A Penny for Your Thoughts

Paul and one of his very best friends, Brendan Hanrahan. They were in a band together in high school. Brendan is a drummer - a very good one!





Paul and Abby sitting at statue of St. Patrick which is one of the statues on the grounds at our church, St. Stephen's






Abby at St. Stephen's, waiting patiently for us while we go into the Sanctuary






On Friday, the thing I feared most came true. I brought Paul into the kitchen for breakfast and he stood behind the chair and had his hands on the back. He was looking at the plate of food, and I noticed that I didn't have a fork for him, so I started to step away from him to go the 5 feet to the drawer. As I turned, I caught sight of him falling backwards and I lunged forward and was able to catch his arm and it helped to slow his fall. He landed first in a sitting position but he was close to the wall, and then his back hit the wall and then his head. He had a ski cap on, as we had come in from Mass only about 20 minutes prior and he wanted it left on. I did not feel the hit to his head was very hard, but any hit is not acceptable or good. I immediately lifted him away from the wall and sat behind him, holding him in my arms. We sat on the floor this way with me crying and praying quietly, asking for God to please not let anything be wrong with Paul. It was so horrible a moment, I felt almost the same as the day of his accident. Only this time, I felt so responsible. I sat praying so that my nerves would be calmed and I wanted to give Paul time to rest before I tried to stand him back up. I asked him his name and he told me. I asked a number of other questions to see if he was still oriented and he answered everything correctly. We got up and I sat him in the chair. I checked his head for any marks on the scalp and didn't see anything, then checked his back. There was a small reddish mark (no welt) about one inch long and 1/4 inch wide on the middle of his back. That was the only marking. I asked him if he was okay and he said yes. I asked if he had pain anywhere and he said his head. I got him tylenol, and we sat there for about 15 minutes more. I checked the dialation of his eye and it was fine. He did not have a stomachache either. He stayed oriented, so I had him start to eat breakfast. After breakfast, I had him lay down and I watched him closely for the next hour. He was fine and he stayed awake. I gave him a magazine to read while I sat watching him. I sat there feeling so upset with myself for his falling, most especially since I have been so fanatical about staying with him no matter what he is doing. I know the chances of his falling are increased 3 fold due to the brain injury, and I have taken my responsibility to help prevent this very seriously. I knew that I could do nothing about it after it happened, so I blessed him with the Padre Pio Blessed Oil that my friend Sharon Nixon had brought to me, and I signed Paul with the relic from St. Paul, asking that the saints in heaven pray for God to spare Paul any more injury. I placed all my trust in God and thanked Blessed Mother and the saints for praying with me in this intention.

After a couple of hours, I asked Paul questions again and he was still oriented as he had been. I knew I would have to watch him for the next couple of days also. It was not raining and I knew there was rain in the forecast for the weekend, so I got Paul bundled up and we drove to St. Stephen's church to take a walk while the weather was good. I told Paul we would take it easy and maintain a slower pace than the day before, which Paul had set and it had been a good brisk pace. I figured we would walk the parking lot once and that would be enough. Abby dog was with us again and she seemed to understand that something was different that day, and she stayed fairly close to us. When we got to the entrance of the church, Paul wanted to go in, just as he had the day before. I told him that Abby could not be left alone outside, but Paul really wanted to go in. I brought Abby in the first set of doors, but would not let her enter the second set. She sat down and looked a bit sad as I tried to let her know we would be right back. Paul went in and sat down in the Narthex and after a little bit, went to get a drink from the water fountain. He was not able to swallow the water, but he seemed determined to try. Then he stopped and looked into the Sanctuary for about a minute and then turned around and went back outside. It made me wonder what Jesus had to say to him, as he stood looking into the Sanctuary, with the tabernacle being straight ahead. People may think I read too much into things, but if you had seen the intent look on Paul's face, I know the same thing would have crossed your mind.

We went back outside and I had my camera with me, so I asked Paul to sit at the statue of St. Patrick of Ireland and I would take a picture of him and Abby. I got the pictures and then walked to Paul and sat next to him. I glanced up at the statue behind us and noted that Paul was under the right hand of St. Patrick. In that hand is a 3 leaf clover and I smiled thinking that there was no luck about Paul's life and in that moment felt confident that God would look with kindness on us and not let there be further injury to Paul. As we stood, I then noticed that there were 3 coins resting on that same hand - 2 pennies and a dime. I laughed because I was immediately reminded of a story that had been sent to me at my email address. It was about a man who was very wealthy and he was with some friends and as they were walking into a building he noticed a penny on the ground. He stopped and picked it up and put it in his pocket. His friends laughed and joked about it since he was so wealthy, yet still picked up a penny. He said that he picked it up because it was actually his way of stopping to think about his relationship with God. The words on the penny are IN GOD WE TRUST and when he finds money on the ground, he always stops to pick it up so that he can think about how well he is trusting God at that moment in his life. He asks himself "Do I really trust in God?" and does an assessment of where he is in his relationship with God.

I picked up one of the pennies and read the words IN GOD WE TRUST and then looked up to God and said "YES God, I do". I knew He was asking me and I felt so happy to answer Him. Paul would be fine and I would promise to be even more careful with this child He had sent me. The reason I remembered this story so quickly when I saw those pennies was because just the day before I had found a penny coming out of church and had picked it up and had put it in my coat pocket. I took my penny out of my coat pocket and put it with the others for someone else to find. Now there were 3 pennies in St. Patrick's hand, to represent the Trinity!

We walked around the parking lot 2 times since Paul had the strength, which I was grateful for. He has such a long way to go in building his endurance.

Then, on Friday evening, my friend Constance and her Ego came to visit. (They are from Nigeria and their voices are so musical and joy filled.) It was wonderful to see Constance, as she is in my Theresian prayer group. She brought 3 red roses, which was another sign to me that God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are with us. Her friend gave me the names of some people we can contact who can help us possibly with some of our needs in caring for Paul in our home. She works with the disabled and said there are all sorts of resources available and I now have some contact names. Constance thought her friend could be of assistance to us, so that is why she came by to introduce us. After we visited and she shared a lot of information, these 2 wonderful women of God prayed over Paul and once again, asked that the Holy Spirit fill him with the strength and grace needed to reach his full recovery. Ego told Paul to "claim what God has already granted". She looked at Paul and said that she knows God has heard the prayers of so many people and Paul's recovery will happen. Paul just needs to go after it. She told him to work hard and to pray for that strength. Her words filled me with great hope and renewed strength to keep up the fight with Paul. What a loving God we have. He has never failed to send me messages that He is with us and that through the example of Jesus Christ crucified and the Holy Spirit being sent after the resurrection of Jesus,we are never alone and He will give us what we need. Always. Nothing brings me greater joy than this knowledge He has graced me with.

Paul has been fine all day today too. We let him sleep until 8 a.m. but then got him up so he would not be too long before getting food into his system. He ate very well and he played the guitar with his dad again. He also did not try to take off the eye patch and his eye is looking 100% better tonight. His friend Brendan Hanrahan came to visit and stayed a couple of hours. It was terrific to see him, since it has been awhile. He goes to school in Clemson and doesn't get home too often. He is one of Paul's very best friends since they were in high school together. Paul said a couple of things in response to Brendan's remarks or questions. Brendan told us that Paul had called him the other night and they had a good conversation. Also, Brendan has sent Paul messages over the internet and he said that Paul's responses are fairly coherent. Paul seemed really tired today, so he ended up laying on the couch during most of Brendan's visit, but listened intently to the conversations Jon, Mike and I had with Brendan. After Brendan left, Jon took Paul upstairs and they wateched the DVD of one of Paul's concerts with his band that had been taped on 9/17/05. It was the first time I had seen this concert, or Paul on stage with this band. It was fun to see him so strong and doing what he loves best. Paul watched it with great interest and after awhile, he said he remembered the songs. He then watched another DVD that has his favorite guitarists in concert. That is what he fell asleep to. Rock on Paul and sweet dreams.

My soul, give thanks to the Lord, all my being, bless his holy name. (Ps.103:1)

We pray that the angels and saints carry your intentions to our heavenly Father on high.
Love,
Jon and Rebecca