It’s Monday, May 13th, 2024. Normally, on this day, I am happy and celebrating. It’s the anniversary of my first date with my husband. But today, I am frazzled. I am exhausted. I am sitting in an airport lounge in Minneapolis, writing an email to a contractor I desperately want to fire. I am also experiencing a fresh new wave of grief as the birthday of my brother Tom, who died in October, is coming up next week. I’m missing him deeply. Traveling for work is overwhelming. I look up and see it’s time to board. I pack my things up. I head to the gate.
It’s not until I get to my hotel in Chicago and begin to unpack that I realize my laptop is not in my bag. At that moment, I think, “Wow, my Mac blended right into that tabletop….”
I am beside myself. It’s pouring rain. I have dinner to attend. I offer up a prayer and head to dinner. In the Lyft, I call the airport lounge and leave a slightly panicked message about my laptop asking them to call me back. I trust the Fates. It must be there. Some kind soul has turned it in…right?
By the time I return from dinner, my eyes are aching, and my head is pounding. My iron levels are currently very low. It’s as if I can feel them plummeting even lower as I climb into bed. No messages have been returned. I call the lounge again and leave another message… “Please call me in the morning.”
