Finders Keepers

 It is said to find any of the following is good luck. A four leaf clover, a penny, face side up of course, a horseshoe, a button, anything purple, love. Good luck, a concept worth thinking about. I don't know, really, how I feel about the idea.

 Last week my Father was supposed to have surgery. I traveled 250 miles to be there. I got a hotel room with my sister, and we visited the night before. We stayed in a casino hotel. We spent the night eating, visiting, gambling, seeing family. We went to bed late, and couldn't sleep. We were both worried about our Dad.

 The next morning we checked out of our hotel room at 5:30 am. We brought our luggage to our cars, and the parking lot was glare ice. There had been an ice storm that night, leaving the roads dangerous. A man stopped us on our way outside, and told us not to leave. We were thinking only of our Father, and said to each other that we could make it. After slipping to our cars, we decided to go back inside and have breakfast. We decided to wait until they sanded and salted the roads. We called our Dad. He had other family with him, and told us to be safe. We knew, though, that he was disappointed.

 My sister and I waited for the restaurant to open, in the hotel. We were stopped by several people who all told us of the crashes they witnessed on the way to work. These people were strangers, in a hotel, and they volunteered the information without being asked.

 After breakfast, we once again decided to leave to go to our Father. We were again stopped by a security guard, who told us to wait, that is was too dangerous. We were determined. The sun was coming up, and we needed to be with our Dad today. That was why we were here! We walked to our cars, and noted that the parking lot had been salted, and our feet stayed under us. A sand truck drove by as we crossed to our cars. The truck driver, spotting us, turned his truck around and rolled down his window. He asked us where we were going, and we told him. He pointed his finger at us, and told us to go back inside. The roads were very slippery, and we needed to wait. We listened.

 We were tired, and frustrated, and had given up our room. We sat by the pool, at a table, and talked. Every so often a guard would pass, and we would ask if the roads were clear enough to drive yet. They always said to wait.

 We waited, and waited, and waited. My sisters cell phone rang, and it was my Dad's friend Joyce. She said that the surgery had been cancelled. My Dad had a spider bite and it was infected. He would have to be on antibiotics for 10 days before they could operate. There would be no need for us to go to the hospital today. Dad was going back home.

 The two of us, sat by the pool for three more hours, waiting for the roads to be safe. From time to time, we would ask about them, and heard horror stories of semi trucks jackknifed, and people in the ditch.

Were we lucky? Did we have Angels watching over us? Was it God?  I don't know, but I am thankful, and my beliefs are a little stronger.