The Memory of a Stamp

About 6 years ago my heart broke when I lost my passport. I was moving into my second apartment in Whittier and that was the last time I remember seeing it. I searched every single box and bag without any luck. With every move after that, I kept searching. To be honest, it took me years to accept that it was lost. Eventually, I had to convince myself that I accidentally threw it away. I wasn't sad because of the money I'd have to spend to replace it. (Although I wasn't crazy about spending another $100) I was heartbroken because of the travel stamps that I lost. It's not like I had too many stamps since I had traveled to other countries via rail, but the sentimental value of the first stamp I received back in September '02, along with my full page student visa, were priceless to me.

Over the past month, I've been cleaning out many of my Grandmother's and Mother's things out of the house, which has triggered a wave of emotions. I've found several personal treasures, however, the biggest surprise came my way yesterday. I was sorting out some things to donate to Goodwill when out of nowhere, a passport literally fell onto my lap. I opened it up and there I was at age 20. I'm sure I let out an audible sound of approval at that moment. It doesn't matter that the passport isn't valid anymore. I was thrilled it turned up and in a cliche manner too...when I wasn't looking for it. 

I've visited Mexico twice with my new passport and it wasn't stamped either time, much to my disappointment. I'll find out soon enough if Turkey and Romania still stamp passports. The new passports have microchips in them so I'm not certain, but I sure hope so...