The first time I realized I didn’t have any suglasses with me was when we went to the beach.

I’m not a huge sunglasses person. I just never really have been, except recently I started to realize that the sun was making me squint a whole lot which in turn was giving me crows feet, so for the entire Nebraska road trip I wore a broken pair I happened to find in my glove box. You know, to avoid aging.

But of course I didn’t bring them to CA. They’re for driving.

And sister-in-law California (SILCA) only had one extra pair, which she lent to sister-in-law Alaska (SILAK). So at the beach, I went without. But mostly, I just sat in the shade because, let’s face it, sunglasses or not I’m going to contract skin cancer. That’s how pale I am.

Fastforward to our NFL day, when I wore a hat to show my Chargers pride block the sun from my eyes. No big; sunglasses not necessary. However, it was this fateful day that SILCA accidentally picked up a pair of sunglasses off the ground before leaving, thinking they were hers. SCORE! A sufficient number of sunglasses to go around!

Until I learned she’d given the newly acquired pair to SILAK. I mean, what?

But never fear my friends, the story is not over. The night before leaving CA, we went out to enjoy a nice sunset on the pier. A beautiful one, I might add.

We’re enjoying our appetizers, minding our own business, when SILCA and SILAK notice an unassuming stranger accidentally left a pair of sunglasses on the table when she left. Nearly an hour later, no one had returned to claim them. Fair game, right? I myself, not being one for stealing, said, “Is it stealing if we take those?” But SILCA, clearly not afraid to push the envelope a tad, pushed the envelope a tad. She managed to procure her 2nd ‘found’ pair of sunglasses in less than a week!

And that is the story of The Great Sunglass Heist of 2010.