Found money, is there any better kind?

There probably isn't anyone reading this who hasn't found money before. Whether it's a penny, loonie or something of a more significant denomination, discovering cash is a rush.

The first time I came upon lost money I was in Grade 2. I was sitting by the long jump pit in the schoolyard with my back to the fence. On the other side of that chain link was a $2 bill. Yes, those were the days before toonies, back when paper money ruled the day. If you had coins in your pocket they usually didn't add up to much.

I stretched my fingers through the chain link fence and bingo, the money was mine! Well, it was almost mine. I took it to Mr. Horton and turned it in. Two weeks later he presented it to me in front of my classmates. I was the poster boy for honesty and being honest paid that day. I used that two bucks to buy a C-240 skateboard, the single best purchase of my life.

Fast-forward to the late 1990s. I've just purchased my first new home with my wife Heather and my in-laws are up visiting. It's raining outside and my backyard is a huge pile of mud. I look out while speaking with my mother-in-law Kathy and there staring up at me from a puddle is Lester B. Pearson. Cha-ching! I used that $50 to buy my young daughter Rebekah an Elmo doll.

I figured nothing could beat finding $50. But I was wrong.

In 2004 I went out to the Black Dog Pub in Scarborough to interview an author who had written a book on pubs. It was early afternoon and the place was empty. Once I was finished with my interview I moved to an empty table while our photographer took a picture of the guy with his book. Looking down at my notepad I spotted a $5 bill by the leg of the table. I bent down to pick it up and beside that $5 bill was a $20 bill. Beside that $20 bill was another $20 bill. Cha-ching! I put that $45 in my previously empty wallet. Life was good.

The very next day I was at the gym and between sets I took a break and was just sitting there staring at the floor. Part of the floor fluttered and caught my attention. When I looked down I saw a $20 bill. There was nobody around me so I picked it up. Cha-ching!

A few days later I was sweeping out my garage on a windy October evening. I was alone with my thoughts when I was rudely interrupted by the Queen. That's right, a $20 bill blew up my driveway and landed right on my broom. In a period of seven days I'd found $85.

I haven't found anything since that windy October evening but whenever my kids pick up loose change from outside and come rushing in to show me all the money they've discovered I always enjoy telling them my stories of found money. They always enjoy hearing them and I get to re-live the rush of telling them about found money.