Life Is So Magical.

It was the sixth day of our holiday to the Redwoods in Northern California and Mom and I were settled into our room at a B&B in Garberville. The sun had set and it would be dark soon, but I felt a sudden urge to go for a walk. It didn’t make sense because we’d been hiking that day and my knee was tender, but the impulse was really strong so I told Mom I’d be back in a little while and then headed outside. I’d left my heavy coat in the car so I started walking across the long parking lot to retrieve it. Halfway there something on the ground directly in front of me caught my attention. I couldn’t believe it – it was a fifty-dollar bill!

“Oh my god Dad,” I said, picking it up. “Thank you!” Although I strongly believed it was from him, I scanned the area anyway to make sure no one had just dropped it; potential mystical experiences are no excuse for not helping out a fellow traveler. But it was just me and Dad there. He’s been leaving me money ever since he died almost 17 months ago, but it’s usually just coins. Now there was that fiver on the sidewalk last year, but that was an anomaly, or so I thought. A fifty? Incredible.

I wanted to go back to the room immediately to show Mom, but now I actually needed to walk to expend some of this excited energy. Since Dad and I were alone, I talked with him out loud, thanking him again and then sharing the magical experience I’d had that day with the Redwoods where I could hear them talking and it felt like I had been gifted with something. I knew he knew, he’d been with us after all, but it was fun talking about it together. At a certain point I asked him if he could do a hundred-dollar bill, only partly joking.

I returned to the room an hour later and Mom was asleep. Although I was purposely very quiet, I kept hoping she’d wake up – I really wanted to show her what Dad had given me, even though I knew she probably wouldn’t believe it was from him. But she’d be happy for me nonetheless; Mom loves finding money and is really quite good at it. In fact, since I was kid she was always the one in the family who’d usually find a quarter, nickel or dime on the ground wherever we went.

The next morning she was not only happy for me, she was ecstatic! A fifty-dollar bill is quite a find, regardless of its source. I didn’t ask if she believed it was from Dad, I just shared that I’d put in a request for a hundred-dollar bill next. Then I carefully placed the fifty on the counter so I’d see it wherever I was in the room. I knew I’d never spend it; the value was beyond money to me.

Five days later our trip took us down to Mendocino for a couple of days and we decided to explore the botanical gardens on the coast in Fort Bragg. After a while Mom had seen everything she wanted to see, but I wasn’t done yet so we agreed to meet at the entrance in an hour. It was a foggy day and I kept hoping the sun would come out so I could take some photos of the coastline. The fog was persistent though so I finally gave up and began making my way back to the entrance to meet Mom. I had the path to myself and took my time enjoying the mammoth rhododendron trees. I walked around a corner and something on the ground caught my attention. It was a hundred-dollar bill! I’m not kidding.

I was stunned for a moment and then quickly picked it up. “Oh my god Dad, oh my god!” I stood there mesmerized, staring at the numbers almost in disbelief. It really was a 100-dollar bill. Then I felt this explosion of joy – if my knee hadn’t been sore I would have leapt into the air. Instead, I hurried back to the entrance as quickly as I could. Mom was sitting on a bench. “Guess what I found?” I said excitedly, practically holding my breath. “What?” she asked. “No, guess,” I insisted. “I don’t know,” Mom replied. “Guess,” I said again. “Money?” Mom said. I nodded and then showed her the hundred-dollar bill, holding it out in front of her without saying a word. “Oh my god,” she said. “I know,” I replied. Then we just looked at each other in amazement for a very long time.

I wonder what Dad will create for us next?

Blog post from June 28, 2021

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