Lost and Found

The kids and I went geocaching today. It's been a long time since we had been and it felt good to get back out there. We went down to Narragansett and searched the shoreline for 3 caches and some beach treasures. I found some nice flat rocks and drift wood for my photos. We found someone's wallet while we were out. It felt like such a violation going through it but I needed to find some ID and a telephone number so I could let the man know. It was amazing how much I learned about the owner from the contents of his wallet. I learned his age, what he looked like, his kids names his marital status (divorced), his political party (republican), the fact he owns a gun, sees a therapist and is a painter. I also learned some really personal stuff like the fact that he still loves his ex-wife and that he cheated on her, he thinks he drinks too much and he wants to quit smoking. Isn't that amazing? I did find his number on a receipt for a new gun. (yikes) and I called him to let him know I could mail the wallet to him. He was really happy. I felt really weird not telling him I had learned those things from a few pieces of paper inside. He would probably feel more violated than if I charged thousands on his credit card. I told him not to worry that "good people" had found it and yet I felt so guilty for knowing things that maybe his mother and therapist didn't even know. It made me wonder what someone could learn about me from the contents of my purse. I think I'll clean it out tomorrow.