"Dimes from Heaven"

As most of you already know my uncle was in the hospital recently. There were a couple things that happened over the course of those days that make me think about what happens to people once they pass away.

It was a Monday morning, I went to work at my usual time (6:30am). I put my bags down, took my jacket off, turned the computer on. Then I could hear a woman sobbing in the cubicle behind mine. Now, we sit in a pod of 4, so there is me and Lee-Anne, then Shelley and Randy behind us. I thought oh my Lee-Anne's here early this morning something must have happened on the way to work for her to be crying. I walked to the back cubicle and there was no one there. I thought that's weird. It kinda freaked me out for a second but then I went on my way and made coffee, surfed the net. Once people started coming to work, I told them the story. Because we work in the old DND section of the building and we often here noises back there, we just brushed it off again, thinking that it's haunted by some military people that have passed away.

Later that morning I received a call from my mom stating that my uncle had a heart attack and is in the hospital. After work I headed to the hospital. He was out of surgery, sitting up, joking around, just being himself. I visited for a few hours then headed home. Looked like he would be fine. I got home, relaxed for a bit, then headed to bed. Hospitals seem to make me soooo tired. I laid down in bed, turned the tv on and all of a sudden there it was .. the smell of grandma's perfume .. all in the area of the top of my bed/pillow. It didn't freak me out. I laid there thinking about the day and what's happened. The woman sobbing in the morning I think may have been grandma .. she would have known this was going to happen before any of us and now her perfume smell .. I could only think that either she was trying to tell me that my uncle would be ok or that he has passed away. I didn't sleep well that night. The phone rang Tuesday morning at 4:30 am. My heart was racing when I answered it. It was my mom, my uncle had another heart attack and they have called and requested the family to come. When we got there he was in surgery again. The doctors indicated that he was on Plavix and in 1% of the cases it doesn't work for the patient. It was causing blood clots and one of stints they put in collapsed causing the second heart attack. Once he came out of surgery they decided to intubate and sedate him. We sat and waited and waited and waited. At 2:30 pm he had another heart attack. The doctors rushed him to surgery again only to realize that my uncle was on too many blood thinners and if they operated he would bleed to death. The decided that the only thing they could do was allow that artery to die as the other 3 had no blockages and hopefully this would stop the heart attacks. Everything seemed good and he was stable. We left and went home around 9 pm. I got home, talked to Justin for a bit then headed to bed.

Wednesday, he was still stable and they decided that they would take him off the ventilator at 9pm. My sister and I left the hospital around 8. I got home, talked to Justin a bit then decided to go to bed. I got to the top of the stairs and the phone rang. It was my mom, he had a 4th heart attack about 40 minutes after they took him off the ventilator. At this point I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I couldn't believe all this was happening. Why does someone have 4 heart attacks in 3 days?? I decided to not go back to the hospital. My mom said she would keep me updated. I didn't hear anything over night so YAY!!! I stayed home Thursday b/c I was not feeling well at all.

On Friday, I went to work. I got a call around noon from my aunt staying my mom was in the ER. Are you kidding me??? She had an angina attack, was stressed and fatigued. So, off to the hospital again. My uncle at this point is much better, he's off the ventilator and eating. It amazes me how quickly he seemed back to himself. My mom was released that night. My uncle was released on Monday.

On the Friday, once I knew everyone was ok. I told my aunt Brenda and Peggy, the story about the sobbing woman at work and the smell of grandma's perfume in my room. My aunts, like me both think it was grandma as well. Then my aunt told me a story she heard about called "Dimes from Heaven".

"Dimes from Heaven: A Christmas Story of Love, Faith and Hope" by: T. L. Moore

"Life has many twists, turns, valleys and storms that will test your faith to its limits. Noel Murdock finds herself in the very midst of such a storm when her life is shattered. She loses everything, including her five-year-old daughter Destiny. Noel is in the darkest time in her life, when an odd old man named Mister Ritter comes into her world. Mister Ritter brings laughter, love, hope and a big mystery made up of dimes, angels and faith. Noel finds herself in the biggest fight for herself, her daughter and her faith in her entire life. She starts finding dimes everywhere and has no clue who is leaving them behind for her. Could the dimes be mysteriously left behind by angels? Do the dimes carry a message of some sort from above? Or maybe, is it someone trying to help her in a very unusual way."

I thought it was an interesting story but how could it be possible for someone who has passed away to actually leave a dime behind. A couple weeks have passed now. Last Sunday, I was cleaning out the bathroom cupboards and spilled Epsom Salt all over the inside of the cupboard. I grabbed some paper towel and started kinda sweeping it together in the middle so I could scoop it up. All of a sudden, I say "no way". I looked closer and sure enough it was a dime. I grabbed my cell phone off the counter and took a picture of the dime. I'm not sure what to really think about it but I suppose it's not impossible .. is it?

Here is the picture of the dime in my cupboard. The picture is not that great as it was taken with my cell and it was pretty dark in the cupboard. I kept the dime of course and put it with grandma's stuff.