Divine Intervention?

Note:  I’ve included a few outdoor spring flowers for your enjoyment!

Last September, when I began writing this blog, I promised that religion and politics would not be part of it.  Well, this blog does have some religion in it.  But, it is mine, alone.  There is no proselytizing, here, I promise.  There used to be an ice-breaker game that people played at the beginning of a conference or workshop.  “Who are you in three statements,” was the challenge.  Since middle age, my answer has always been:  “I am a child of God.  I am a wife and parent, and, now, a grandmother.  And, I am an educator.”

When Larry and I were in college, there were times when money, or the lack there of, was a critical issue.  It is often the case that college students are poor as church mice; that really described our situation.  And, then came the day when Larry took a job at the uranium mill in our college town.  That job’s money certainly made a difference to make our financial situation easier.  Daughter #1 was born before I graduated with my degree in education.  Daughter #2 arrived before Larry finished his degree in business administration.  While Larry finished his work, I took a job teaching in the one-teacher school at Sargents.  Larry continued to work at the mill while he finished his degree.  Some how, we always had enough funds to take care of our education, the birth of our daughters, tuition, rent – I could go on and on and on!  Then we moved to Denver to continue our lives and spent the rest of our sixty years raising daughters and all that goes with that challenge.

Still today, I occasionally am in a situation that requires more funds than I have in my checking account.  I personally keep my balance very low; I’ve read the articles about scammers, and I don’t want to be a victim and lose my meager funds to a crook.  When I have a need for a large amount of money, I just request it from my “stash.”.  One of those shaky, low balance occasions occurred, this week.  I had a HUGE expense that left me with nothing to live on until the requested funds hit my checking account.   Nothing – and I figured that I needed about $600 to take care of expenses that I knew were going to hit my account, after the deduction of the HUGE expense.  So, where was that amount to come from?  It would be more than a week before my second regularly scheduled monthly funds would be deposited in my account.  I went to bed at 2 a.m., wondering.

I’ve already told you that I am a child of God.  I do pray every night, and this night’s prayer included something like, “I’m probably in trouble, Lord.  Help!”  And, then, I went to sleep.  Money in our family tends to be a bit fluid, so when Daughters #1 or #3 need a little extra, they feel comfortable enough to ask me for help.  Or, if I have some special need, I don’t hesitate to ask one of them.  I could have called one of them and requested the kind of help that I needed.  But, I waited.

I told you that I have a rule at my house that something – something – has to leave my house every day and never come back?  I remembered that, for three and a half years, an old Crisco can has been sitting under the wall telephone in my kitchen with a bunch of all-silver coins in it.  I’d asked a friend, Ken (the antique class seller), where to take those coins, and for three years, ignored his advice.

Years and years ago, Larry was told by another friend, Lee, that he was certain in the event there was an armageddon, the only way to survive would be to have solid silver coins to use to buy those necessary things – like food.  So, Larry purchased solid silver dimes, quarters, and half-dollars and stored them in a cleaned Crisco shortening can with a lid and hid them inside the furnace somewhere.  After all, they were not going to melt.  And, never having to use them because no armageddon happened, they stayed hidden for thirty or so years.  Then, shortly after Larry’s passing, I found the can, talked with Ken about how to dispose of the coins, and ignored his advice for thirty years!  Today, I dug out the information about Dave’s coin place and made an appointment to take the coins to the store.

I knew that Ken’s recommendation was appropriate for me to follow.  I told the man at the store that he came highly recommended by Ken, and that I trusted what he would tell me.  And, honestly, I know nothing about coins.  Old glass, on the other hand, I can talk intelligently about – but, not coins.  He stacked each kind of coin as he counted them – dimes, quarters, and half-dollars.  Then, he wrote me a check for $660; $60 more than what I estimated my needs would be.

Some would call this serendipity.  Some would say, that is just the way life treats us.  I choose to believe this is divine intervention, and  I’m thankful for it!

Be safe and well.

The Cranky Crone

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