Recuperation journey 2.0: Everything happens for a reason

Life takes its twists and turns, and none of us is immune. Our challenge is knowing how to react in a constructive way to those unexpected bumps in the road.  

Looking back at some of those "bumps" I've lived through I now see them as providential. I believe there are no coincidences, and that we meet certain people in life for a reason.

Recently I wrote for a church newsletter about several extraordinary experiences in which I believe Divine intervention played a role. 

I can't imagine what else it could have been. The timing was too perfect.

Postscript: I wrote this in early December but since then my son and I had to deal with one of those things no one wants to happen, and this time we were in the car. 

We did nothing wrong, we weren't hurt, and we both took it in stride because, I'm convinced, everything happens for a reason.

But we may never find out why.

A coincidence? Or maybe just a July 4 reminder of the freedoms we enjoy

I didn't realize until I put the wine bottle down on the patio table on the Fourth of July that the label featured a picture of the Liberty Bell. How timely!

What are the chances?

Recuperation journey: Christmas moments

I was fortunate enough to experience several "Christmas moments" during the holiday season. 

They all center on wildlife - cardinals and deer, to be exact.

On Dec. 20 I wrote this post about two deer I spotted one evening running across the road in front of a car ahead of me. The story drew a lot of readers, I'm happy to say. 
A friend said that might be my "Christmas moment." It was, until the next one.

The few Christmas cards I sent featured a photo I took through the window last winter of a cardinal in the snow. 

To continue the theme, at our family's Christmas Eve Yankee Swap I got this beautiful cardinal light. 


And on Christmas Day our son Cameron - who hadn't read my post about the deer crossing my path - surprised me with this magnificent deer.

The cardinals, blue jays, and squirrels I see outside the window each day and deer crossing my path are calling to me - giving me a signal to slow down and appreciate nature and the wildlife that surrounds us.

All coincidences? I think not.

Recuperation journey: Christmas coincidence?

Last night as I was driving home from a meeting two deer ran in front of the car ahead of me on Prindle Avenue in Ansonia, near the intersection with Pulaski Highway. 
Of course we both stopped and waited until they crossed the road.

At the meeting a friend had given me a Christmas gift. 
When I got home and opened the bag, this is what I found:

A beautiful glass ornament with two deer. Coincidence? I think not!

Recuperation journey: Funny memory

I saw a photo online Sunday that sparked a memory from many moons ago when I was newly-minted reporter. 

A friend and I - she also was a reporter - attended a press event at a dinner where a university president was keynote speaker. 
Before the dinner we were introduced to him and his wife, and lo and behold, I was wearing the same floral print dress as the president's wife was wearing!
Too funny. 

I was rather shy at the time (odd for a newspaper person I admit) and said nothing. I may even have pretended I didn't notice.

All these years later I'm sure I would have said something! 'Twas a funny coincidence.