Day #500 - Endurance Race

Intro:

The Indy 500 Race is completed in a single day. Five hundred laps around a racetrack sounds so much easier than 500 days of sparring with the Penny Angels! They did not even allow for any days off as “Pit Stops”!

The Penny Angels have provided such interesting experiences and lessons these past 16 months. The Penny Tales and personal encounters have reached hundreds of people. The pennies have been symbolic of something greater - something meaningful and unique to each person.

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I was secretly hoping for fireworks and fanfare on this milestone day when I "crossed over the finish line". The dome light in my pickup truck actually came on tonight when I arrived home. Does that count? (It usually does not work and I fumble for my things in the dark).

Ohh.. there’s a lesson:

Just the very tiniest glimmer of light can really help out when you are fumbling in the dark. Help be a point of light in someone else's day.

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Doc and I drove to work separately today because he needed to stay later and I wanted to be out of there by 6 p.m.

Around 3 p.m. this afternoon I realized I’d better look for a coin because, after 499 Consecutive Days, I sure wouldn’t want to miss #500! So I did a quick 10-minute campus walk. Coins in various places: 3 pennies at the marketplace, a dime and penny at the student center. (Coins #1-5)

The previous flooring of the Bookstore atrium has been totally removed and the floor prepped for new installation - swept clean. There was a tour group standing there with a penny underneath them! Mine! (Coin #6)

Another penny in the plaza of the library. (Coin #7)

One penny in a student study room (Coin #8)

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I really wanted to leave school today during daylight hours. That did not happen. When I finally left, it was dark and I was grumpy and tired. I muttered something to the Penny Angels like, “It may be Day #500, but right now I don’t even care about this Penny Tale stuff. I would really like to just go home, have dinner and go to bed. Would that be OK?

At that moment I spotted a “beacon penny” (a coin which just seems to radiate light). I had just emerged from my building. The penny was shining at me through the window of a study room. The upper level of windows was blocked, but I could see a penny though the lower window under the chair of a gal sitting in there. I went in and asked her if I could have the penny. Her reply, “Sure! I would never stoop to pick up a penny”.

There were several students studying in the room. One said, “Hi Tina! We were just talking about you. I was trying to tell them about your Penny Tales. Would YOU tell them?” So for the next few moments a shared Penny Angel stories with them. JOY shared. I walked out of there with Coin #9 and an Attitude Adjustment.

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As I arrived at the parking lot I crossed paths with a student who said, “Hey Prof. Shelton, how’s it going with your Penny Finding?” I replied that it was Day #500 and thanked him for celebrating with me. He replied. “So have you written THE BOOK yet?” Was this comment an Angel prompting or merely a pushy student?

Doc arrived home at 9:45 pm I went out to greet him when he pulled into the driveway. This is what his headlights lit up for us. A Penny Dragonfly! (Dragonflys being a symbol of transport to the beyond). A “Penny Angel” must have planted it today as a reminder.

Reminder: Soar for higher ground. We are here on Earth for such a short time.

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Doc just handed me his coins collected today. He has a dime found at Starbucks before work. A penny from the breezeway of the engineering building at work. Then 2 dimes and a penny from McDonalds on his way home.

Total: 14 Coins P (10), N (0), D (4), Q (0) = $0.50

Thought: I was really hoping for a multiple of 500 in the OTHER direction (like $5, $50, $500, $5000)