Things in this life come and go. Some are items you treasure and will never, ever lose; others are so ephemeral you hardly even noticed you had them in the first place, much less when you got rid of them. But this list is about those things that fall solidly in the middle: things I noticed when I lost them and sometimes still lament their absence but am able to carry on without.
* sapphire ring, lost 1999. I bought myself this ring shortly after my college boyfriend & I broke up - I had hoped he would propose (oh, but in retrospect, how glad I am he didn't) and when instead we parted ways, I bought myself this antique sapphire & diamond ring to make myself feel better. Small, but still sort of extravagant for me. And I LOST the fucker. Lost it inside my washing machine. Couldn't retrieve it. At least, that's where I thing it was. I'm pretty sure I put it in my pocket once when I was washing my hands or something, and didn't notice it was gone, and then washed those jeans, and poof, no more ring.
* Clinique Black Honey lip gloss, lost October 25, 2008. Oh, I know EXACTLY where this lip gloss is. I was in a wedding, and all the girls had cute matching tote bags that we got as gifts from the bride, and my lip gloss ended up in someone else's bag. AND CLINIQUE DOESN'T MAKE IT ANYMORE. I loved this lip gloss and I am so sad that some other girl has it... and probably threw it away because ew, who wants to use some random lip gloss that somebody accidentally put in your bag? (sadly, my lip gloss wasn't the only part of that marriage to not last. ouch.) I tried to get it back, but no avail. Farewell, perfect lip gloss.
* work keys, lost January 2008. It's not like I didn't get another set when I realized I lost them;I just felt like a doofus for leaving my work keys in New York when I went there for a conference. I called the hotel, they said they didn't have them, but I swear, they have to be there. Although I sometimes expect to find them in a dark corner of the basement at work...
* dolphin necklace, lost July 1994. Again, I know exactly where I left my dolphin necklace: on Trent Thompson's boat. I asked him to bring it home with him, but he forgot, and then I forgot, and now I don't have that necklace. I probably wouldn't be wearing it these days anyway, but I treasured it at the time and would like to keep it in the junk jewelry box with all the other beaded necklaces and yarn bracelets from that time.
* copies of Barrel Fever and Naked, lost September 2004. I lent these books to someone I didn't know very well, with plenty of time for her to finish them before our temporary friendship came to an end (we were in a show together - trust me, those can be very intense friendships that die immediately upon the show closing). She forgot to bring them to me on the last day of the show, but we still had strike the next day, so I said I'd get them from her then. And then I skipped strike. Completely my fault, but I'm sad I don't have those books anymore.
material loss - C- (hey, I didn't really need any of that stuff anyway, right?)
