The belt stopped at 9:40
We flew out of Dayton on the afternoon of Christmas Eve to spend the holiday at our daughter Katie's house in Phoenix, changing planes in Charlotte. Ron and I each had a carry-on. Everything else was in one big navy suitcase.
Everything else meant every present for our three grandkids. I'd packed them unwrapped, with the paper rolled up and the tape tucked beside them, because I'd read that airport security sometimes opens wrapped gifts. That's the kind of planning I do.
At 9:40 that night the carousel in Phoenix went around twice with one gray duffel bag on it that wasn't ours. Then it stopped. Ron looked at me. I stared at the black rubber flap where the bags come out, like it owed me money.
The man at the baggage desk typed for a long time and told me our suitcase was "in the system." I asked him which part of the system. He said he couldn't see that part.
Three days of "in the system"
On Christmas morning my grandson Eli, who was four, opened an envelope from us. Inside was a card in my handwriting that said IOU 1 DINOSAUR. He turned it over twice, looking for the dinosaur.
I called the airline every morning, and every morning a different polite person told me the bag was "being located." Nobody could say if it was in Charlotte, in Phoenix, or somewhere I'd never been.
It turned up on Katie's porch on December 27th with one wheel broken. Every present was still inside. I cried a little on the porch, which embarrassed my son-in-law more than it embarrassed me.
"Why didn't you put a tracker in it?"
Driving back from the airport on Christmas Eve, Katie asked why I hadn't put a tracker in the suitcase. She said it the way you'd ask why somebody went out in the snow without a coat.
I had my reasons, or thought I did. I pictured the round tags people hang on their keys, too fat for anything flat. I figured I'd need a new app, a password I'd forget and probably a monthly charge.
I also didn't mention that our family has never needed help losing things. Ron has left his wallet on the roof of the car twice. Once he drove all the way to Kroger with it up there, and it was still there when he came out. He takes that as proof he doesn't need help.
Four lines on a cocktail napkin
On the flight home I wrote a list on a cocktail napkin, the same way I'd write a supply order at school. Whatever I bought had to pass every line.
It had to lie flat, in the zip pocket of a suitcase or in Ron's wallet, without a lump. It had to work with the iPhone already in my purse, with nothing new to download and no account to set up. And after the day I paid for it, it could never send me another bill.
At the bottom I added one more line: no tiny batteries. We already have a kitchen drawer full of dead ones.
The card that passed every line
In January one of the teachers at school showed me the one she keeps in her wallet. It was Spotminders, a tracking card the size of a credit card and only 1.8 millimeters thin. It works with Find My, the app that's already on every iPhone, and there's no monthly fee.
Setting it up took less time than finding my reading glasses. You press the button on the card and it plays a little tune. Then you open Find My, tap Items, Add Item, then Other Supported Item, and give it a name. I named mine Navy Suitcase. Ron said that was very me.
It recharges on a wireless charger, and one charge lasts up to eight months. A little light on it changes color to show the battery. It went into the zip pocket in the suitcase lining, and I put a reminder on the calendar for August anyway.
In June the belt stopped again
In June I flew to see my sister Pam in Boston, connecting in Philadelphia. The bags came out, everybody else's bags, and mine didn't. My stomach did exactly what it did on Christmas Eve.
Then I opened Find My, tapped Items, and there it was: Navy Suitcase, still at the Philadelphia airport, last seen a few minutes earlier. At the baggage office I turned my phone around so the agent could see the map. She said, "Well, that saves us a step."
The card didn't get my bag to me any faster. It came on the first flight the next morning, which is probably what would have happened anyway. Its location updates when an iPhone or another Apple device passes near it, so in a quiet spot it can lag behind. And it only works with Apple, so if your family is on Android, this one isn't for you.
Last Christmas I lay awake picturing our presents on a plane to Anchorage. This time I could see my suitcase sitting in Philadelphia, so I had dinner with my sister and slept fine.
The card in Joanne's suitcase is part of the Spotminders Black Friday sale: buy 3, get 2 free.
Claim Buy 3, Get 2 FreeThen everybody wanted one
Ron was first, which surprised everyone, including Ron. After Boston I bought a second card, set it up on his phone and slid it into his wallet without a lot of discussion.
In August, after a Reds game, he stood in the parking lot patting every pocket, sure his wallet was gone for good. I told him to open Find My and tap Play Sound. It started chirping from the gap between the driver's seat and the console of his own truck. I took a picture. He asked me not to.
By September Katie wanted one for the diaper bag, Pam wanted one for her suitcase, and my son Danny, who is 20 and has lost three student IDs, wanted one too and pretended he didn't.
What's going under the tree this year
So when the Black Friday sale started this month, I ordered the five pack. It's buy three, get two free right now, so five cards cost the same as buying three one at a time, and it came with a free wireless charger and a mystery gift. The whole order came gift wrapped for free, too. And there are 100 days to return them.
One for Katie, one for Pam, a pink one for Danny's backpack because he'll complain and keep it anyway, one for my dad's wallet and one for my purse. I checked that everyone has an iPhone first, since the cards don't work with Android. Katie's husband has an Android. He's getting socks again.
This Christmas the grandkids' presents are riding in my carry-on. The card is staying in the navy suitcase anyway, and if that belt stops again, I already know which app I'm opening.
