The Prodigal Scarf

I own a lot of scarves. Some I've hand-knit, some are store-bought, and I like most of them. But years ago, I bought one from J. Crew that I really thought was cool because it was crocheted and simple in a solid cream color. And it had interesting tassles.

And I lost it less than a month after I bought it. I always wondered what had happened to that scarf. I don't usually lose things.

Flash forward to a couple of weeks ago. I was visiting my best friend, Karen, and her daughter Adrienne in NJ for a couple of days and we'd gone Christmas shopping at the Cherry Hill Mall. A Big Adventure for a country girl like myself. After shopping, we decided to have lunch, so Karen got a table in the Houlihan's there, while Adrienne and I went out to put the packages in the car.

While we were walking back in, Adrienne asks if I had noticed the jacket she was wearing. I told her I noticed that it was brown. She tells me then that it's my jacket, or at least she thinks it's my jacket and that I had left it at her mom's house. I told her I had never left a jacket at Karen's house. I would have remembered leaving a jacket. But, I told her, I did remember leaving a scarf.

She hadn't seen anything like that, she told me. So I explained the hand-crotcheting, the color, these cool tassles at the ends, and ended by telling her I hadn't seen it in years. She said she'd been sure the jacket was mine, but sorry, she hadn't seen a lost scarf.

We had a really good lunch, then went and got holiday pedicures. Livin' it up in Jersey! When we got back to Adrienne's lovely little house, I opened the closet and was reaching for the hanger to hang up my jacket, and there on the shelf . . . IS MY SCARF!!! I burst out laughing, and I take it down and say, "Um . . . Adrienne, this is the scarf I lost!"

"No!!!" she says, "You're kidding!" Karen asks me if I was sure this was the same scarf I lost, because Adrienne's had this one for years.

Yeah, I was sure. Down to its J.Crew sticker and the little tassles, I was sure. I had lost it in January 2004, and it's really funny because I hadn't thought about it for years until that very afternoon when Adrienne mentioned the jacket. It's weird how things happen sometimes, isn't it?

Adrienne said that she didn't like it anymore, so I could have it back now. She's super nice that way, Adrienne is! Maybe I'll wear it for awhile, and we can end up sharing it. If she wants to, that is.

At least this mystery's been solved.