About 6 years ago Deb and I attended my 40th high school reunion in Omaha. There was a picnic Friday evening and a more formal event Saturday evening, leaving us time to kick around all day Saturday in Omaha.

We went to the mall and just started driving around. We somehow ended up in the showroom of Lexus of Omaha and ended up purchasing a nearly-new 2007 Lexus 350 SUV. She drove it home on Sunday and I followed her in our old car. The Lexus came with two key fobs that unlock and lock the doors, as well as open the rear hatch door. It also came with a valet key, which has no push buttons, but works manually in the doors and ignition.

About a year after we bought the car one of the super-dooper key fobs came up missing. These things cost a couple hundred dollars to replace. Deb accused me of losing the fob and threatened to order another one. I told her that I never “lose” anything, and that if I was responsible at all, it was just “misplaced” and would show up eventually. As a stop gap measure I told her that I would use the valet key until the “lost” fob showed up.

Four years passed and I was reminded many times about how I lost the fob. I didn’t remember losing the fob, but went along with these accusations. Deb passed away in June, believing to the end that I was responsible for the loss of the fob.

This weekend we had a mega garage sale where many of Deb’s clothing items were sold. According to Tara’s friend Lisa Gruchot, our garage sale is more accurately described as a “Pop up Botique”, complete with Ralph Loren, Coach, Dooney, and other name brand items. It is a huge event, requiring several workers and spanning two days.

On Friday afternoon after my last class I brought one of my students, Bora Shin, over to the sale. She looked about the same clothing size as Deb. Bora tried on several items before deciding to purchase a couple of Deb’s blazers. When she approached the check-out she informed us that one of the blazers had a couple of keys in the pocket. Ah HA! On the key ring was the missing Lexus fob.

Had Deb been alive this would have been a ripe opportunity for me to prove my innocence, but alas, in the end it was she who pulled the joke on all of us!