A story about an almost very sad day.

We took a train back into the city last night & felt quite untethered, me carrying only my purse & Mike carrying the heavy camera bag - we were sans luggage since it was only a day trip. I had brought my big camera bag - with everything in it just in case, including lenses, various accessories & my polaroid camera + extra film. Just in case. We had an uneventful train ride. It was crowded, so we put the camera bag overhead. Mike read. I napped. We pulled into Grand Central. We filed out of the crowded train, wandered through the terminal & went down into the subway tunnel, approaching the turnstiles to enter the station. I started going through the mental images of the photos that I took that day, when it suddenly hit me (rather like a ton of bricks).

The camera bag!!! 

Mike looked at me & my the single bag (purse) I was carrying, & looked at his empty arms. He didn't say a word, he didn't hesitate. He just turned & sprinted (reason #478 why I love my husband). He was out of view within 3 seconds, disappearing into the crowds.

I tried to follow him, but I really just felt like I was going to throw up. My camera. (Heart pounding) My very new camera. (Heart pounding) Worst possible scenarios were quickly & vividly imagined. (Heart pounding)

Quick ending to the potentially terrible story: I finally found the track that our train had arrived on, just as Mike ran out of the still-there train with a bag in hand. A man next to me cheered. Apparently he'd cheered Mike on through his effort, asking what he was sprinting for & then saying, You can do it!! 

We'll call the blame neutral on this one. It doesn't really even matter. We (Mike) found it. Nothing was lost. Catastrophe narrowly avoided. I'm calling my insurance company (finally) tomorrow. It's been on my to-do list for too long.

Phew.

Tonight, I'm happy to have a memory card full of photos & a few polaroids that were just fun, that I can put in a book & flip through. I like the one that Mike took, with me & my favorite possession (in the electronics category, anyway), even if it does weigh too many pounds. And it's okay that these photos are from an instant camera with technology from a decade ago. It's fun to mix things up. I like that polaroids are a throw back to days running around as a little girl in the early 90's. Maybe it's rooted in the fact that I had a friend in elementary school (Annie Crego, actually) who had a polaroid camera & I thought she was so cool. Older, with horses, a treehouse & a polaroid camera. I wanted to be her. I never did get a polaroid. It's fun that I do now, even if it's 20 years later. My parents (& my in-laws) still don't understand the current appeal. That's okay.

PS - Special thanks to Kelsey for the frequent use of her scanner lately. Our very own printer / scanner is in the mail. We're real adults now, the almost-owners of an actual printer (which makes sense since we only bought our first desk 6 months ago, we live in 600 square feet, & have never owned a car as a married couple).