THE PENNY STORY

(This originally was going to be my first post, but time prevented me from using it. In other words, this is not a particularly short post......)


I found a penny the other day. I was walking to the car and saw a penny on the ground just by the door. Now I was raised by parents and grandparents that made sure I knew the value of money. Translated, I picked it up. The first thing I noticed upon inspection was the fact that it was a wheat penny. When I looked at the date I noticed it was from 1944. My initial thought was that my mother was born that year. My brain then experienced an explosion of questions and scenarios concerning the history of that one, particular, lowly penny.

Perhaps it was put back by my grandmother to commemorate the birth of my mother. Maybe my great-grandparents put it away with some other money to give my grandmother when she came home from the hospital. My grandfather, who was fighting in Europe with the Army, could have gotten it in change at an Army base and kept it to remember this year. He could have given it to my mother upon his return home.

It also could have played a role in my father's life. He could have received it from the Tooth Fairy for his first lost tooth. It could have been part of his Christmas or birthday presents. He grew up in a household without a lot of money and it would have been a nice gift that could be used for that ultimate kid favorite - CANDY !! He also could have put it away into his piggy bank for a later use. Maybe he earned it in a chore around the house or for a neighbor. It might also have been put up to remember the birth of one of his brothers that same year.

On a wholly different train of thought, that penny could have jingled in the pockets of numerous individuals. Whether they were the normal working class of my family, or the Rockefeller class that lived a world away is unknown. Most likely it saw both sides of society and all in between. East Coast, West Coast, Middle America, the South; wherever people were, that penny went. Could it have been present at a Hollywood opening? Perhaps a party at the Hearst Castle? Pitched in a New York City alley by hobos? Put into a Salvation Army kettle by a young child in Saint Louis? Given by President Kennedy to his son John to play with one evening in the White House? Maybe Babe Ruth paid for a piece of gum with it? Or did Marilyn Monroe carry it around in her purse for a period of time? Was it part of a bank robbery carried out by my famous relative Clyde Barrow? Was it used to pay one of my relatives in their jobs? I might even have received it myself while a child.

How, I wondered, did this little penny make all of these magical trips and then end up on a parking lot down the road from my house? What stories could it tell if it could talk? If it was in the right pocket at the right time it might know the truth behind the Kennedy assassination. It might know what REALLY happened at Roswell, or what happens now at Area 51. I'd love to have just one day to have a few beers with that Honest Abe and hear just what he could tell me. I bet that one day would not be nearly enough time to hear it all.

This one simple penny brought to mind so many thoughts and memories of those both known and unknown to me that it momentarily took me aback. I realized at that moment that it wasn't the penny itself so much that mattered, but was, instead, the mental journey I had just completed. The memories of those around me, as well as those no longer living amongst us, was what had made that one particular penny so important to me. It had reminded me not to take anything for granted, because you never know just when it may disappear. Forever. It had reminded me to always tell those that are important to me that they are important to me. Whether friends or family, you should make sure and actually tell those that you love how you feel. It would be a shame if one day you were gone and, although they thought that they knew how you felt, they couldn't be sure because they had not been told. Or, if they had, it was so long ago, that they had no memory of it. We all owe it to ourselves and our social networks to make sure that this happens less and less in this easily connected world. We all can Instant Message and e-mail notes to loved ones on the other side of the world in the blink of an eye, so we really have no excuse to not do this. It will make us and our children much better off. A society that communicates well with each other will be more likely to be successful. Both in the public arena as well as in the private.

The next time you find a coin on the ground, before you pitch it in your money jar, take a moment and see if maybe your coin hung out with my coin. If so, tell it "Hello" from my penny. If not, ask it about its journeys. You may be surprised at what you learn, especially about yourself.