Lucky Money

Note: A version this post was originally on Facebook last summer and was well-liked—someone suggested I flesh it out and make it into an essay and…well, it took me a year. Sigh, life.

I found a $20 bill on the sidewalk today. This is exciting enough I remember every other time it happened to me. During the pandemic I found a twenty by the elevators on my floor of my apartment building. Since I figured it belonged to one of our neighbours and since none of us were well off, I put up a sign that said "If you lost something by the elevators, come to apartment 919 and tell us what it was--we'll give it back to you." Weeks went by and no one came so I figured the money was mine, took the sign down, spent the cash, and then apparently a frequent guest of one of the neighbours mentioned losing money when they visited and they told them about our sign. Mark wound up having to cough up $20 when I wasn't home. He said the person was really surprised he gave it to them, but fair is fair. Before that, once in university I found $20 on the sidewalk. Since I had been walking with three friends and I just happened to be the one to see it first, I bought us all fancy coffees at Second Cup right away. Nostalgia for always being with a gang of friends, and for Second Cup, and for when $20 would cover 4 fancy coffees! As a child I found $5 once on a Tilt-a-Whirl, backstory obvious, and once riding my bike on our country roads found a sea of loose change all over the road, like $30 or $40 worth, backstory less obvious, although as an adult my guess is that it was the flotsam of a robbery, tossed out the window of a moving vehicle while the villains retained the bills. I couldn't guess the origins at the time, but like any wise 11-year-old with no pockets, didn't care and hopped off my bike, removed my socks and shoes, put the shoes back on and filled my socks with coins, tying them to the handlebars for the ride home.

This is a complete history of my asphalt windfalls, although I have of course found small denominations many times, and I always stoop to pick them up. My father was a big believer in "lucky money" although I'm not clear if he believed the luck was in just getting money for nothing or in some sort of larger vibe. If I find a coin on the ground I will usually try to tuck it into the hand of a companion for greater luck, which repels germaphobes so now I ask first. I once overheard two teenaged girls talking about whether they'd stoop to pick up a loonie and they were undecided--"maybe a toonie"--which shocked me. The luck, the extra change in case you need it--I always stoop. A few weeks later I actually saw a teenaged girl of similar age (not the same one, I'm pretty sure) accidentally drop two loonies in a big crowd and she did NOT stop, even though an older woman chased her for a while. The older woman and I caught eyes for a moment and we were both aghast.

This summer has been one financial blow after another, and $20 makes no material difference but it was THRILLING to find the money. I just put it in my wallet--which was completely empty except for dimes and nickels--but despite everything I feel like I should do something magical and amazing. Lucky money isn't like regular money.

Today is Mark’s and my 13th wedding anniversary—still married, still happy about it. It’s the lace anniversary, lace being the most intricate of fabrics and the symbolism being that after 13 years, the relationship is getting pretty intricate. No lace was exchanged here—we went for the “contemporary” gift of textiles. If you were concerned about the Mark has no bathing suit storyline, never fear: I got him one, so we can all breathe easier now. And then we spent the weekend on the beach at Lake Erie and it was the best, and the bathing suit was put to good use. What adventures will our 14th year of marriage bring, and can we swim through them? Who can say?? I