At roughly a month old, I came down with bacterial spinal meningitis. Fighting for my life, I was rushed to Geisinger. One day my parents received a phone call that they should return to the hospital to say their good-byes. They were told I would not make it thru the night and I would need a miracle to survive. My godfather asked the nuns at the Carmelite monastery for prayer. They assured him that they would pray thru the intercession of, St. Theresa of the Little Flower. They gave him a relic to put in my crib at the hospital.
 

My parents returned, kept vital and relied on the faithful prayers of the “Little Flower.” The following morning I appeared to be getting better but the doctors told my anguished mother and father that the damage was already done. I would never walk or talk, see or hear and would spend a lifetime as a mentally challenged person. But nothing the doctors told my parents came true. God had healed me! And my entire life the “Little Flower” was on my consciousness daily and her fidelity to me throughout my life was amazing. She was always there beside me.
 

In August of 2011, (50 years after my St. Theresa of the Little Flower miracle) I sent a thank you letter to the Carmelites(better late than never). Two months later, I was at my college Alma mater(Alvernia University). A man I knew casually approached me and told me he and his family were on a cruise in Alaska in August(right after I sent my thank you letter). They disembarked and while walking came upon a sign.
 

“I immediately thought of you!”he said(even though he knew nothing of my St. Theresa story).
 

He handed me a manila envelope. I opened it to find a picture of a rustic sign that read, “The Shrine of St. Theresa.”
“Which St. Theresa?” I asked .

“The Little Flower,” he replied.

“She's my patron saint and I have a great story about her,” I said and then thanked him for the picture.

“I don't know what God wants me to do with this but he will show me,” I continued confidently.
 

The next morning my mentor, Sister Danielle, emailed me and asked if I would pray for a baby in her family. His name was baby Matthew, he was 3 weeks old, he was in the hospital and needed a miracle of healing because he had spinal meningitis! Everything was identical to me as a child plus God brought St. Therese into the mix. I told her I would pray through St. Therese of the Little Flower. I prayed fervently for Baby Matthew Friday, Sat and Sunday. Monday morning I emailed Sister Danielle to see if baby Matthew had survived the weekend.

“He not only survived the weekend he is home with his family. All is well! Praise God!” she said.
 

I was so grateful to have been able to come full circle in my life and pray for baby Matthew just like the Carmelites had prayed for me.

I knew my thank-you letter to them opened the way for everything else to transpire.
 

Gratitude opens our lives to abundance. And I am abundantly blessed.