~ Pennies From Heaven April 21 2011 ~

“Don’t you know each cloud contains
Pennies from heaven.
You’ll find your fortune falling
All over town.”

My mama always made me pick up pennies when she saw them on the ground.   I grumbled and muttered under my breath how silly it was.   Why bother to pick up a penny, I would say.   And she always said “silly, its good luck”.    “Please pick up that penny for me”   So, I did.  And over the years, she amassed quite a collection.  She kept them in a cute little change purse and had many cute little change purses filled with pennies.   Some she used to pay for newspapers, but most she kept.

Butterflies, rainbows, garage doors that go up and down for no reason — these are the kinds of stories the living tell about signs they believe they have received from the dead. Often these are stories shared tentatively, if they’re shared at all, kept close for fear that they will be laughed at by skeptical listeners.

I am going to tell you that in the past 2 weeks, I have found 10 TEN 10 heads up pennies in various places.    Some shiny, some old, some brand new but ALL heads up.   And I am going to try to put this into words, but it may be hard.   When I picked up the penny and held it tight in my hand, I felt something.   Something amazing.   A hug?   Something special and beautiful.   Last week my sister went to buy some breakfast and she needed ten cents change.   The man behind the counter asked her if it was alright if he gave her 10 pennies instead of a dime.   TEN.   Just as I am keeping all 10 of my found pennies, so is she.   Neatly, in a pile.

These pennies that I know were left for me brought me some good luck.   I am now a working girl and no longer unemployed.   I am working as a “running specialist” at Paragon Sports in NYC.  What that really means is I am working in retail selling running kicks.  It’s alright.  For now.   But I have bigger dreams.

My running has invariably been a bit, shall we say, slow.   I have to rework in my mind what my goals going forward will be.   I love running.  It is my thing and I will always run.   FOREVER.   I will run Brooklyn Half Marathon and I will run MCM in honor of my mama.   In between, I hope to have fun runs with friends and alone.   I hope to explore new running routes.   I hope to cycle a lot this summer.   Enjoy some baseball games and concerts.   Get together with friends for dinner and drinks.   Support each and every one of you – my friends.   BQ’s and sub 2 hour halfs and amazing marathon times.   All of you BE YOUR BEST.   The world is really a beautiful place.   So much to see and do.

Around the bend, in the unseen, arising from the very uncertainties that may now seem to taunt you, there are some amazing surprises, awesome twists, and spellbinding coincidences about to emerge that you can’t even now imagine.    Do me a favor, next time you see that penny on the ground, pick it up, hold it tight, smile and say hey to my mama.  She would really like that.

Pennies do not come from heaven. They have to be earned here on earth. 
— Margaret Thatcher