I still remember the Christmas of 2010 very vividly.  Not only did I push my luck with my Christmas list but it was what happened days later that's still cuts me to the core.  

It started that November, when I would see things that I absolutely knew I couldn't live without.  It would be the coolest new Nike sneakers or the crazy new penny skateboard that had just come out. By the time December 15 rolled around my list looked  less like a Christmas list and more like a confused "to do" list that had all been done. Things were crossed out and re-written and crossed out again. I was finally pinned down by my parents to come up with my final list.  

My third item was a baseball hat I had had my eye on for months. I never seemed able to save the money to buy it myself  I wanted that cap and I needed it because we would be leaving for Puerto Rico the day after Christmas. If I had a hat on I wouldn't be assaulted with sunscreen every 10 minutes. The baseball hat was a no brainer.

My second wish was Christmas money. This was a handy trick I had learned from my sister years earlier.

"Options!", she had told me. "You must keep your options open."  

This way if my friends got something cool that I could also not live without I would not suffer from Christmas list remorse. I would be able to purchase anything that caught my eye unexpectedly.

My first item had been at the top of not only my list but that of my sisters. This NEVER happened. She usually had things in her list you couldn't pay me to take. This however, was different. It was the remarkable, unmistakeable, the one, the only; I-pod. That tiny, compact, fabulous piece of technology that every kid under 16 could not imagine life without.

Christmas came and thankfully all presents were delivered along with a stocking full of travel essentials; hand sanitizer, mints and Kleenex. I listened to my new engraved I-pod most of the flight to Puerto Rico. My sister and I had been blessed with parents who had already downloaded our favorite songs. I felt happy. I felt lucky. I felt cool.

Boring hours at the beach or in the car were no problem. I had a DS game and an I- pod and I would never be bored again. Life was good until the second to last day of our trip. I had woken up that morning excited for an adventure. We were going to take a bus to Pozo de Jacinto. It was a local legend that a cow herder had walked too close to the cliff with his cows and a calf fell into the ocean. The cow herder had tied the calf to himself so it wouldn't get lost but now he got pulled into the ocean behind the calf. The legend says if you call Jacintos name into the ocean a large spray of water will come up through a hole in the cliff.   

We got to the beach and went to a small bar to ask directions to the blowhole. I was tired from walking and really hot and I took off my hat and shark tooth necklace (I had bought with some Christmas money the day before) and placed my DS, my iPod along with my hat, wallet and necklace on a chair. I wasn't planning on moving, on leaving it "unattended," as my mother would repeat a hundred times that night. The truth is I don't remember why I left the chair, or why I didn't take my prized possessions. What I do remember and what I know I will never forget was the feeling in my stomach when I returned to the spot to find everything was gone.  My game boy, the I-pod, the shark tooth necklace , the hat and the wallet, filled with my Christmas money. At this point I was extremely heartbroken and sad. I felt cheated and also mad. I was scared of what my parents would do or not do or say. I was sick to my stomach and every time I think back to that moment I feel that feeling all over again.

It was a " hard lesson that everyone learns eventually ," my dad said.

"It will teach you to value your belongings," my mom kept saying.   

I'll also remember the bus ride back to the hotel where even my sister felt bad for me as she offered to lend me her I-pod. I shook my head and blinked the tears away, but I did learn a hard lesson that day and I did learn to value my belongings. When I look back now I'm still sad about that day but grateful that I learned that lesson when I did. My Christmas list has gotten more expensive, I now drive my own car and I take care of my things way more than my friends seem too, all thanks to the Christmas of 2010.