet was not there.  Now I was starting to get a little concerned.  I had a seven o'clock meeting to get to and it was already about twenty till. At this point when I look for something that I'm quite sure is hiding in plain sight and I have exhausted the likely places,  I start looking in  unlikely places and I looked in several of those. But still no wallet. Since I was quickly running out of time, I was considering asking my wife if she had seen it,. She's always more than glad to help, but I had rather do this sort of thing by myself.

So I asked my wife if she had seen my wallet.  She said no, but asked me "When was the last time you remember having it?"  This question at first glance is the same as "You always find it in the last place you look" but it's really a different question. The question suggests that I try to remember when I had my wallet with me.  I knew I had had it with me all day but had no way of knowing for sure I had come home with it.  After all if I had come home with it why isn't where I usually put it?  Why isn't it somewhere? Now I was considering the uncomfortable probability that I had lost it.

It was time for me to go to my meeting.  I don't like driving without a license, but I decided to go on and hope for the best. On the way there I was thinking of  several things. One is that I need to fly soon and if I've lost my wallet I'll need a drivers' license. Also I need to call and cancel my credit cards.  But I had state licenses, a AAA card and other important cards to replace. I've even lost my Barnes and Noble membership card.  I wasn't anxious, just annoyed and frustrated.  How could I have lost my wallet? But I also kept thinking about my wife's question, "When was the last time you remember having it?"  As I continued to think about that during the meeting, it occurred to me that maybe I never got my wallet out of my pocket.  Highly unlikely, but maybe.  In 64 years I had never hung up my pants with my wallet in it. But I could hope. I texted my wife and asked her to look in the pants pocket hanging in the closet.  I held my breath. A few seconds later she texted the thumbs up.

So now, did I find it in the last place I looked?  No, because I never looked there. But she did find it in the last place I thought about.

"David, where did you put your brain?"  "I'm not sure." "When was the last time you remember having it?"