This year has been a year of miracles for me and I am SO grateful and happy!
The power of believing and putting forth a positive and authentically grateful attitude can be palpable! And when you believe in miracles they really do come true! I have two tangible miracles to tell you about.
The first miracle happened to me on February 24 of this year. I was so happy that I immediately wrote an article and sent it to the New York Times for the Metropolitan Diary – but it wasn’t published. This is what I wrote.
MIRACLES HAPPEN – only in New York!
Last night I braved the elements and hopped a cab from the Upper East Side to 18th and 10th. The streets were icy and snow was falling and it was treacherous getting in and out of the cab. I complimented myself on successfully navigating out of the cab without slipping or sliding. When I went into the building to check my coat, fur headband, scarf and gloves, I noticed my handbag was missing from my shoulders. OH NO!! I looked but sure enough it was not there! Not again I said to myself! (A month ago I was in Madrid and my wallet was pick-pocketed in the metro subway with all my credit cards, money, identity cards….. everything! And it was such a hassle and so time-consuming to stop the credit cards and get new ones while in Europe)
I must be losing it I said! Thankfully I had my cell phone in my hand and was calm on the outside but so upset inside and angry at myself for being so forgetful! I’ll have to try to put a stop on the new cards…… again! What a waste of time and how silly was I, I kept on saying to myself. But in the back of my mind I kept on saying, well it’s not that bad; it’s only a few credit cards!
Sure enough 35 minutes later the cell phone rang. It was an unfamiliar number to me. The voice asked SUE PHILLIPS? I said Yes! You found my bag…thank you so much! He said….Its’ Phil! I COULDN”T BELIEVE IT!!! It was my cousin! I was astounded! His wife Tracy had seen the bag on the back seat and was going to give it to the cab driver but thought that she would try and locate the owner and looked inside. She saw a few credit cards in my wallet. My cousin saw my name on the cards and picked up his cell phone and called me. None of us could believe it! What are the chances of a handbag being retrieved by a family member who got into the same cab minutes later, in New York City and found a handbag belonging to his cousin whom he only sees once a year to celebrate New Year’s Day?
A miracle, I said to myself!! In a city of 12 million people, what are the odds that someone I know, let alone a relative, would take the cab I had just vacated, and find my bag and call me!!
MIRACLES DO HAPPEN! I am so grateful and thankful for this incredible happenstance!
So, here is the other tangible miracle I experienced today, December 21. I was meeting my colleague Joanne for a presentation to a major Corporation, and just as I was about to get out of the cab, she called me. I told her I was on 50th and 6th and would meet her in 3 minutes. I began to walk to the building and had a nagging suspicion that I may have dropped my phone because I didn’t remember putting it in my bag after the call.
When I saw Joanne I asked her to call my cell. I didn’t hear anything ring or vibrate. Oh no! I lost my phone! We went to the meeting and before it began, I asked Joanne to call my phone again. Nothing, zippo, nada! On the way out I asked her to call it. Nothing, zippo, nada! So she suggested that we walk to the spot where I had alit from the cab, and we both thought that perhaps it might have been placed on a phone booth…or something!! Nothing, zippo, nada! Joanne said to me something like, Sue, you believe in miracles –we need one now. Then she looked down on the sidewalk, in the road, and in the grate and there in the dirt, was my cell phone with a flashing light (from all the calls she had made to it) Can you believe it? HOORAY!!! It dropped into the grate as I got out of the cab. I was so happy to see it! Now, how to retrieve it?
There were 3 Police officers who were directing traffic and I asked them if we could lift up the grate. One of them, Police Officer Christopher Williams, Shield #23928 was SO helpful. He said he would try. Now a crowd had gathered around, wondering what was going on with 3 police officers focusing on something in the road. Thankfully, there was a hot dog vendor nearby, and I asked him if he had some tongs. He came over with a crowbar and Officer Williams began to nudge the phone towards the top of the grate with the crowbar. Then the other hot dog vendor brought over a pair of tongs. Office Williams nimbly and deftly inched and manipulated the cell phone to the top of the grate and was able to take hold of the phone with the tongs and then pulled the phone out. Hallelujah I cried – it’s a miracle!!
I thanked him and wanted to give him something but he refused and said I should write to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly which I shall do. He said he wanted to continue the Christmas Spirit of good cheer and miracles! And the Hot dog vendor and his partner were also wonderful and helpful. When I asked him where he was from he said Egypt. I thanked him with a SHOKRUN and a crisp $20 bill which was all I had on me.
Joanne and I then went to have an end-of-year holiday lunch and kept on thinking how lucky it was to have found the phone. Had it been raining, or snowing it would never have been found. The reality is that losing a phone is not a tragedy. It’s a hassle and time consuming and an annoyance….but we are all so attached to our digital toys, that finding it was a joy!
The moral of the story is that MIRACLES CAN and DO Happen! Believe! Good things will materialize. Joanne commented on how lucky I am. I agree! I am SO grateful for that and attribute it to my late dad; whose birthday would have been yesterday….he always said that “we are the lucky Phillips’s”~~
In the spirit of good tidings, I am writing this today to remind everyone that you can experience miracles and happiness. In the face of difficulty and economic hardship, believe in good things……be positive, be grateful and I promise you, MIRACLES DO HAPPEN!!
I am grateful for the friends and family in my life and to my dear friend and colleague Joanne Cardello who has been an amazing support to me, and to Scenterprises and The Perfume Studio.
Happy Holidays and a Healthy New Year to you all.
Scentfully,
Sue.
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