A SHINY PENNY IN A PARKING LOT

A number of years ago I decided to stop picking up pennies that I saw lying on the sidewalk or in parking lots.  A penny just didn't seem worth the effort it took to get down to retrieve it!  My motto had become "See a penny, let it lay, because it's not worth much of anything today"!    Then one day I read that the pennies you find have been thrown down to you by your guardian angel as a "HI", so I started picking them up again once in a while ... but the other day I saw a penny lying in a parking lot that was just sooooooooooo new and shiny I HAD to pick it up!  If it was a message, it was a bright and happy one that had just been delivered!  I picked it up, and tucked it in my pocket!  My grandson  asked which side was up, and I said "Heads"!  James said "GOOD!  That means good luck!" so we both happily continued on our way.

Later that night at home, as I took the penny out of my pocket, I stopped to look at my bright shiny prize!  But as I looked, I was shocked to see that it is not ALL bright and shiny! The edges of the penny are all cut and smashed and distorted!  Obviously the penny was run over in the parking lot many times!  The edges on both sides show evidence of having been against the pavement as the penny was run over time and time again!  What appeared to be a bright shiny new penny has really had a very hard life! 

Our family has recently suffered a very overwhelming loss.  We have, as the penny, been run over and crushed!  But somehow, we ARE finding a way to continue shining, as unimaginable as that was in the beginning.

That penny had a layer of protection ... a little rim around it's edges, that carried it's abuse, and we too have a layer of protection and can go on shining in spite of  our loss! 

I kept the penny and wrapped it in sterling silver wire, turning it into a necklace.  A necklace that will remind me that "My Rim" ... my faith ... will protect me from whatever life brings my way, so that I, too, can go on shining!

Aunt Berda