TownTalk Ag, Politics, & Commentary with Dan Jackson, Lucky Coins

Listen to the show

Commentary By: Dan Jackson

This week will be a departure from the norm. I have to start with a little background first…My Mom used to always keep Wheat Pennies when she found them in her change. It was something she just always did. Well naturally I as an adult have done the same thing, and these days they are increasingly hard to find. Well a month ago I look through my change and what do you know, a Wheat Penny. I just smile and think about Mom…Well, I put it in the small pocket on my jeans that I carry an 1881 Morgan Silver Dollar and a 1946 Walking Half dollar. The 1946 Walking Half is special because it’s the year my folks were married.

So, jump forward about two weeks and the Wheat Penny is gone. It’s nowhere to be found. I searched every pair of jeans, the laundry room and even found a couple of coins in the washer, but no Wheat Penny. It had disappeared! Well I thought I’d just watch and see if I found another one. Well few days later I’m moving clothes from the washer to dryer, and I get ready to start another load in the washer. Well I reach down in the basket we have a laying right there on a pair of jeans is THE WHEAT PENNY! Now it wasn’t there when I walked in the room and it wasn’t there when I started moving stuff…Yes cue the Twilight Zone theme…I stopped and picked it up, and just held it for a minute. I thought okay Mom I get it, and just smile. My Mom will have been gone for three years this April…

Now you remember I mentioned how I found coins in the washer, and got them out… Well this weekend before last I was once again doing some laundry. I open up the washer and get ready to start loading clothes into it, and I see a nickel lying inside the washer tub. So I reach in a pick it up, and it’s a 1953 silver nickel…1953 is the year my brother Don was born, and it was on February 23rd which is my parents anniversary. They would have celebrated number 73 this year. So once again, I think Wow…Thanks Big Brother…

While these may seem like wild coincidences, and maybe they are…I like to think maybe it’s just Mom and Don letting me know they’re checking in on me. What makes it even better is the flood of memories each occasion brought to mind, and the smile they each brought. It is nice to think that maybe our family and friends who’ve gone on before us still look in and in some small way let us know they are around. I hope maybe you thought of your own loved ones and this brought a smile to your face for a few minutes….