Major Miracle of the Day

Most people think of miracles as events or occurrences that happen in their lives (or sometimes only in “other people’s lives”) that are rare and unexpected. We tend to think of spontaneous recovery from a fatal illness “miraculous” or attaining the exact amount of money needed for some needed item or experience a “miracle.” Then there is the category of “everyday miracles” – the first snow falling, a gorgeous sunset, a baby’s smile, falling in love. What exactly are these “miracles” and how does a person get to have more of them in their life?

I have been experiencing so many “miracles” over the last year or so that I want to take some time here to explore them in a little more detail. I’ll start by telling you what miracles Facebook has wrought in my life recently!!

I was adopted at birth and like most adoptees in this country, had no legal access to my birth records. I grew up without the barest information about my parents, much less any other family connections. That changed in 1996, when I was 26 years old, just after I got married. I met my birthmother and four half-siblings in Pittsburgh, PA in the summer of 1996. My three youngest siblings were 8, 9 and 10 years old at the time, and we developed an especially close bond. Over the next few years we staying in touch and visited as often as we could – I lived on the west coast, so visiting was pretty rare. In 2001 things changed and for the next several years, I lost touch with my family. I tried desperately to find them again on the internet, but had no luck.

Two days before Thanksgiving Day of this year – about a month ago – I struck gold on Facebook and found one of my brothers there!! I had just gotten started on Facebook a few weeks earlier. He had a profile on MySpace as well, so I connected with him there and on Thanksgiving Day, for the first time in almost eight years, I spoke to my brothers, sister and birthmother again because they were all in the same place for Thanksgiving dinner. A miracle!! Could I have planned it any better?? No.

Another miracle – a little over a month ago, my finances looked pretty bleak. I had posted my Honda minivan for sale on Craigslist and two people had promised to buy it and then backed out of the deal. I was way behind on my payments, and really needed to sell it to get my head back above water. On November 18, I received a call from some people who had looked at it a couple of times and they said they would drive down and pay cash for the van that day. I called Honda Finance to find out what the payoff balance would be so that I could send them a check. The man I spoke to put me on hold while he cancelled the order for an agent…who had already been sent to my house to repossess my van!! I collected the money from the people, they drove away in the van, and then I FedExed a check to Honda Finance later that day. A close call for sure, and definitely a miracle!!

But the story that has me thinking so much of miracles is the one that happened today. First, a mere “minor” miracle. Sandrine and I had been close friends our senior year in high school. She was a foreign exchange student from France. We stayed in sporadic touch over the years, but I had just about given up hope on finding her again. Sure enough, late last night, I found her on Facebook too!! We have re-connected once again and now my daughter, who is obsessed with all things French, will be thrilled that she has an auntie in France.

Now for the “major” miracle of the day! This story starts way back in 1989 when I was in college in Connecticut. I became close friends with Todd through some activist work I was doing on campus. During the spring semester of 1991 Todd traveled to Madrid, Spain to study while I traveled to Berkeley, CA to take some much needed time off from school. In May of 1991 I was once again traveling, this time by train from Oakland to New York and then up to Connecticut where I was to stay for the summer at my college campus. During a 24-hour side trip that I took in Minneapolis, I spoke to a friend of mine back at college who told me that Todd had apparently committed suicide while still in Madrid. I was absolutely crushed, and to make things worse I was going to miss the memorial service being held on campus because I would still be on the train. Todd’s death had a profound impact on me at an early age, and most haunting was the fact that nobody could figure out what had really happened. Todd was one of the happiest people I ever knew – he had a laugh like I imagine an angel child must have. I was as confused by his death as even his family appeared to be.

Jump forward seventeen years to May 2008. I was staying with a childhood friend in Maine and somehow the conversation turned and I told her briefly the story about my friend Todd. She asked me if he was in Spain at the time he died, and I said, “Yes, why?” It just so happened that she had seen about five minutes of a new program on a new TV network called Logo and it was about the twin siblings of my friend Todd and their quest to find answers to their brother’s death!!! We looked it up online and I viewed the four episodes of the documentary they had participated in called Gay Siblings. It was powerfully emotional for me to watch as Todd’s brother and sister went back to Madrid to search for some answers as to what really happened. At the time, I was in Maine because my own mom was dying so I was spending a lot of emotional time with her at the hospital as well. I got in touch with Todd’s former roommate from college, who happened to be featured in the program, and my contact with him was definitely cathartic.

But then last night, for some reason (yes, divine intervention!) I looked up Todd’s brother on Facebook (yes, the divine intervention tool!!) and this morning we had our first conversation by telephone!! He was as happy to hear from me as I was to talk to him. We are even in the same line of work – personal development and life coaching! I never could have guessed that more than seventeen years after experiencing that acute tragedy of losing my nineteen year old friend so suddenly that I would be able to re-connect with him in a way through his younger brother. I can’t describe the joy that began coursing through me as I spoke with Todd’s brother, knowing that neither of us will ever take our connection for granted because it was born out of such an emotionally painful event. Funny coincidence (or not!) Todd’s brother has a twin sister and I am the mother of boy/girl twins!!

Maybe we should start to call these “miracles” allowances of the divine. When we start to focus all of our energy on feeling good, and doing good for other people, and on our true potential as human beings, it seems that the miracles start flowing steadily and increasingly!! So many “miracles” have happened in my life over the past year alone that I can barely count them all!! I just continue to smile and allow the joy and the magic of them to wash over me and my life. I appreciate that the universe is working in co-operation with me whenever I experience one of these miracles.

What miracles have happened in your life over the last year? What were you doing to allow them into your life? Do you “believe” in miracles, or do you “expect” miracles? Do we create our own miracles? Why so some people appear to be “lucky” while others are not? Is it because they expect to be “lucky” and therefore are actually creating more “luck” in their lives? We absolutely get what we focus on. If you focus on the positive aspects and the possibilities in your life, then I guarantee that you will start to expect miracles. These miracles make life into an awesome, fun game!! I can’t wait to find out what’s going to happen next!!!

Happy Winter Holidays to All!! 2009 is going to be the best year EVER!! Stay tuned to this blog for more as we enter the New Year. Expect miracles and allow them to flow into your life, and write and tell me about them as well!!

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