I’ve noticed a rise in the number of ‘smash and grab’ thefts in our area lately, and I don’t like it.

Ladies, the last thing you want to do is leave your purse or wallet on the front seat of your vehicle in plain view.

You will very likely come back to a broken window and a stolen wallet or purse.

Of course, any nefarious individual who actually performs this act deserves any cuts he or she might get from breaking the glass.

Not only can people steal your wallet or your purse, but they can go online and steal your identity. They can go through your mail and steal your personal information then use it to their advantage.

This kind of theft could leave us feeling that our individualism has been stripped from us because our very psyche is snapped shut and carried around with us every day.

The thought of someone stealing my purse makes me very angry, but, at the same time, it makes we wonder. If someone stole my purse, just what would my wallet say about me?

You know very well that your wallet, and all of the things around it, holds your very life. With your driver’s license, social security card, credit or debit cards and pictures beyond reason, your wallet can help to identify who you are, not just in a literal sense, but in every other way as well.

I can remember sitting in church with my mother when I was about seven years old, and as soon as everyone dropped his head for the opening prayer, I decided my mother’s purse needed investigating.

I knew that the prayer would last awhile, so I figured now was as good a time as any.

My mother only kept certain things in her &uot;Sunday purse,&uot; which included the basics like lipstick, a compact, several Kleenex, and her songbook. Needless to say, by the time that prayer was over, I was looking like Bozo the Clown. That was one of those, &uot;You will get it when you get home&uot; days.

So, as you can see, the relationship between individual and purse and wallet begins early.

Now, if I look into my wallet, I see way too many doctors’ appointment cards that I’ve collected.

It’s not looking good so far.

Let’s see. I have every insurance card I’ve ever been given since 1992. You can never be too careful, don’t you know.

Oh, good grief, at these pictures! If someone ever stole my wallet, they would see that the first identity theft was committed by me in 1981 with that Barbara Streisand perm I had.

My hairstyles have changed through the years. No, wait a minute. No, they haven’t.

I’ve got to get out of the 80s.

Here’s my best friend’s senior portrait. We’ve been best friends since the third grade. When we were juniors in high school, her father and my brother passed away within four months of each other. No one else understood that kind of loss like she did.

Of course, I have pictures of all my family. They are everywhere. A picture of my parents, James Theo and Emmie Lou Grayson, is at the front.

And look at that school ID card picture from 1991. I can’t believe I ever wore that color.

Wait. My most prized possession. It’s a one-dollar bill that’s been written all over. It says &uot;Happy 54th Birthday, Daddy&uot; all across the top. I gave it to my father in 1979, and it was in his wallet when he died almost 21 years later. I think I’ll just tuck that back in there for safekeeping.

Regina Grayson is a reporter with the Greenville Advocate.

She can be reached at 334-383-9302, ext. 126 or via e-mail at regina.grayson@greenvilleadvocate.com.