After Lauren died, Tara had Lauren’s roses that her classmates carried for graduation, made into several beautiful rosaries, key chains and bracelets. I was so excited to receive a rosary key chain from her. It was very special to me. I decided to use it for my work keys so that every time I used them I would take a break from the chaos and remember what was important. (I use my work keys numerous times a day- unlocking the pharmacy, refunds at the register, unlocking the narcotic drawer, etc.)
On the day of the Mass, I gave a refund at the register around 2 PM. When I took the keys out of my pocket, I remember the feeling distinctly. I had agonized over not being able to be with Tara that night, yet in that moment the key chain reminded me that I had a piece of Lauren with me at work. I remember finding peace in the fact that I was with them in spirit, thoughts, and prayer. I finished the refund, looked at my key chain, smiled and put it back in my pocket. It was no doubt the beautiful silver that it always was. I spent the rest of the evening trying to squeeze in a prayer every now and then between filling scripts. A few minutes after 6 PM, I had to unlock the narcotic drawer to fill a prescription for a scheduled II drug. When I pulled the keys out of my pocket and gazed at them, I was in utter shock of what my eyes were seeing. The rosary beads on the key chain that 4 hours ago were all silver were now undeniably GOLD! Although, I knew it had always been silver, I began questioning myself thinking that I was obviously mistaken and just never noticed the beads being gold before. I immediately took a picture with my phone and texted it to Tara with this message, “Am I crazy? Were these beads always gold?” Of course, she wasn’t able to answer in Mass, so it wasn’t until the next morning that we spoke. I made her get the other rosaries to check. They were all silver- another confirmation of what just occurred. Although in my heart, I never doubted the beautiful gift that was given to me, my mind couldn’t comprehend until Aunt Glenda, Tara’s mom came into the pharmacy the next morning. Tara had told her of my experience. Aunt Glenda was going through the same thing. She also had been given a rosary from Tara made out of the same roses from Lauren. While she was saying the rosary at the Mass with Tara, she looked down at her rosary and saw all of the silver beads had turned to gold. Like me, she thought to herself that they used to be silver, but must have been mistaken. It wasn’t until we spoke and compared notes that we realized my rosary key chain and her rosary had both turned gold at 6 PM during the recitation of the rosary that night. Never again did we doubt the miraculous gift that had been given to us.
In the days following, I felt the need to show and tell people of this experience. I knew that I would be faced with skepticism, disbelief, and doubt. In an effort to have an answer for these doubters, I showed my key chain to my friend who is a jeweler. She examined it under the scope and verified that it was not tarnished and that the gold color was uniform across the entire bead which would not be the case if it had discolored from wear and tear. She smiled and told me, “The only thing that could do this is Jesus and rainbows.” In addition, I called the lady that made the rosaries for us. I questioned her in detail about the bead casings that she used. She verified that she always used silver because the gold ones were too expensive. She went on to explain that she uses two different types of casings for the key chains and the rosaries, so they wouldn’t even turn the same if that was the case because they were made from different materials. She also concurred with me that it was a work of God.
I have learned many things from this experience. I have learned that you can chose to believe or not believe, but life is so much more beautiful and meaningful when you believe in miracles. I learned that God and his angels are not some magic power high in the heavens just watching. They are here with us participating in our lives daily, waiting for the opportunity to reveal themselves to us in our everyday experiences. I no longer believe in coincidences. Chalking something up to coincidence to me is just denying the power of God and his blessings.
I have always struggled between the desire to pray more and not having the opportunity to do so because of the chaos of work and busyness of family life. I often, did not have time to say the rosary, but would say a Glory Be, Hail Mary, and Our Father on each of the three beads on that key chain. Although I had heard of rosaries turning gold, I had never heard of a rosary key chain turning gold. I took that as a specific gift to me to let me know that as long as we do what we can, with what we have, in the circumstances we are in; that’s all God wants of us. It’s more about our willingness, motive, and effort than it is about the act itself.
Kim Wixson
11/20/10