As I previously mentioned, the First Sunday in Advent this year, 2022 – which falls on Sunday, November 27th – marks the 10th anniversary of a most amazing divine encounter mom and I had at the Mall of America.
I’m calling it, “My Christmas Story: Miracle at the Mall“.
And, to set the stage, I have to back up a bit to 2007 – to five years before – when my (step) dad suddenly passed away.
Shortly after his passing in October of 2007, mom and I were going to a Christmas concert she was singing in – the Festival of Giving Trees at the Notre Dame church in neighboring Southbridge (aka St. John Paul II Parish).
The Festival of Giving Trees is a fundraising event to help raise funds to fight cancer. Church, community and school groups create inspiring Christmas trees they donate to the Festival of Giving Trees. Folks can then buy tickets and drop their tickets into the box of their favorite corresponding trees.
At the end of the weekend, a ticket from each box is drawn, and the winner gets to take the brilliantly decorated tree home.
The Festival traditionally starts with a special choral concert on the Thursday night of the Festival weekend.
Just weeks after dad’s passing, mom and I headed out of the house so she could sing in the concert. And, among other things, on our way out, I checked our answering machine to make sure it was ready to take calls.
Afterward, when we returned from the concert, I walked over to check for messages and there it was … balancing on the edge of a ruffled skirt mom had made for the desk the machine was sitting on. …
A penny.
That’s when mom recounted and shared with me the story of, “Pennies from Heaven“. Apparently there’s a movie, a song, a poem and lots of talk about pennies from heaven.
And, the thought is, when you find a penny, it’s a message from heaven that your loved one, who has gone home, is okay and all is well.
A comforting thought both mom and I enjoyed in the years after dad’s passing as we would find many pennies in the most unusual places – or, rather, they would find us.
And, we knew dad was well – all was well.
Then, jumping ahead to September 2012 … Stay tuned! 