Pennies From Heaven

"Find a penny, pick it up,
All day long you'll have good luck!"
[only if it's heads up, that is!]


Where I acquired the notion that heads was good luck and tails was bad luck I honestly can't say but, you would never, ever catch me picking up a penny unless it was heads up! I am the original 'if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all' kid! If I found a penny that was tails, I would avoided it like the plague! I don't need any more bad luck, have all I need, thank you very much!!
It was about the same time my mother took ill when I was sent a poem called Pennies from Heaven that made me look at pennies in a totally different light. Being somewhat of a poet myself, I pulled out my poetic license and added my own touch to it!

Pennies From Heaven
Original author unknown
co-author Gloria Dianne

Today I found a penny just laying on the ground.
But it's not just any penny, this little coin I found.
Pennies come from Heaven ,the angels toss them down.
Some believe they are lost souls just waiting to be found.

Pennies can be a message from someone who has passed,
Sent down to assure you that they’re at peace at last.
When you are feeling lost and need an angel's care,
They will toss a penny down to remind you they are there.

Whenever you need an angel or a blessing from above,
An angel will send a penny to assure you that you’re loved.
So don't pass by that penny when you're feeling blue.
It's a penny from Heaven that an angel has sent to you.
Because of the sentiment attached, I began picking up all the pennies I found, heads, tales or side ways! I save my 'Pennies from Heaven' in. this tiny tin box that is delightfully decorated with Angels.
I would find a penny or two every now and again and put it in my special ‘pennies from heaven’ box, but it seemed the amount of pennies I found increased with the additional demands put upon me after mother passed away. Being totally overwhelmed with my work on top of taking care of my grandson and elderly disabled father, I didn’t see a connection. One day I found a penny, put it in the pocket of my smock and went about my business. That night I washed out the smock by hand, hung it on the shower rod to dry and as I bent over to empty the wash basin I was hit on the head by the penny I had found earlier that day! Logic tells me one thing, but the John Edward (the psychic that hears dead people) in me says it was Mom saying “pay attention to me daughter, I‘m talking to you!”!
Naturally I was reluctant to tell anyone I believed my deceased mother hit me on the head with a penny. Oh I got some mighty strange looks when I did share my story with others, but it never failed that a penny would suddenly appear in the most unlikely spot making instant believers out of the skeptics. It was like Mom was saying "my daughter is not making this up and I'll prove it to you!" Once while telling a wheel chair bound friend about the many pennies I believed mother was sending from heaven she suddenly gasped in disbelief pointing to the wheel on her wheel chair, "Oh my God! Look! Look at that!” Sure enough, there was a penny stuck to the middle of the wheel like it was just hanging by itself.
Mother collected pennies and I thought it rater appropriate that she would send pennies. Dad and I decided to cash in the 8,467 pennies we found in various sized jars and cans in mother’s room and make a birthday present of it to my sister. We suggested she take the money to mother’s favorite casino, the Tropicana in Atlantic City. When I was leaving her house I found a penny in a puddle just outside my car door. I picked it up and ran back into her house. As I handed her the penny I said, “I think Mom wants to wish you a happy birthday! Hold on to this penny, it’s from Mom!”
This would not be the only time that we would feel that mother was with us in spirit. Mother worried about leaving dad and believed she was needed to take care of him. I honestly believe that she was over seeing his care. I had dad move in with me after the home was sold, and there were many occasions when I was awakened out of a sound sleep with the ‘feeling’ dad needed help and he did. One night I was startled awake with the words “dad fell’ in my subconscious. Sure enough, after a brief search through the house I found the poor man sprawled out on the bathroom floor. After an exhausted search when ever dad misplaced something we would ask mother to help and it never failed that the missing object would suddenly appear. On another occasion. I was trying to catch a quick nap while dad was napping and dreamt that my mother, who was washing dishes in her kitchen, asked my brother, who is also deceased, where is Glory?” He told her I was in my room sleeping to which she replied; “wake her up, Dad needs her!” That startled me awake and sure enough, there was a very confused and disoriented dad heading out the back door. Each time something like this occurred and we questioned whether mother was indeed helping us, sure enough, we’d find a penny some where!
Mom’s headstone arrived just in time for her "first birthday in heaven." Dad and I cleaned up the plot and I put flowers on her grave with a special happy birthday balloon. I was at the point where I just expect to find a penny after I did something for either Mom or Dad. I knew before the day was over I would find a penny! Well, I didn't.
I told a friend, who had come to greet me with "Find any pennies lately?", that I just couldn't understand why, after all the trouble I went to the day before that there was no ‘thank you’ penny. Just then, from the corner of my eye I spied a penny laying of the floor. “Oh there it is! You’re welcome Mom!” My friend’s mouth dropped to her knees! "Oh my God! If I didn't see it with my own eyes. . . !"
Hardly a day went by that I didn't find a penny! Every time I talked about Mom or did something for Dad, a penny would seem to show up out of no where. While clearing out dad’s home after it was sold, there wasn’t one corner, room, closet, box or drawer that I didn’t find a penny in! Each time I would look towards the heavens and whisper a ‘thank you, I love you too Mom!”
I was telling our real estate agent that we found 3 pennies on the lot that our new manufactured home would be delivered to and believed mother was with us. Her reaction was strange. She seemed to be speechless and in disbelief, a reaction I was certainly not strange to, then stammered: “Do you, do you, do you want to hear something really, really strange? When I was showing the new buyer the house, he found a penny on the ground at the wooded edge of the property! I smiled and explained, “mother loved this house. Dad built it with his own two hands for her and their children and would never consider selling their home. I think this means she approves.”
As time passed, and all the unfinished business was taken care of and Dad was safe and adjusting to his new surroundings I would find fewer and fewer pennies. However, I was always sure to find a penny on special occasions such as birthdays or anniversaries. On the first anniversary of Mom's passing, I planted a rose bush named Tropicana in her memory in our front yard. Wouldn’t you just know that I would find a penny buried under about ten inches of soil! For the next three years that dad lived in the home I would often find a penny in front of her rose bush!
One warm early spring morning, dad and I drove to the cemetery to tend to the family graves. We planted seasonal flowers on each of the six graves. The row of inpatients on mother’s grave was crooked and I jokingly remarked to dad that mom would never let us hear the end of it if we didn’t straighten them out! Dad asked softly: “do you really believe she can see what’s going on here?” I told him in no uncertain terms that I sure did! “where do you think all these pennies are coming from?” Dad laughed and quipped; “well if that’s the case, tell her to send something bigger!”
When we arrived home I began to prepare our lunch when I noticed a dime in the bottom of the kitchen sink! The sink that had been cleaned out and empty before we left! There is no logical explanation other than mother had sent something bigger!!
During the five years since mother’s passing I continued to find pennies. There have been several unexplained happenings that make me believe she is still watching over us. "You are quite welcome Mom!! Thanks for all your help! I love you too! Now, go, rest in peace. We can take it from here!"
On August 2nd, 2008 dad joined mother in heaven The morning of his passing, I found a penny and a dime together in the bottom of my washing machine. I wanted to think it was a sign that they were together again, but looked upon it as a sweet coincidence. But during the months that followed I continued to find dimes! Twenty four dimes in two months is not a coincidence is it?!
 Edith Klaschka 11/27/1919-4/29/2003
David Klaschka 1/15/1919-8/02/2008