Dimes From Heaven - Our Story
By Riley deRyk (Allison)
This is the story of how a missed exam turned into learning about one of the most impactful, healing, and incredible concepts of my life.
I was in 4th year university when Carley was really sick, it was just that summer the day before Sammy, Carley, and I had our joined birthday party, that Carley got the news her cancer was back. So 4th year university for me was a combination of coming home as much as possible, and doing just enough to get through classes.
As Carley's cancer quickly progressed that year it was very clear to me that being at home with her, my parents, and Sammy, was where I wanted and needed to be. So when she was moved to palliative care during my exams it really wasn't a question of where I would be, and looking back now I wouldn't change it for the world. Those were the hardest weeks of my life, but I also got to be with Car, and anytime with her is something I will cherish forever.
I missed 3 exams. 2 of which I was allowed to write after the exam period, and one of which I had to meet my professor to discuss what the plan was going to be. To be honest I was confused, why do I have to meet with her? Does she want to talk to me about Carley? Recommend I retake the class? It just seemed odd.
When I finally arrived in her office she asked me to sit down and she offered her condolences. She too had lost a loved one recently to cancer. This is when I thought "Oh she's going to try to relate, tell me she knows how it feels to loose someone", something people often did to try and help. As genuine and sincere the gesture it never quite felt relevant, I lost my sister, my best friend at 19, it just didn't feel like a relatable situation to me. But nevertheless I politely listened and she continued.
She started telling me about something one of her friends told her when she lost her mom, that she would start finding dimes. I internally sighed, although I would consider my self to be a spiritual person, I was having a hard time with concepts like "fate" and "everything happens for a reason" these days, so finding coins as a sign from heaven was not something I was quite ready to hear.
She told me all about her experience, what the concept Dimes from Heaven is suppose to mean, essentially a gift or sign from an angel letting you know they are thinking of you, or they are here with you in that moment, that they aren't really so far away. She was a science professor of a 4th year class talking to me about the concept of finding signs from heaven, and that got me a bit, so I kept listening.
She told me a story about her first vacation to Florida after loosing her mom. She packed a dress her mom made for her along with various other items for trip. When she arrived in Florida she unpacked, and as she unfolded the dress her mom made for her, sitting right on top of the dress was a perfectly placed dime. That was her first of hundreds of dimes she has now found in unique and meaningful places since she lost her mom.
And that was it, that was my exam, she wanted to share with me something that might help me feel connected to Carley even though she was gone.
I left her office, I passed the class, and as I walked back into my student house right there on the floor in the middle of the entry way was a dime. Not 20 minutes since I learned about the concept and hardly believed it, there she was essentially yelling at me to listen. I stared, I was amazed but still skeptical. I went to my room to get ready for my next exam, put a little make up on and brush my hair. I opened my make up bag and yes, dime, right there on the top. We're now about 3o minutes since I learned about Dimes From Heaven, and here Carley was telling me to listen.
That was it. It was that simple, I was listening.
I went home to share the story with my parents and Sammy who all listened with excitement, not scepticism as I had, because why not, any way to feel close to Carley has to be a good thing. They were right of course, it was the start of one of the most healing things we were going to experience as a family.
Since then we have found dimes, or better yet, dimes have found us. All over the world, in the most unusual places at the most meaningful times. Like the dime in the photo above, found the day Taylor asked me to marry him in our backyard on a random Tuesday evening. Below is a collection of photos from some of my favourite Dimes From Heaven.
To date my Dad has collected over 2000 Dimes From Heaven from our family and friends, that he keeps in a book taped with the date and the story of who found it and when. So to say we are grateful to my professor would be a huge understatement.
If you have a Dimes From Heaven story, we'd love to hear it, please submit your stories here.
