Easy Come, Easy Go.

When Taylor was 7 and Cornell was 5, we were shopping at K-Mart. The kiddos found a used lottery ticket on the ground and scrambled to see if it was a winner. I was pushing 1 year old Conway and paying no attention to yet another used lottery ticket. Cornell is forever convinced that people drop perfectly good, winner lottery tickets.

Anyway, it was indeed a winner! $20! After some inspection, I noticed some initials scrawled in old person handwriting in one corner.

With some gentle nudging by me, the kids marched up to the Customer Service window and turned the ticket into lost and found. The manager immediately knew who the ticket belonged to. Cornell was so dejected. He had already thought of a hundred ways to spend that $20.

A few minutes later, we were standing in the check out line when the sweetest elderly couple I have ever seen approached us. She had perfectly "set" hair and a sweet little suit on. Her husband had bright shiny eyes and obviously adored her. She thanked my children and my heart swelled. She insisted on giving my children a $5 bill to share as a reward. I let Cornell hold it while I continued checking out. I praised my kids the entire time, telling them that we would show the $5 bill to their grandparents and regale them with their tale of honesty and character.

15 seconds later Cornell had inserted the entire $5 bill into a huge claw machine while I was bagging my shopping.

Poor Taylor.