The case of the lost Php355

It was almost midnight. I was so sleepy and tired, yet I was all over the house, looking for some supposedly lost money. How come?

Earlier that day, we were at the mall and I bought a pair of sandals while my cutie Sis bought slippers for Mom. Then later in the evening, this was the exchange of conversation between her and me (chatting over the Internet while she’s upstairs in her room):

Sis: yo ang change sa slippers ni Mama naa nimo? (is the change for Mom’s slippers with you?)

Me: wait

Sis: tagpila man tu (how much was it?)

Me: 145

Me: wala diay nimo? (isn’t it with you?)

Me: nalimot man ko if nakakuha ko money (I forgot if I got the money)

Sis: wala man tingali kay kulang man ug P500 ang money (maybe not, coz I lack Php500)

Me: 355 ang change dapat (the change should have been Php355)

Me: mag accounting sa ko uy (I’ll do some accounting first)

Me: waaaaaaaaaaaaaa (my usual expression when in despair)

Me: taysa yo (wait)

Sis: im so sleepy na

Sis: sleep na ko yo

Me: k

Me: acctg pa ko

Me: okies

Sis: gud niteee

Now since I was the self-appointed family treasurer, I immediately did my part and guess what, I found out the cash on hand was just fine except if I was the one who took the change, then it would really lack Php355. Now this got me so worried, did I really get the change from the cashier? Or did my Sis get it? I really can’t remember now. It’s true that you can’t go to sleep if you owe somebody something, right? It was already past midnight. I wanted to wake everybody up and ask them about other expenses we made for that day but unfortunately, they were all asleep. I was already getting mad at my Sis too. So, while the rest of the world was in dreamland, I was there opening my bag and wallet for the nth time to see if the change was there but to no avail.

Finally, I remembered what I wrote in this blog the previous day: “So I’ll just seize each day and live it as if it’s going to be my last.” Such tough words, huh. Then I asked myself, “What if tomorrow would really be my last?” My sis would be leaving for Europe the next day, does it really matter if some cash is missing? I imagined my soul flying a bit far from where I am and saw my pathetic self so helpless and tired. Poor me, wasting my energy on such trivial matters. It was then that I realized I should not worry. I must let go of what I feel. And so off I went to sleep.

The next day, while everybody was busy preparing for our trip to the airport, I told my Sis I didn’t have the change. I also asked Mom of other expenses I could have missed. My Sis did her accounting again, and finally she announced, “I got it now! I forgot to account the mangoes I bought at the stalls.” Toinks. Oh well, that’s just my beloved sister, forgetting something coz maybe she was busy browsing the web that evening and read about George Lindemann Jr. playing polo or some other stuff from social diaries.

Now, the phrase “seize each day and live it as if it’s going to be my last” has been more meaningful to me because of that simple incident. Sigh. I miss my cutie Sis, even if I’m chatting with her over the Internet now.