What’s the weirdest coincidence you’ve ever experienced?
9/5/26
7:14 pm
Actually, it wasn’t pennies but quarters.
Early in my divorce process, I started working full-time but was still barely making ends meet, and I sometimes, if money was short, had to get help with some things. The regular issue at that time was doing laundry.
I worked in fast food. This meant my aprons and uniforms constantly needed to be washed. I would sometimes hand wash the aprons and then iron them dry. It was when the work shirts got covered in food and started looking dingy that weekly laundry became a problem, financially. We were expected to keep the shirts looking bright and white.
I remember that day, realizing that I was going to be short on funds for the laundromat and gas for my car.
I first asked my mother if I could use her washer and dryer. Instead of just a “yes” or “no”, she gave me a whole list of things that I could do for her while I was there. She and her husband were going to be out for that afternoon. She expected that list of things to be accomplished and me also paying her for the “convenience”. I turned it down. As I have written before, any help from my mother or my siblings came with strings attached, always.
I then called my ex-husband and asked him if I could do a load of laundry at his house. At that point, we were amicable about the divorce with a focus on our kid’s well-being, or so I thought. He also gave me a long list of chores to be accomplished while I was there. This included his and the kid’s laundry, the dishes, and cooking them dinner. All the things I previously did as the wife and mother. He also threw in that they needed more laundry soap and dryer sheets. The whole purpose of my call was that I was short on the funds needed to do the laundry in the first place. I passed on that too, much to his annoyance.
I loaded up the laundry baskets into my car, double-checking to make sure I had enough gas to get to the location and back. I also had to make sure there was enough to get to work the next day. It was two days before my payday. I had been doing extra shifts and also overtime, expecting a bigger payday than previous weeks. I just had to make it through one more day.
I had to travel to a laundromat on the other side of town where it was kind of rundown. The washers were not great, and it took forever to dry the clothes, but it was cheap. The washers were $1.25 per wash, and the dryers were $.25 per cycle at that location. The drying cycle only lasted 15 minutes. The dryers were warm at best, never hot. I was going to do the best I could with the $5 in cash that I had left. I thought I could get at least two washers and 8 drying cycles out of it. The clothes would not be completely dry but also not soaking wet. I could hang them up in my apartment with the fans going. The laundry room at my apartment was $5 per wash and $3 per dryer.
I took a chance even though the distance meant losing some of the gas in the tank that was sitting just between half and a quarter on the gauge. I made it to the laundromat, and it was empty except for the attendant. She was ironing clothes as she watched game shows on the television. I brought my clothes to the washer and stopped, then felt like crying. They had raised the prices.
The washers were now $1.50 per wash, and the dryers went up to $.50 per cycle. I asked the attendant if they had increased the drying cycles or updated the dryers. She said no. I had just enough for two washers and only 4 drying cycles. I knew nothing was going to get dry and possibly not clean. I was already there with only enough gas to get back home. Then barely enough to get back and forth to work the following day.
I had no other choice and threw the clothes in the washer. I then went to my car. I started pulling up the floor mats, digging between the seats, and looking throughout the whole car for any spare change. All I found was a few pennies. My anxiety was starting to go up. I felt defeated.
I went in and sat on the row of seats facing the washers. I could not call anyone, and I was not going to call my ex-husband, my siblings, and especially not my mother for any help. I did not have any close friends either.
The washer finished, and I stood there deliberating which clothes could possibly get dry first, or at least be only slightly damp the next morning before work. A sock fell onto the floor as I was removing the clothes, and I bent over to pick it up. All of a sudden, two dollars in quarters fell out of my pants pocket. I just stood there in disbelief. I did not have any change in my pockets or my purse before I arrived. I had gone through everything while waiting for the washers to finish. I did not hear it jingle when I sat down or while walking around. It just appeared out of thin air. I had enough to finish my laundry, and remarkably, everything got dried.
I drove home and watched the gas gauge, trying to mentally calculate if I had enough to get back and forth to work the next morning. I had used the last $5 that I had to do laundry. I thought someone would have let me use their washer and dryer. They knew that I was struggling, but it seemed like they enjoyed watching me go through it. They were smug about it.
I stopped by the apartment mailboxes and picked up the mail after the trip to the laundry. I was heating up leftovers for dinner as I went through my desk to see if I had at least a couple of dollars to put into the tank after work the next day. I just needed enough to make it home because my direct deposit went into the bank early the morning after. I could fill up my car then.
I stopped to look at the bills and began throwing away the junk mail. An envelope fell onto the floor, and it was a mailer from Nielsen ratings. “A thank you from us to you” was written on the outside, with a promise to earn bigger rewards if you participated in their surveys. I opened it. There was a $5 bill inside with a questionnaire. It stated a promise of another $5 for completing it. I felt a sense of relief in that moment. I did not have to ask anyone for help. I bought a little gas after work the next day.
I completed the survey, and a month later I received another $5 in the mail.
It was in those brief moments that I truly felt that the universe was hearing my thoughts about needing help. It could see my struggle and gave me just a small push to keep moving.
Those same envelopes have shown up a few more times over the last 12 years when I just needed a small push. I always thought that was a weird coincidence since they are supposedly random.
That period in my life is when I learned to throw that constant worry about the bills and finances out to the universe. I let it be what it was going to be. I remind myself that bills are inevitable, that we make money, lose money, and make money again. This is our whole life in a capitalist society.
I came to the realization that by letting go of my negative experiences about money and how others treated me because of money, it would be okay.
It is now 12 years later, and despite all the struggle that I went through, I am safe, secure, and stable. The only things I ever wanted.
I no longer need the “pennies from heaven” or those random envelopes, but I am grateful when they do appear. They remind me to keep going.
Thank you so much for stopping by and supporting this blog.
Have a fabulous week!
Peace, love, happiness, and good vibes, always!
Suzanne
love to bake 