The Penny: October 16, 2011

A year ago today we were cleaning out my brother's home... it was only 3 days after we recieved the news of his death. I'd like to share a story about that day.

A few days before were given a copy of this poem by a dear friend:

I found a penny today just lying on the ground.
But it's not just a penny, this coin I found.
Found pennies come from heaven,
That's what my Grandpa told me.
He said Angels toss them down.
Oh how I loved that story.

He said when an angel misses you they toss a penny down.
Sometimes to cheer you up, to make a smile out of your frown.
So don't pass by that penny when you're feeling blue.
It may be a penny from heaven that an angel is tossing you.

I didn't think too much of the poem upon first reading it... but as we were going through Brian's things, it came to mean much, much more.

I had spent a lot of time in his room boxing up his books and clothes and periodically stopping to sit on the bed, hold something he used to wear up close to my cheek and cry for a bit. The last thing I emptied was his clothes hamper; after I'd removed the clothes and placed them in a bag, I carried all the bags I'd collected out into the living room-- leaving the hamper where I had found it.

About a half hour later my Mom went back in there to get the hamper from his room and she came out with a such look on her face; one of awe, hope and pain all at the same time. She stretched out her hand and showed me something she found when she lifted the hamper from its place-- it was a single penny. Thinking back to the poem about the pennies I felt myself beginning to choke up a bit. But it got better. I turned the penny over to see it was dated 1975-- the year Brian was born. I immediately burst into tears... and it made my heart smile to think that Brian sent that penny to us to let us know he was there.

To this day, every single time I find a penny, my heart skips a beat as I pick it up because I think of each of those pennies as a reminder from Brian that he's still with me. And, more often than not, I find the pennies at the most amazing times... when I truly needed to find them most. I think he knows exactly what he is doing.

I'm not religious but I am spiritual and I will state openly that I do not believe in God and haven't since before Brian passed. But I believe with all my heart that we do not just "go away" when we die and each time I come across another penny I'll continue to think Brian is smiling down on me!

Just wanted to share!