Once more, St. Anthony comes through for me, and thank goodness, because this time I was in a real panic. My youngest son wears a uniform to school - normally it is just the usual blue pants, white shirt thing, but this year they added a sleeveless blue vest, required for special occasions. I bought him a new one, he wore it once, and then it just disappeared. I have looked for it for weeks, over and over again. He was supposed to wear it a few times since the loss, but we slid under the wire without it. Well, this week the sliding was over - the Bishop of our Diocese was coming for his yearly visit, so everyone needed to look their best. I was praying, please St. Anthony, I really am in a spot, please intercede for me to find that crazy vest!
I looked everywhere again, no luck - through all of his drawers, closet, the washroom. Then I thought, I will start looking in the other kid's rooms, just in case. I had done it before, but I thought I would give it a shot again anyway. I went into the first room, a room that is, shall we say, a typical teen's room, far from tidy. I was in there for one minute, praying under my breath, I look down, and there, impossibly, stuck in an old doll crib, was the vest. My relief was, and still is, enormous. When you have a thing like this happen to you, and you know in your heart that it was an impossible find, you know God's Hand in it.
Oh, and to end the story, my son was picked at the last minute to hold a tray of awards for the Bishop for the awards ceremony, in front of the whole school. Without that crazy vest, which is part of his full uniform, he would not have been chosen. Thank you St. Anthony, for your kind and generous help~
He is one of the great saints of the Catholic Church, and one of the beloved--even far beyond Catholics themselves. Untold numbers of people turn to him, still, when there is loss. And strangely--at least strangely in the usual ways of the world--those things often quickly turn up. And often they turn up in the most unexpected--even seemingly miraculous ways. Let the stories begin.
