Miracle on Cascade Street

Do you guys wanna hear something weird? I'm sure you do. Gather 'round, kiddies.

Yesterday I went out to breakfast by myself. It's one of my little treats I do for myself just because I'm awesome and I deserve shit like that. It's also tradition before I go to my therapy session. The nearest Coney Island for a gyro meat and feta cheese omelette, french fries instead of hash browns, and white toast. Coffee and water to drink.

If time allows, it's also an extension of my daily allotment of "me" time where I get to read, listen to new music I've been meaning to, maybe write a little bit, whatever. The rule is I can't do anything important during "me" time. Although, I could make a case for the importance of all those things. Anyway, I digress in getting to the true point of the story.

This particular morning, I had a lot of time. I got my breakfast, I read my book for about an hour, I drank a lot of coffee (bottomless refills!), and I was feeling quite pleased with myself before seeing my therapist. I had to drive straight to work after my appointment, so I was set for that with all my stuff I'd need for the day. I gather up all my things, hit the restroom, and head up to the counter to pay my bill and be on my way.

One thing some have noticed about me is I'm chronically early. Like, I'm the dude that's at work 30 minutes early just because I don't feel right if I'm not. This goes for most things in my life. I'd like to be at the movie theater early, I need to be at all concerts early, shows, whatever. If there's a specific time I need to be somewhere, I need to be there BEFORE I have to be there by a fair margin.

My appointment is at 11, which means I'm at the office by 10:35a and just chilling in the parking lot. I'm looking to maybe dust off a few more pages of the book I"m reading. I don't remember why, but I needed to get out of my car briefly and stand, so I did that. When I did, I did my little habit of checking my pockets periodically to make sure everything is there (wallet, keys, money clip, phone) and.... it's not. I dig inside my pocket to be sure and am hit with disappointment. I wasn't mistaken, something is missing. My money clip is gone. My money clip that typically has $50 in it just in case i need cash, my money clip that had a $100 gift card for a restaurant in it... my goddamn, motherfucking money clip that has FIFTY DOLLARS IN CASH THAT I CAN'T GET BACK.

I frantically search the car... it's not there. It's not under the seat, it's not in the little crack between the seat and console/door that sometimes loses stuff. It's not in my car. The only other place it could be is in the Coney Island. It probably slid out of my pocket when I grabbed my phone while I was in the booth. Maybe it dropped in the bathroom. But, it's there. There's no doubt in my mind. I call the restaurant on the extremely slim chance that someone found it and decided to turn it in.

The young girl on the other end of the line tells me nobody's turned anything like that in. I can almost hear it registering in her mind that there's a free $50 somewhere in her work area if she just finds it first. They do take my number down "just in case" it turns up. I'm not hopeful. But, at the same time (and this is a big change for me), I also am okay with this idea. Yeah, I acknowledge it sucks... but it's just money. It's not the end of the world. I can get more.

My day continues as planned. Appointment, head straight to work, come home, put on my pajamas and head to bed, all that jazz. No phone call all day. I'm still at peace with it. The thought has actually even crossed my mind that I am hopeful someone needful found it - someone who was $50 shy of rent, or maybe a parent that couldn't afford a birthday present for their kid, maybe someone facing a shutoff notice for their electricity... the possibilities are endless. Whatever though - it's gone.

Today rolls around. I get out of my PJs and into work duds. I work. I come home and get back into PJs immediately because that's just how I roll. I am thinking about heading out to a Redbox and maybe grabbing some shitty dinner. As I'm loading up my PJ pockets... there's something weird. My left hand pocket (which is typically reserved for my keys exclusively) has something in it. And, you guessed it! My money clip. No joke... and there's 8000% no way I didn't have it when I was at the restaurant and lost it. I slept in these PJs all night too and my money clip would be pokey kind of and wake me up. It also wasn't there when I put my keys in the pockets that morning as I ran out to my car to start it so it was warm.

For some reason, something like a mini-miracle happened. I was given good karma from the Universe. God decided I needed that $50 after all. Allah decided I am worthy of his many blessings. Whatever you wanna say made it happen... it did. It kinda tripped me out - but I can't help but think (in some weird type of confirmation bias) it's my reward for being so cool about it. I also kinda think it's like some sign that I'm on a good path and it's indicative of that. Or a reward again for making good choices.

I can't explain it. And, once again, I'm okay with that.