BS: Miracles Do Happen

Subject: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 07 - 05:28 PM

Do you have a story to share about an amazing and wonderful happening? Here's mine, which happened to a a dear parishioner who happened to call us up today to let us know of another lady's hospitalization. Kinda retores one's faith in people, eh?

~Susan

===========================

Special gift from a stranger

Man finds, returns stolen rings that Wellsboro woman thought were long gone. CLICK FOR PHOTO

May 13, 2007
By George Osgood
Star-Gazette Wellsboro [PA] Bureau


Marjory Mosher got her stolen rings back in time for Mother's Day. The key to returning the rings was the well-worn high school ring.


WELLSBORO -- Marjory Mosher never met Mitch Carr until Saturday, but she got a Mother's Day present from him that she'll never forget.

Five of them, actually.

Thanks to Carr, Mosher, 85, now has her wedding band, engagement ring, a seven-stone mother's ring, her own mother's diamond ring and a high school ring worn by her late husband, Neal D. "Mo" Mosher.

The rings had been missing for at least seven years and were apparently stolen and stashed, but never sold.

"I just couldn't believe it," said Marjory Mosher. "I never thought I'd see them again. It's like a dream come true."

The dream started as a nightmare, when Mosher couldn't find the rings [seven years ago].

Son Doug Mosher (a retired Wellsboro High School social studies teacher) and daughter-in-law Joye Mosher thought at first that Marjory had misplaced the rings, or accidentally thrown them away.

Then they realized that a 35-millimeter Nikon camera and lenses were also missing from Marjory's home at 17 Austin St.

"At that point, we knew they had been stolen," Joye said. "But there was nothing we could do. We didn't know where to start."


Carr started by buying a house in Arnot, 12 miles southeast of Wellsboro, about three years ago, to use as a seasonal camp.

The house had been a rental property. At that point, the rings had been missing for at least four years.

Slowly but surely, Carr has been remodeling the house. Two weeks ago, he decided to take out a bathtub on the first floor.

"I was tearing it out, just pulling it away from the wall, and something shiny caught my eye," Carr said.

"When I looked, I saw these five rings laying there in the dust."

Four were unmarked. The high school ring was worn almost smooth. But careful inspection revealed a "19" on one side, a "41" on the other and an almost invisible "Wellsboro" on top.

The initials NDM were engraved inside the ring.


Carr never missed a beat.

"I knew what I had to do," said Carr, 48, who owns a garage and welding shop in Newville, near Carlisle.

"There was no question in my mind. I never considered keeping them. I could no more keep them than fly."

Carr phoned Wellsboro High School, and talked to guidance secretary Sandy Mead.

Her quick search of alumni records revealed only one person with the initials "NDM" in the Class of 1941: Neal D. Mosher (the "D" doesn't stand for anything; it's an initial only).

Mead and [Marjoy's son] Doug Mosher had worked together for years. She e-mailed him, and he called Carr.

"He said he thought he might have my father's ring," Doug Mosher said.

"He said he had five rings. I said, 'Is one a mother's ring?'

"He said, 'Yes. With seven stones,'" Mosher said. "I said, 'Is one a diamond ring with a heart on it?' He said, 'Yes,' and so on, and I was sure he had Mom's rings."


To say the Moshers were surprised is an understatement.

"We were just shocked," Joye said. "After so much time, we never expected to see them again. She hasn't lived in that house for seven years, and they certainly weren't in her apartment."



Doug and Joye Mosher, who now live in Martinsburg, W. Va., picked up the rings Friday as they traveled to Wellsboro for Mother's Day.

Carr came to Tioga County, and his camp, Friday to hunt spring gobblers.

They [all] gathered at midday Saturday for lunch -- and so Marjory could meet a new friend who did the right thing.

"I cried when I heard about the rings," she said, slipping on the wedding band she first wore in 1946.

"They mean so much to me. I'm still flabbergasted. I thought I was going to need a doctor.

"I was crying," she said. "It was so overwhelming. I just kept saying, 'Is it true? Can it be true?'"

One ring, worn by Marjory's mother, Ruth Milner Head, dates to 1920.

"Mo" bought Marjory's engagement ring at Earl's Jewelry Store in Corning in 1945.

Now it's back where it belongs, and it's likely to stay right there.

"This is all about the honesty and kindness and perseverance of one man, one stranger," Doug Mosher said.

"This kind of thing restores your faith in people."

For Carr, it wasn't a matter of faith. Just duty.

"Once I saw those initials in the ring and the date of 1941 and realized it was from Wellsboro High School, I knew we were going to find our guy," Carr said.

"Whether he was deceased or not didn't matter. I had to find his family. I knew I had a job to do, and I did it, that's all."

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Sorcha
Date: 28 May 07 - 08:06 PM

Oh, Susan! How Wonderful!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 28 May 07 - 10:04 PM

Knowing the lady makes it even better. She's just an icon of the culture, AND an all-grown-up preacher's kid! AND she looks and acts like my Grammy's twin!

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 May 07 - 09:46 AM

as you say, miracles do happen!

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 May 07 - 11:50 AM

*sigh* lovely story of people doing nice things. These happen every day but I guess, don't sell newspapers...
But why call "miracles?"

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 29 May 07 - 11:52 AM

Not here, mrr, OK?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Mrrzy
Date: 29 May 07 - 02:18 PM

Hey, it's a real question. This is the perfect place, given your thread title.

One of my favorite lost-and-found stories was losing a ring I'd had since childhood, in a lake near where my sweetie-of-the-time's family had a cabin. Years later, visiting, I see my ring in a little box on a mantelpiece - Sweetie's little sister had found it, and it didn't fit her, so she left it there in case anyone else wanted it... and hadn't told anybody so nobody noticed the little box. I was delighted to have it back!

Now, if anybody knows where my white-cheeked rabbit went, that I lost when I was probably 5 or 6? Maybe on a Pan Am flight?

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 07 - 04:19 PM

Here's a customer-service miracle.

Last year I purchased, online, a waterproof MP3 player for my aqua-jogging. I use it to pace the workouts, not just for ear candy.

First miracle-- when I had first wanted a waterproof earbud player several years ago, Walkman (tapes) was the model for personal players, and a waterproof one was then about $400. No way! But last year, someone suggested a waterproof Ipod. It was the first I'd heard that such a thing was now available. I reviewed various available models, found an affordable one, and ordered it.

It changed my life. It lacked a few features my non-waterproof one has, that I'd assumed this would have, but it was pretty cool and very simple to operate. I used it daily, and took good care of it.

The earbud wire was the weakest point, and soon I had static in one ear or only one earbud operating at all. Expecting the other to fail at any time, and still under warranty, I requested a return authorization form from their Help department. They replied that instead, they would just send me a new headphone unit. It's not as simple as it sounds-- to keep the whole thing waterproof, the earbuds come out of a sealed, molded section that is the whole bottom third of the unit. I thought this was pretty good!

I waited and waited. It didn't arrive, nor did a promised backorder notice. I've been checking the mailbox daily, hoping to have the package....

I got mad, and yesterday I found the old email correspondence and resent it. The reply indicated that the guy I'd been writing to was no longer there, and how could the new guy help? I said he could send me the RMA, the promised earbud unit-- or a new unit altogether. (I was being sarcastic.)

Today's mail indicates that the new guy has decided to send me a whole, new unit-- an improved one that replaces the "backordered" one which is, actually, discontinued. Would I please look at the product & manual online to say if I want it?

So I looked at the owner's manual online, and it has all the features I was missing, plus more! It has one that will replace the batter-operated metronome in my pool kit that is wrapped in a Ziploc bag to keep it dry. I use that sometimes instead of the music, esecially when working with folks new to the sport to find what cadence fits their current level of fitness. I also use it to gauge my own progress up the fitness ladder at least twice a month.


The cost is only a few bucks above what I paid, but they are not charging me a dime. I would happily have paid for the upgrade!


It gets better-- they do not want to old one back. The old one will serve fine as a non-waterproof model for the car, and I can line out from it with stuff we already have. This neatly solves a pesky file storage and transfer problem of having a good amount of oldtime radio programs (and music of course) to enjoy with Hardi for the long drives our vacation will involve. We have each been enjoying some different CDs and radio series, separately on our personal players. Now we will be able to load up our favorites to share with each other and hear together.

Sometimes it works out right-- THAT's a miracle by any definition!

They say sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug? Sometimes the bug is not a bug that gets smashed, and is instead a butterfly that gets trapped in your car and finds its way out before it gets hurt-- I had one of those today, too, during my car-lunch break between workout sets.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 07 - 04:54 PM

Merriam-Webster Online:

Main Entry: mir·a·cle
Pronunciation: \ˈmir-i-kəl\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin miraculum, from Latin, a wonder, marvel, from mirari, to wonder at
Date: 12th century
1: an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs
2: an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment
3Christian Science: a divinely natural phenomenon experienced humanly as the fulfillment of spiritual law

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 31 May 07 - 05:23 PM

Wherever I went, wherever I was, whatever I did., I guess I had always been aware of something or someone being there with me. One of those things you can't seem to put into words or some 'other' thing which doesn't bear talking about.
Angels are considered in some circles as messengers from God but I had never received a message of any sort from an Angel so was not sure whether or not they really existed until the day of the car crash. I was twenty one years old and a bit of a tearaway but not the sort of lad to flout the law or harm other people. Rather I was the type to make a fool of myself in an effort to get other people laughing and having fun, as a consequence of which I was popular and considered good company.    I was not too badly injured but certainly shocked and concussed in the accident, which was caused by a patch of black ice on a blind bend. I was trapped inside the car and having to inhale the smoke coming from the fuel which had somehow caught fire. I just lay there waiting to be burnt to death or blown up as the gas tank ignited but felt myself losing consciousness and was only half aware of the figure who smiled at me as I was gently lifted clear of the car.
When I came round, I was alone and in the middle of nowhere, the 'figure' having gone and apparently left me there to the elements. It was then that my memory started working overtime or truly remembering the figure….a figure with wings!. I had been rescued from the car by a figure with wings…I knew it.. I had not imagined it, it was true. In spite of the fact that I was losing consciousness, it had registered with me that the smiling man, who lifted me out of the tangled wreck of my car, was a winged person.
Who could I tell of my revelation, who would listen to my story as I live in a world of human scepticism where many don't believe in God, never mind Angels.
I lay undiscovered in that field for several hours before someone came to my aid. A passing motorist had realized that not only was there a burning car in the field but my prostrate body some twenty feet from it. I heard words of comfort but cannot remember what was actually said by the lady motorist.
The next thing I truly remember is waking up in a hospital ward in a bed opposite an elderly gent who appeared to be having extreme difficulty breathing. There standing beside him was a tall figure, I would hazard a guess at around seven feet tall, who was smiling at me and was instantly recognizable as the person who had lifted me from the car at the scene of my accident. I watched as the figure took the man by the hand and coaxed him from his bed, only to walk with him out of the ward and down the corridor until out of sight. I looked back and was amazed to see the old man still lying in his bed. I must have drifted into unconsciousness again and when I woke I was surrounded by a group of hospital staff. Apparently I said "He has gone with that Angel, the mans gone". I was asked who I meant and I told them the man in the corner bed. They informed me that he had died and been taken to the mortuary pending an investigation into the cause of his death. At this point I was a little scared and still somewhat of a sceptic about all the events surrounding the crash, the person who lifted me out of the car and what had happened to this old man. I decided in my own head that I should put it all down to hallucination and tried to get some sleep, knowing it was the best thing I could do.
When I again woke up, I asked the nurse what had been wrong with the man in the corner bed and what she thought had caused his death. She told me he had been a heavy smoker and his arteries were all but blocked and that he had had his leg removed that morning and apparently not recovered from the operation. Now I was really bemused. How could he have walked out of the ward and down the corridor with only one leg?
I was feeling so low at this point that I did the thing that I always do when I get to my lowest points…I prayed to God. I was not a Christian, so I tried the usual prayer in which I attempted to 'bargain' with God ..you know the sort of thing…"God please see me through this O.K and I will……….".
Three days later, I was fully conscious and feeling much healthier when I had a visit from the Police regarding my accident with the car. I explained that I had driven round the corner and hit a patch of black ice, fishtailed and ended up in the field. I explained how a stranger had lifted me from the car before I had become unconscious. At this point, the Police officer said that I could not have been lifted from the car as all the doors were jammed shut from rolling over and all the windows were still closed, except the passenger side one which was smashed but was too narrow even for a cat to get through.
Now I was really feeling strange as the truth began to dawn on me. Now I knew that I had been rescued by an Angel, as an impossible task had been performed to save my life from the burning wreck of my car.
On further investigation, the Police realised that traces of my blood in the drivers side of the car indicated that I had in fact been in the drivers seat during the accident. I believe they thought I had leapt out of the car before it crashed and they had been trying to figure out why. I was questioned in depth about how I managed to get out of the car and although I knew, I claimed to not have known as I had been semi conscious or unconscious at the time.
This was the first of many encounters with my 'Guardian Angel' who I was eventually to get to know by name. I assumed that I would never see him again and that his sole purpose for being there was to rescue me from the wreck. How wrong can someone be? It did not even strike me that the Angel was in fact Gods messenger and helper and that he had been sent to help me through a traumatic accident. I was just pleased that he had been there.

This is part of the book I am writing, my autobiography, and concerns my experiences as a non-Christian and as a Christian eventually...it is copyrighted so may not be used for capital gain. Everything in my book will be the truth no matter how sceptical people may be. The proceeds from the book will be donated to charity.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: wysiwyg
Date: 31 May 07 - 05:41 PM

Wow!

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: GUEST,wordy
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:09 PM

So why were you chosen, and my friend Chris not? He bled to death in his car. Why were you chosen and not the children of Iraq and Afghanistan? Why were you chosen and not thousands of Jews in Germany?
How do you live with this knowledge?
I don't think I could unless I was meant to change the world of humanity.

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:25 PM

Perhaps in some ways I am changing the world of humanity but as the scriptures say...the ultimate change will come through the returning jesus Christ. If I can get but one person thinking that Jesus is the way the truth and the light....I will have made a change. What has happened to me has happened....what will happen to many others will happen...who am I to question the ways of the world and of our God?
All I can say is I am here and wish to do Gods will. I don't always get it right but I am at least trying to.
Best wishes, Mike.

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: GUEST,wordy
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:26 PM

Thought so!

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Ebbie
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:30 PM

Wordy, that question could probably be asked of everyone who has ever lived. For one thing, we often don't notice when something extraordinary has happened- we really have no way of knowing how often we or someone we love has come out unscathed from a perilous situation.

One evening while I was living alone in a large house museum I glanced at the clock and the thought came to me that if I hurried I could get downtown to the public library before it closed to return a checked out book. I didn't even question the impulse.The book wasn't even due yet although I had finished reading it.

Anyway I grabbed the book and my coat and trotted down the two flights of stairs and on out.

When I came home, it was evident that someone had been, not only in the house, but in my apartment.

I'm with Mike here- I think I was being guarded from a traumatic experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Miracles Do Happen
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 31 May 07 - 06:41 PM

A year last August my Mum died of lung cancer....why did that happen...she found out the previous November and it was inoperable.
I was once a Police officer..I saw many deaths at first hand and the trauma that people went through as a a result of it. Why does it happen to some and not others....perhaps I will ask God when I get there..assuming I will...I hope so. Life happens, often without explanation or reason...we just have to go with it and do what we all feel right....we all have choices.
Best wishes, Mike.