THE MUSIC BOX

Though I am a woman of faith, I wasn’t raised in a religious household. I was sent to preschool at a church, though, which must have been where I heard about Heaven and why I wondered if my grandpa was there. 

Night after night I lay in my bed after he died asking God to tell me if he was ok.

I didn’t know much about his beliefs, but I knew he was a good and kind man, and if there was a place for those, he would be there.  

It didn’t occur to me that I was asking for something unusual…for God, or my grandpa, to give me a sign.

Several years passed without any sign that I could understand. Then, one night…

I kept a music box on my nightstand. It had been given to me by my grandmother and grandfather and played the song, “Yesterday”, by the Beatles, when it was open.

Except, I rarely heard the music play, because it contained a flattened penny I had made and a special bracelet my brother had brought back to me from Denmark, so I kept the box closed to protect its contents.

Then, one night, as I was going to sleep with my back to the box (yes, you know what’s coming…), I began to hear the music play. “Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away…”

Though I instantly knew what was happening, I couldn’t understand how it had possibly opened and started playing. I never kept the box wound, and I certainly hadn’t opened it.

Yet,there it was. Playing!

I flew from my bed, lucky not to get my feet tangled up in the sheets, and ran down the stairs to my mother, who was sitting in the living room.

My mom said something about a “herd of buffalo” and asked me why I was running.

Even though I wasn’t really afraid - I had, after all, asked for a sign - but that was the first of my unusual experiences, and it was pretty unsettling. 

After I caught my breath, I told my mother about the many times I had asked for a sign that grandpa was ok, and she confessed that she had been asking, too. 

Well, clearly I got mine. I’ll tell you about hers another time.