Everything, I suppose, has a back story to it. Some interesting, some mundane, some likely just run-of-the-mill.
People and things. Bruises and Broken hearts. Monumental nights and special days.
Even a simple dollar bill can have a story behind it. Of course, I’m going beyond the historic implications of George Washington on the front with the U.S. Seal on the back along with the pyramid and one eye, and the Mason teachings that leads us to a special National Treasure. That story has been done, thank you very much Nicholas Cage.
On Wednesday morning I came across such a dollar bill, one attached with a story I wish I could tell.
By all ways and means, it’s your typical $1 bill. It’s worth 100 pennies. Ten dimes. Four quarters. You get the point.
It was printed in 2001, a Series E bill from the Bank of Richmond, Virginia. It carries with it the serial number E32450315.
It’s 15 years old, but feels newer … likely because it sat protected for a long time, a dollar bill with a special meaning to somebody out there.
I can’t help but wonder why.
This is where the story comes into play.
Hand written on front, in black magic marker, is “2003 … To Poppa … Love, Sara + Kim … XOXO.”
Who are Sara and Kim? Who is Poppa? And why in 2003 did they feel obligated to give him a $1 bill.
It could be anything, really.
• Two sisters who opened a business with their father’s help and the day they made their first $1, they gave it to him as a heartfelt thank you.
• Two grandchildren giving their grandfather a $1 bill because one of his teeth fell out at the dinner table, and they wanted him to feel better since the Tooth Fairy doesn’t visit grown ups.
• Or, maybe it was two Oakland Raiders fans, paying back a bet to their retired father, living in Florida, the year the Tampa Bay Bucaneers won Super Bowl XXXVII, 48-21.
Like I said, it could be anything in the world, but it has a story. I know it. I feel it.
I spent the better part of my morning thinking about this dollar bill. I Googled the words printed on the front, hoping to strike lighting in a bottle. I hopped on Wheresgeorge.com and punched in the serial number hoping against hope to find where the dollar bill came from.
Perhaps the only way to find out is to write a blog post, and stick it in on Facebook and Twitter and hope it goes viral until somebody sees it and says, “Hey, I know that dollar bill.”
Then the real story could be told.
But I am a glass is half empty realist who knows I’ll never know the full story behind this particular dollar bill.
In my head, I’ll just have to write my own story and be satisfied.
THE OCTOBER WEEKEND 
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