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I found this penny, or rather I think this penny found me.  On a business trip to the other end of the state our dinner stop was but of course Chipotle.  As I walked with my bowl to the far end of the dining area I was not inspired by any of the unique seating arrangements there so I turned back and sat in a seemingly ordinary, ho-hum, wooden-benched booth.  And off to the inner-edge of the table, barely 2 inches from falling onto the seat, sits Lincoln.  Not shiny, not new. Just Lincoln. 1989 Lincoln.

Now we’ve all read before that Heaven drops pennies and this heart touching story or that one where a penny in an unsuspecting place means someone is just popping in to say “hello.”  So I took it as that. Let it warm my heart and smiled a bit.  When I get change from the grocer or what have you I sift out the pennies and as I’m walking out the store I toss them into the air and bid them good day with a wish.  A wish for me and a hope that whomever finds these pennies (or extra spare change as it sometimes is) will need it more than I.  And just maybe someone might pick up these Lincolns and think someone is remembering them and sending them a cheery “hello.”

So while this theory is lovely to believe in, I never really put all my chickens in that basket.  But back to Chipotle.  I saw the penny, I smiled, my heart warm, but I didn’t touch this dirty old penny.  I was going to leave it there for the next patron to smile and have their heart warmed.  But as I put on my jacket and sheath my cell in its denim pocket my back bent and arm extended and my fingers nimbly picked Lincoln up and stored him in my jeans for safe keeping.

Days passed, I may have felt him in there during the seminar, but I arrived home and emptied all my pockets and out pops Lincoln. I smiled (again). And the next day as I dressed I found myself putting him in my pocket yet again and he rode the day along with me.  Now at some point he must have fallen out of my pocket near my bed because I remember (still smiling) picking him up and chuckling to myself as if to say “there you are” as I placed Lincoln on my laptop–for safe keeping and such.

Now last night when I couldn’t sleep, I put on an iTunes playlist and closed the lid of my laptop enough to keep the blue light from invading my space but left it ajar so as not to turn the music off.  This morning before leaving for work I shut my computer all the way so as not to keep the motor running.  And I forgot all about Lincoln.  This evening I packed my laptop into its sleeve and off we went to the bar.  I finally settle into an agreeable seat and unpack. I open my laptop and Bam. Lincoln is smiling at me.

i don’t know what it is. I don’t even know if it’s anything. But gosh, it makes me feel good. And right now, I’ll take it.