Betty Can You Spare a Dime?

By Middle Sister

In this challenging time of COVID 19, we thought this post might help remind us that we are all in this together and there is comfort to be found in watching out for each other. We like to think that mom is watching out for us.

We all miss our mom Betty a lot and each have our own ways of remembering her, but who could have predicted that a ten cent coin would give us the chance to remember her and feel like she is right there with us having fun.

It All Started With Michelle Obama

A little over a year ago, my daughter Alissa and I attended Michelle Obama’s book tour stop in Edmonton (thank you favorite son-in-law Jason for tickets). It was a great event but something interesting happened later that evening that was the beginning of it all. When we found a dime on the carpet in our hotel room, I didn’t think much about it until Alissa said she had read this was a sign that a relative who had passed was watching over you. That was a sweet thought and we both immediately thought of mom, but I remained unconvinced until it happened again the next night…. This was just one time too many to be a coincidence and I began to think there might be something to this…

Kerri’s Gone Woo-woo

Reaction from family members when they heard this story was pretty much polite nods and a lot of scepticism. Until….a few days after Shauna heard this story she called me and said that she had found a dime on the floor of a closet and a few days later she found another one in a suitcase as she was unpacking. OMG! Maybe Betty had come to Shauna’s house for a visit. She did always like the view of the ocean from Shauna’s deck. Another believer?

The Dimes Pile Up

As time goes on, family stories about dimes appearing in unexpected places happen regularly. My grandson found a dime wedged behind a table at the hotel we were staying at while on vacation. The family was there celebrating our granddaughter’s birthday and we know how much mom loved her grandchildren and great grandchildren and birthday parties….. or any kind of party for that matter! Maybe she stopped by for the celebration.

Mag found a dime on the empty seat beside her when the Sisterhood was at a restaurant in San Francisco having lunch. Betty always did love a good visit over lunch and she always wanted to go to San Francisco and see the Golden Gate bridge.

My husband Al found a dime stuck to the back of his watch while it was charging. We all know Betty didn’t like to rush especially when eating and she and Al were kindred spirits where this was concerned. Often Betty and Al could be found keeping each other company at the dinner table long after everyone else had finished eating. Maybe she was reminding him to keep up the good work!

But the incident that really gave everyone pause was during a family visit to mom and dad’s memorial bench to remember their passing. When I found a dime in the dirt next to the bench you could see even the most sceptical family members thinking twice. And to top it off, a nice man who was walking by offered to take a picture of our group. As he was taking the picture we noticed he had on a belt with a Jaguar motorcar insignia on it. This got everyone’s attention, as the most prized vehicle dad ever owned was a Jaguar. It was his pride and joy. Maybe dad decided to make a visit too… The memorial bench is right by the house they lived in for over 35 years, so knowing dad, he probably wanted to check and make sure the new owners were keeping things up! He was very particular about his yard….

After quite a bit of time passed with no significant dime sightings, Shauna’s house seemed to be the focus once again. Just days before we launched our blog Shauna found six dimes in the cupholder in her car. I said maybe this was a sign that Betty was excited about the blog launch. Shauna said maybe mom wanted to go on a trip or just wanted her to clean out her car…..

As the stories about finding random dimes in unexpected places are told you can often hear a softness and a sense of wonder in the teller’s voice and a kinda sorta belief that maybe the dimes are a sign that Betty is near. We will never know for sure, but I think everyone agrees that the dime sightings have given us the opportunity to pause and remember mom (and dad) and that’s a good thing. And…

Betty Would Love That!

We plan to publish a new post every Monday, so stayed tuned for our next one entitled “Who Let the Dogs Out?”