COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL DECEMBER 20, 2017 11A
Dearest Readers,
I do not just write about pets and miracles, I live a life "fi lled with
miracles" and am the author of “Expect Miracles” and “A Christ-
mas Filled With Miracles”.
Here is my favorite miracle wrapped beautifully in Holiday
Spirit. Christmas eve forty years ago my husband, Howard, and I
prepared for an unusual, possibly depressing, Christmas holiday
because my stepfather, Jim, had terminal cancer. But, never in a
million Christmases did we expect to end up immersed in a miracle!
At the time, as newly weds living of Vancouver Island in Cana-
da, we had to take the ferry from Nanaimo to reach mainland Van-
couver, and my parents' home. Along with the usual assortment of
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luggage and Christmas gifts, we also packed our "traveling trou-
ble-adors" Channel and Camelot, Shaded Silver Persian cats whose
fl uffy, white winter coats resembled the cuffs on Santa's red jacket.
For our "listening pleasure" they meowed their way to our holiday
destination.
A torrential downpour greeted us in Vancouver, the weather thus
matching our moods. As we pulled up to my childhood home, it's
Christmas lights sparkliness transfi xed me, transporting me back in
time to when my sister was still alive and my brother home, versus
half a world away in Australia. My how things have changed over
the years! We opened the car doors and out leapt the cats, eager to
re-explore the familiar territory.
I entered the house through the back door into the kitchen where
Jim's well-stocked "pharmacy" stood as the ammunition in his war
against pain and illness. A heaviness hung in the air as if the Spir-
it of Christmas had yet to make an appearance, or had refused to
board the ferry with us, purr-furring instead to remain behind on the
Island with all of our friends and neighbors. So, we decided to make
an early night of it and all went to bed.
I was the fi rst to awaken on Christmas morning, the most mag-
ical day for children everywhere. Everyone else in the household
was still peacefully asleep so even though it was only 7:00 a.m.,
I decided to call my best friend, Rita, back on Vancouver Island;
after all, her giggling children would have awakened her hours ago.
"Hello", she answered in a weak, "crackly" voice. "Rita, are you all
right?!", I asked. "Who is this?!", a total stranger replied."
Oh! Oh! Apparently, the busy holiday phone lines had crossed
resulting in awakening an elderly woman. I apologized for waking
her, but she said, "Not to worry. It is nice to have someone to talk to,
as I don't have anything to do today, nor anyone to talk to."
No one is a stranger to me, so we began chatting.
I had phoned Rita on the Island, which is a long distance num-
ber, so I was curious as to where this woman lived. "Burnaby," she
said. About ten miles away!
I used to be a PBX switchboard operator and know that when
many phones are in use "wires" get crossed. But, how could this
be? She only lived a few miles away when their phone numbers and
area codes weren't even close!
Introducing herself, she said that her name was Faith and that she
was an 80 year old widow. Her deceased husband, Dick, and she
did not have any children. She continued that she had no reason to
get up, as she had no one to share Christmas with. She was "glad"
I phoned, "A bit of a Christmas gift." She was all alone, while we
at least had each other. Yet, she considered this "wake up" call to
be a gift!
Faith and I talked for an hour. My mother awakened in the mean-
time so I asked her if Faith could share Christmas dinner with us
and she said, "Yes." Faith hung up the phone and hurriedly dressed
to catch a bus for her visit. Little did the bus driver or us know that
he would really be delivering a Christmas miracle.
Excitedly anticipating the arrival of our "mystery" guest, our
home's atmosphere was transformed from "doom and gloom" into
JOY, the delicious aroma of the holiday turkey wafting from the
oven, all through the house.
I met the "gift" of Faith at the bus stop; we smiled at each other.
As a child, I frequently "rescued" stray animals, but this new rescue
was much more fulfi lling, resulting in a wonderful visit, sharing a
delicious meal and lots of laughter!
After dinner, Faith and I donned our coats in preparation to drive
her home but we were sidetracked by a miracle so extraordinary
that we are still in awe of it after all of these years!
Faith and my mother were saying their last "Good-byes!" when
my mother realized that we had not shared last names. "What is
your last name?", my mother asked her, to which Faith replied,
"Holden."
"No!" my mother said not understanding, "That's OUR last
name. What is YOUR last name?"
We all experienced the shock of our lives when Faith, looking
confused and repeated, "That is MY last name. Holden. H-o-l-d-
e-n."
I had never told Faith our last name, this was years before the in-
ternet, so she could not have looked us up. What are the odds? The
same last name, Holden, spelled the exact same way!
How had we been divinely put together with someone with the
same family name?
What a miraculous, Divine, coincidence! Obliviously, the uni-
verse was saying, "Family is not by birth alone, but also by Divine
appointment. We are all one!"
Still in shock, (and our coats), we sat down on the living room
couch beside the ticking grandfather clock, unprepared for even
more as-yet-to-be-revealed surprises as Faith shared the story of
her life. Her husband was from England, as was my stepfather, Jim,
with both families migrating to Winnipeg, Canada. Both Dick and
Jim were the second of four children, with the same combination
of brothers and sisters in the same birth order, and all of the sib-
lings remaining childless after marriage. Faith and my mother had
attended the same high school. An amazing list of coincidences, as
if the two women were reading from identical books of life, reiter-
ating one similar experience after another.
How was it possible to dial a long distance number on Christmas
morning, but end up connecting with a "local" person who needed
us as much as we needed her?! Unbelievably mysterious--God ob-
viously works overtime on Christmas; how else could I have pos-
sibly connected to a "stranger" who is actually "family" with a last
name of Holden?! It is a Christmas and a miracle we will never
forget! And the clincher: Faith revealed that her phone number is
UNLISTED! So, even if we had wanted to locate her, we could
not have, adding evening more mystery to this Christmas Morning
Miracle!
May your holidays be magical, fi lled with miracles, family and
friends. And if the holidays look dull create some magic and mem-
ories for others.
Christmas through
the eyes of a child...