There were so many JOY Encounters today.
I needed to be at school by 6 AM today in order to get things readied for the 10 AM Graduation Ceremony. Everything went as expected. (Which can be interpreted as: 95% according to plan with the typical 5% of “on-the-spot” problem solving).
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There were 600+ graduates in attendance with 8,000 - 9,000 family and friends. The ceremony began promptly at 10 AM with Doc leading the entire parade as Mace Bearer! The ceremony was broadcast to 62 countries.
It took over 20 minutes for all the graduates to file in and be seated. During that time Doc stood solemnly and ceremoniously on the stage with the mace in hand. I managed to quickly sneak in for a moment, get up close to him, say “I Love You Sweetheart” and make him crack a smile. He was soooo not expecting that!
The ceremony was expected to last two hours. At 1.5 hours things were in place and I figured I had a conservative 20 minutes to unwind and maybe look for a coin or two. I was in a classroom, looking under computer tables and had just found a penny. Then I looked in a dusty, filthy area and spotted a coin. I was down on one knee and was stretching for the coin when there was the sound of triumphant cheering. I had to laugh! Were the Penny Angels cheering me on? I retrieved a dime to the concluding cheers of the ceremony! Nice timing. There were 3 pennies and a dime in that room (Coins #1-4).
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At Noon we had a debriefing with the 15 students who had volunteered to help this morning. Tell me, WHAT would inspire college students to wake up early on a Sunday morning after the school year has ended to put on a bright yellow vest, nice slacks (versus short pants), closed shoes (versus flip flops) and stand in the sweltering sun for two hours? One guy even drove 80 miles from home just to be there! Some really special kids. Each one a JOY to Encounter.
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Around 1:30 PM I was “nudged” to go get Doc some flowers. (There were so many beautiful bouquets for sale). There was a penny at the merchandise tent! (Coin #5). I picked it up and loudly proclaimed, “You have all just witnessed the Penny find for Day #541” The customer next to me was curious. So, of course I began to tell her. 6-7 other people all stopped what they were doing to listen as well! There were smiles and Penny Cards shared by everyone.
I headed home (exhausted). Doc stayed at school to work on his paper grading. He said he was “nudged” to stick his finger in one of the vending machine return slots. He was rewarded with a dime and a nickel! (Coins #6&7) The guy is getting pretty good at this “nudging” stuff as well!
I spent the next four hours driving to and from our cabin to do a bit of clean up work.
Meanwhile Doc took a nap, watched the Laker game and went grocery shopping. He returned to show me his penny (to add to his previous nickel and dime). I said, “You just needed a quarter”. He replied, “and I found one! Plus a second one!” (Coins#8-10).
Thought: The graduates have such dreams and excitement about their upcoming adventures. Are we (old folks) that enthusiastic about our futures?
What dreams are fuelling you?
Total: 10 Coins P (5), N (1), D (2), Q (2) = $0.80 Hit for the Cycle
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