Before Christmas 2024, I wrote a short story entitled, Eleven Pennies, A Christmas Story. In the book, Gretchen Wilmer loses everything after the death of her mother. She sets out to find a new life, with only eleven Pennies from Heaven. My inspiration for this story came from countless family stories of finding a “Penny from Heaven” on the ground, in parking lots, on sidewalks, in pockets when doing the laundry. We attributed these as gifts from loved ones, but we knew when that loved one was in Heaven, the penny truly came from Heaven. These pennies bring good luck or even, just news that someone who loves you is there watching over you. In these days, even a ten-dollar bill can be said to be from Heaven if found randomly, although this is a very rare thing.
My purpose in writing is to tell you that I’ve found the twelfth Penny from Heaven. Yes, and in an extraordinary place and time. Last Christmas my son, a young man in his late twenties, gave me an airline ticket to go with him to Oregon. I had never been there and it was a very long flight from Tampa to Seattle before the short ride to Portland. I adore my son, as do many people. While we were driving along the coast, and we were very high above the Pacific Ocean, we stopped several times to take in the view at spots intended for that purpose. After marveling at the panoramic, majestic view, from a tourist lookout, I glanced down and on the ground of that remote place, I found a “Penny from Heaven.” It was a worn penny with some green substance clinging to it, but it was in fact a “Penny from Heaven.”
My son and I debated who might have left this penny for me to find. All of our close family lived on the East Coast, except one brother in California. Could it be my parents? My grandfather? Aunts? Uncles? We never determined who it was, however it was a good omen because my son and I had perfect, sunny weather for the five days we were there, our travel coming and going was safe and we made every connection in time, and there were the most beautiful, unspoiled flowers everywhere we looked.
Diane Green, author of Eleven Pennies, A Christmas Story. The book can be found on my website, www.DCGBooks.com or on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/s?k=eleven+pennies+a+christmas+story+diane+green&i=stripbooks&crid=REVB7LQJDJLN
