----MYSTERIOUS WAYS~~

-[MORE THAN COINCIDENCE = GOD IS ALWAYS IN CONTROL~]

--I wanted my son's funeral to be a celebration of his life. Patrick was only 26 years old when he died of an accidental overdose. There's no grief like that of a parent who's lost a child. But I didn't want that grief to overshadow my love for my son. I wanted to remember Patrick as he'd been before addiction took him from us--a kind, funny boy who was willing to help others.

We'd scheduled the funeral Church Service on Halloween, which was one of his favorite holidays. We encouraged guests to wear orange and black--a nod to the day, as well as the colors of Patrick's beloved football team, the Cincinnati Bengals.

We'd rented out a hall for friends and family to gather afterward. My husband, Brian, and I sat at one of the folding tables. Neither of us was very hungry, but family members had insisted that we eat. I was picking at some potato salad when I looked up to see our friend Steve coming toward our table. He was sporting a Bengals jersey. If anyone could understand our pain, it was Steve. His own daughter had died a few yeas earlier.

"Check it out," said Steve, spinning around to show us the back of the jersey. He'd modified the name with duct tape. Instead of the original player's name it said PATCH. Patrick's nickname. He'd also used tape to make new numbers...a two and a four. 24 ~

"Why did you put that number 24?" I asked him.
"Because it was Patrick's age...um...." he said. Wasn't it?"

"No, he was 26, I said.

Steve looked horrified. "I'm so sorry, "he said. "I didn't mean------"

"No, don't be sorry," Brian cut in. "It's just.....24 was Patrick's favorite number. It was Ken Griffey, Jr.'s number. Patrick chose it for all his baseball and basket ball jerseys."

Not only that. ever since he was a little boy, Patrick had claimed 24 as his signature number. It was tacked to the end of all his e-mail addresses and passwords. When asked to pick a number at random--any number--Patrick always chose 24.

It may have been just a simply mistake, but I don't believe that. I know it was Heaven's way of letting my husband and me know that our Patrick was safe in Heaven. ~~

--GUIDEPOSTS/JW~
--["Now You Belong To Heaven"/ Mari Olsen / <https://youtu.be/pFjAXHmjxQk>
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