My Dad & Heads-Up Pennies

This week I observed the third anniversary of my father's death. You would have to have known my dad to understand the disbelief I still feel that he's gone. He had a very strong personality and was always doing something, or making plans to do something. He also worked out at the gym and had quit smoking in 1983 to improve his health. He had no serious health problems until he was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2002/2003. Even in the face of his illness, he always wanted to spend time with his grandchildren. He took my kids many places in the years between their father's death and his death on August 23, 2004. He was never too tired to spend time with them and loved all his grandchildren with all his heart and soul. Shortly after his death, my mom consulted a psychic and was told that whenever we found a heads-up penny, it was a sign that he was present. Since finding that out, I have found heads-up pennies in the most unexpected places and during the most unexpected times.

The first was on February 19, 2005. I married Raymond that day and as I was waiting in the bride's room at the church for the wedding to start, I bent over to put my rain boots into a bag when I noticed a penny lying on the floor. Upon closer inspection, I noticed it was heads-up! I knew then my dad with with me at my wedding. My mother found a heads-up penny in her hotel room in Hawaii as we were leaving for my daughter's wedding so she picked it up and gave it to Candie. But the last heads-up penny I found was this past week in my office. . .

On Friday I registered Nikki, my 12-year-old daughter, for 7th grade. As a special treat I invited her and her friend Cassidy to ride with me to work and then I let them go the the mall, which is located across the street from my office. I walked them to the signal and watched as they made their way across the street, into the mall parking lot and into the mall. Being the mom I am, I called Nikki several times during the day to check on them. Finally I got a phone call from the girls that they were ready to come back to my office so I walked back to the corner and watched them come through the parking lot and across the street. They sat on the floor in my office excitedly showing me the things they'd bought. I called Martha, my babysitter, to come pick the girls up. When she got there, I walked the girls downstairs to say "Hi" to my son, then I returned to my office. Once back in my office, I sat down at my desk and noticed that on the floor in front of my file cabinets exactly where my daughter had been seated was a heads-up penny! I knew then that my dad had been at the mall with the girls all day.

Please continue to pray for our troops and their families. They need our prayers and support on a daily basis.