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THE LEDGER: THE BEST 100
From the Fortune Cookie Ledger of Robert Willoughby, 1985 to 1999
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A reader in Toledo asked whether I'd put the whole ledger on the Internet. All 412 would make for a long page and a slow modem, so here are the hundred I'd carry out of the house first if it caught fire. They're in ledger order, with the ledger number, the date I opened each one (a Friday, every one of these), the grade, and what happened. Fortunes are copied exactly as printed. The grades are mine, under the rules on the front page, and the appeals are Elaine's, where noted.

A hundred is a quarter of the box, give or take, and it is not a fair cross-section of the box: I picked the ones with the best stories, and the best stories are mostly the ones that came true. The honest numbers for the whole box are on the front page.
Jump to: 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · The Tally

1985
No. 0001
Fri. 3/15/85
CAME TRUE
Keep what you are given today.
So I kept it. Then I kept the next one, and the one after that. The only fortune in the box that caused itself.
No. 0003
Fri. 4/12/85
NOT YET
A small beginning hides a large ending.
Fourteen years in, it's a shoebox. I'm still waiting on the large ending.
No. 0007
Fri. 6/7/85
SORT OF
You will soon be asked to wait, and you will be glad you did.
The check took 26 minutes that night. Elaine timed it. I was not glad, but the almond cookies were on the house.
No. 0013
Fri. 8/23/85
CAME TRUE
Your feet will take you somewhere new this month.
A section corner in the north end of the county that I had never set foot on. New to my feet.
No. 0018
Fri. 11/1/85
CAME TRUE
The thing you are searching for is closer than it seems.
My reading glasses. On my head.
No. 0021
Fri. 12/13/85
NOT YET
Somewhere, an old friend just said your name.
Nobody has told me so. I've asked around.

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1986
No. 0024
Fri. 1/10/86
NEVER
Nothing will stand in the way of your plans this week.
My plan was to paint the garage. The paint store was out of the color.
No. 0028
Fri. 3/7/86
SORT OF
Soon you will be trusted with something of great value.
In May I was put in charge of the office coffee fund. Forty-one dollars and change. I have never lost a dime of it.
No. 0034
Fri. 5/23/86
NOT YET
Wealth comes to the one with a steady hand.
A surveyor has the steadiest hands in the county. Thirteen years. Nothing has come.
No. 0036
Fri. 6/20/86
SORT OF
Your smile will open a door this week.
I smiled at the man at the hardware store. He did not open a door, but he found me the right size washer.
No. 0039
Fri. 8/8/86
CAME TRUE
A stranger will ask you the way.
Two days later, on a farm lane, by a man looking for the same property corner we were. We found it first.
No. 0044
Fri. 10/17/86
CAME TRUE
Look up.
I did. The ceiling needed paint. Instructions that I follow are graded Came True. (See the rules.)
No. 0048
Fri. 12/5/86
SORT OF
Your generosity will be repaid in the coming season.
Ten dollars to the mailman at Christmas. In January he brought us the neighbor's mail all week. Repaid, after a fashion.

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1987
No. 0054
Fri. 2/13/87
CAME TRUE
Something soft and warm is coming to you.
A sweater from Elaine for Valentine's Day. It's always a sweater. Hard to miss, but it came true.
No. 0058
Fri. 4/3/87
CAME TRUE
A thing you gave up for lost will find its way back.
A 1977 Reds ticket stub, in the pocket of my winter coat.
No. 0063
Fri. 6/12/87
SORT OF
A new pastime will bring you joy.
Not new. I started this one in 1985. But it does bring me joy.
No. 0069
Fri. 8/28/87
CAME TRUE
Today is a good day to say what you mean.
I told the waiter the soup was cold. He brought a new bowl. It was hot. A good day.
No. 0073
Fri. 10/16/87
CAME TRUE
A change is coming to a place you know well.
The restaurant changed its tablecloths from red to pink the next month. Elaine noticed first.
No. 0077
Fri. 12/11/87
CAME TRUE
The coming year holds a pleasant surprise.
In 1988 the county bought the office a total station. I had asked for one every year since 1983. I may have gotten a little emotional.

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1988
No. 0083
Fri. 2/12/88
CAME TRUE
Say yes to the next invitation, however small.
A retirement party for a fellow from the drafting room. I said yes. Sheet cake.
No. 0088
Fri. 4/15/88
NOT YET
There is a gift in you that nobody has unwrapped.
Nobody has unwrapped it, including me.
No. 0094
Fri. 7/1/88
NEVER
Rain will bring you good things.
That was the dry summer. It hardly rained at all, and when it finally did, it rained on the church picnic.
No. 0098
Fri. 8/12/88
NOT YET
Someone nearby is impressed by you and too shy to say so.
Possibly the man at the next table, who watched me copy this into my field book. He looked more puzzled than impressed.
No. 0101
Fri. 9/16/88
CAME TRUE
A voice from far away will reach you by telephone.
A wrong number from Arizona. A very nice man. We compared the weather.
No. 0103
Fri. 10/21/88
NEVER
Your next undertaking will turn a profit.
Our garage sale. We sold one lamp for four dollars. The man brought the lamp back the next Saturday.
No. 0108
Fri. 12/16/88
SORT OF
Raise your voice in song this month.
Christmas Eve service. I was going to anyway.

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1989
No. 0111
Fri. 1/20/89
CAME TRUE
A quiet evening will bring a happy thought.
That evening I thought, "This is a happy thought." I'm not sure that should count. It did come true.
No. 0115
Fri. 3/10/89
SORT OF
Your skill will be in great demand.
Both next-door neighbors wanted to know exactly where their property lines were, the same week, free of charge.
No. 0120
Fri. 5/26/89
SORT OF
Take the long road and see what you find.
I took the long way to work, through Xenia. I found Xenia.
No. 0124
Fri. 7/21/89
SORT OF
Something you have been waiting for will arrive by mail.
A letter saying I might already have won ten million dollars. I had not. But it arrived.
No. 0129
Fri. 9/29/89
NOT YET
Many good years are stacked ahead of you like plates.
So far, so good. Somebody else will have to finish grading this one.
No. 0132
Fri. 11/10/89
CAME TRUE
The best fortune at this table is not in a cookie.
Elaine. The only fortune in the box I graded at the table, before we paid.

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1990
No. 0139
Fri. 1/26/90
SORT OF
Put one thing in order, and the rest will follow.
I cleaned off my desk. The rest did not follow. I found a coffee fund receipt from 1986.
No. 0143
Fri. 3/9/90
NEVER
Your efforts will bring a reward you can count.
The first lucky numbers I ever played. The reward could be counted. It was zero.
No. 0148
Fri. 5/11/90
CAME TRUE
A friend will ask a favor. Say yes.
My brother-in-law's piano, up a flight of stairs. I said yes. I would not say yes again.
No. 0153
Fri. 7/13/90
SORT OF
This month favors bold choices.
I ordered the General Tso's chicken instead of the sweet and sour. It was bolder. It was also hotter.
No. 0158
Fri. 9/7/90
CAME TRUE
Laughter will be heard in your house before the night is over.
Elaine read this one out loud at home and laughed.
No. 0163
Fri. 11/16/90
CAME TRUE
Beware of a man in a hurry.
The next Monday a man in a hurry drove his pickup over one of my survey stakes. I had been aware of him.
No. 0166
Fri. 12/14/90
CAME TRUE
A gift you give will be talked about for years.
An electric ice scraper for Elaine's car. She still brings it up every winter, though not in the way the fortune meant.

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1991
No. 0171
Fri. 2/15/91
CAME TRUE
A small token of thanks will come to you this spring.
My fifteen-year service pin from the county, March 1991.
No. 0175
Fri. 4/12/91
CAME TRUE
A young person close to you will make you proud this season.
Our daughter made the dean's list.
No. 0179
Fri. 6/14/91
NEVER
The waters ahead are calm.
The basement flooded on the 30th.
No. 0184
Fri. 8/23/91
NOT YET
Someone will praise your good judgment.
I've been listening.
No. 0187
Fri. 10/11/91
CAME TRUE
A new face at your table this week will matter to you for years.
Our daughter brought a young man to Sunday dinner. He has mattered to me since September of 1992, when I paid for the wedding.
No. 0191
Fri. 11/29/91
CAME TRUE
A pleasant surprise waits in a pocket.
Five dollars in my good pants, left over from Easter.

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1992
No. 0195
Fri. 1/17/92
CAME TRUE
This year you will make a change you have long considered.
Switched to decaf in April. I had been considering it since 1984.
No. 0200
Fri. 3/20/92
SORT OF
What you build now will last.
A birdhouse. It lasted until 1994, when the squirrels took it apart.
No. 0205
Fri. 5/15/92
CAME TRUE
You will soon attend a celebration of new beginnings.
Our daughter's wedding, September 1992. See October 1991.
No. 0209
Fri. 7/10/92
SORT OF
All eyes will turn to you, briefly.
At the wedding I gave a toast. It was short. Everyone looked at me. That was the toast.
No. 0213
Fri. 8/28/92
CAME TRUE
Someone close to you needs you more than they say.
Elaine needed me to carry the window air conditioner upstairs. She said so, at some length.
No. 0219
Fri. 11/13/92
SORT OF
A cold wind brings warm news.
The cold wind came. The news was that the furnace needed a new blower motor. Warm news, in the long run.

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1993
No. 0228
Fri. 2/26/93
CAME TRUE
What is missing will turn up where no one thought to look.
A lost section corner pin on a farm job. It was under a doghouse. The dog was also unexpected.
No. 0232
Fri. 4/16/93
NOT YET
When you need friends, you will find you have them.
I haven't needed them yet. Keeping it open.
No. 0237
Fri. 6/25/93
SORT OF
Wear something red tomorrow.
I wore my red Reds cap. Nothing happened. Advice taken, nothing happened: Sort Of.
No. 0239
Fri. 7/9/93
SORT OF
Your face will soon be known to many.
My picture ran in the county newsletter, on the back page, holding a level rod. You can't see my face.
No. 0241
Fri. 8/13/93
NEVER
Your efforts will be doubled in value.
A raise of two percent. Not doubled.
No. 0246
Fri. 10/15/93
CAME TRUE
You are a person of uncommon common sense.
A statement, not a prediction, and it goes in the special column. Elaine says it's debatable.
No. 0250
Fri. 12/10/93
SORT OF
Your name will be on everyone's lips.
The office gift exchange. My name was drawn and read out loud, and everybody said it.

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1994
No. 0256
Fri. 2/11/94
CAME TRUE
An envelope you have been expecting is closer than you know.
The property tax reassessment. Long expected, by the county anyway.
No. 0261
Fri. 4/15/94
CAME TRUE
You will cross water before the month is out.
The Stillwater River, every weekday, on the way to work. True before the fortune and true after. I graded it fair and square.
No. 0265
Fri. 6/10/94
NOT YET
Someone close to you keeps a secret worth keeping.
If they do, they're keeping it.
No. 0271
Fri. 8/26/94
NEVER
Your next meal will be your finest.
My next meal was the leftovers from this meal.
No. 0274
Fri. 10/14/94
CAME TRUE
A small animal will bring you a large lesson.
The squirrels and the birdhouse (see March 1992). The lesson was squirrels.
No. 0279
Fri. 12/16/94
CAME TRUE
Next year, someone new will join your family.
Our first grandson, May 1995.

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1995
No. 0285
Fri. 2/17/95
SORT OF
Your kindness will return to you twice over.
I shoveled the neighbor's walk. Two weeks later he shoveled ours twice, with my shovel.
No. 0290
Fri. 4/21/95
CAME TRUE
Good news arrives on a Tuesday.
Tuesday, May 9: our grandson, eight pounds even.
No. 0297
Fri. 7/21/95
CAME TRUE
The heat of the day will pass.
It passed. It always does. A safe bet, but a safe bet that comes true still counts.
No. 0303
Fri. 9/29/95
CAME TRUE
Your heart has chosen well, and will keep choosing.
Our twenty-fifth anniversary, that October.
No. 0307
Fri. 11/24/95
SORT OF
A new tool will change how you see your work.
The county got its first GPS receivers the next year. I now see my work more slowly, while waiting for satellites.

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1996
No. 0312
Fri. 1/12/96
CAME TRUE
Something very small will make you very happy.
My grandson's hand around my finger. I didn't write a joke for this one.
No. 0317
Fri. 3/29/96
NEVER
Where you go first, others will go after.
I led the crew to the wrong farm. They did not go after. They stayed in the truck and laughed.
No. 0321
Fri. 5/17/96
NOT YET
Before long, the right people will notice what you do well.
Still waiting on the right people.
No. 0327
Fri. 8/16/96
NEVER
Patience at the water's edge will be rewarded.
I don't fish. I sat at my brother-in-law's pond for an hour to find out if it applied to people who don't fish. It doesn't.
No. 0332
Fri. 10/25/96
CAME TRUE
A visitor will knock with something you need.
A man selling meat out of a freezer truck. We needed hamburger. We bought steaks.
No. 0335
Fri. 12/6/96
SORT OF
This week, go with your first answer.
Elaine asked me which wallpaper for the spare room. I went with my first answer. We have since repapered the spare room.

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1997
No. 0340
Fri. 1/24/97
NEVER
There is more inside this cookie than you think.
I examined the cookie. There wasn't.
No. 0345
Fri. 3/21/97
CAME TRUE
You learn more by watching than by talking.
A statement. True. I have learned a great deal by watching my brother-in-law.
No. 0347
Fri. 4/25/97
CAME TRUE
Your work this spring will bear fruit.
Planted a peach tree. In 1998 it bore four peaches. The squirrels ate all four, but they were borne.
No. 0349
Fri. 5/16/97
CAME TRUE
A crowded table is in your near future.
Mother's Day brunch at our house. Seventeen people, one bathroom.
No. 0352
Fri. 6/20/97
CAME TRUE
A delay will turn out to be a blessing.
Stuck behind a hay wagon on a county road for twenty minutes, and so missed the hail.
No. 0357
Fri. 8/22/97
SORT OF
A voice from a distant city will bring you cheer.
Our daughter called from Cincinnati, about fifty miles off: our grandson can count to ten. He skips seven.
No. 0361
Fri. 10/10/97
NOT YET
Something with your name on it will outlast you.
There are plats at the county recorder's office with my name on them. This can't be graded until I'm gone, and I'm in no hurry.
No. 0367
Fri. 12/19/97
CAME TRUE
Contentment is a warm house on a cold night.
A statement. Correct. The furnace worked all December.

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1998
No. 0370
Fri. 1/16/98
CAME TRUE
You will be asked to settle a disagreement.
Two neighbors, one fence, eleven inches. I settled it with a tape. One of them still speaks to me.
No. 0374
Fri. 3/20/98
NEVER
Opportunity waits for you on the water.
There is no water in my life with any opportunity on it. Unless you count the basement.
No. 0378
Fri. 5/15/98
SORT OF
Those above you have noticed your hard work.
My supervisor noticed me working hard on a Friday afternoon. He asked if something was wrong.
No. 0380
Fri. 6/5/98
CAME TRUE
Share what you know with the world.
This web page, June 1998.
No. 0384
Fri. 8/14/98
CAME TRUE
Your curiosity will lead you to a happy discovery.
How to make the hit counter on this page work. Three evenings.
No. 0387
Fri. 9/18/98
NEVER
You are the master of every situation.
A statement, and not a true one. Elaine laughed until the waiter came over to see if she was all right.
No. 0389
Fri. 10/23/98
SORT OF
An exciting time is coming soon.
Year 2000 readiness training at work, four hours. It was not exciting. It was a time.
No. 0393
Fri. 12/11/98
CAME TRUE
Do not mistake temptation for opportunity.
I did not buy the bag of fortune cookies at the grocery store. Store-bought fortunes don't go in the box.

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1999
No. 0396
Fri. 1/15/99
CAME TRUE
Someone is hoping you will call.
My mother, who is 84. I call every Sunday at two. She's hoping, every Sunday, at two.
No. 0399
Fri. 2/26/99
CAME TRUE
Before summer, you will see things more clearly.
Bifocals, April.
No. 0400
Fri. 3/12/99
CAME TRUE
An important paper awaits your signature.
Our wills. Elaine had been after me since 1993.
No. 0402
Fri. 4/16/99
NEVER
Your neighbors will envy your success.
My tomatoes. Theirs were bigger.
No. 0405
Fri. 5/21/99
NOT YET
What you build will stand for a thousand years.
My survey monuments are set in concrete. Check back in the year 2999.
No. 0407
Fri. 6/18/99
NOT YET
The year ahead brings changes you will welcome.
A big year coming. We'll see what the computers do on New Year's.
No. 0409
Fri. 7/16/99
SORT OF
Someone will thank you for your time.
Elaine thanked me for my time after I read her the whole 1993 section of the ledger out loud. I believe she was being sarcastic.
No. 0410
Fri. 8/6/99
NOT YET
Your luck is about to turn. Watch for it.
The numbers on the back lost at the next drawing. I'm watching.
No. 0412
Fri. 9/3/99
NOT YET
Today begins a new chapter.
Labor Day weekend, the most recent slip in the box. Maybe this page is the new chapter. Not Yet, until I know.

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The Tally
GRADE BEST 100 WHOLE BOX
Came True4870
Sort Of2481
Not Yet15183
Never1378
Total100412

Forty-eight of the seventy slips in the box that came true are on this page, which tells you what I mean about this not being a fair cross-section. Of the other twenty-two, three are on the front page (two travel fortunes and the one at the top), and nineteen are statements of plain fact, like "You have recently eaten," which come true by sitting there. Of the 183 still open, I've shown you fifteen. The rest of them are out there, waiting, the way fortunes do.

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Robert Willoughby · [email protected]
Last updated Tuesday, September 7, 1999