Yitta Halberstam - Small Miracles for Women: Extraordinary Coincidences of Heart and Spirit

Also available by Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal

Small Miracles from Beyond:

Dreams, Visions and Signs that Link Us to the Other Side

STERLING ETHOS and the distinctive Sterling logo are registered trademarks of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.

This Sterling Ethos edition published in 2015.

2000 Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal

New content 2015 Yitta Halberstam and Judith Leventhal

First edition published in 2000 by Adams Media Corporation.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (including electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

eBook ISBN 978-1-4549-1639-0

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In loving memory of my mother, Claire Halberstam, a visionary and an original, who was truly authentic to herself, and is still sorely missed today.

~ Yitta Halberstam

For my mother, Rose Frankel, and my mother-in-law and aunt of blessed memory, Anne Leventhal and Margaret Handler. Each one an exemplary woman in her own right.

~ Judith Leventhal

PREFACE

Our thanks go first and foremost to YOU, our cherished readers, whose enthusiasm for the message of our books has been boundless and immensely gratifying. Since the first Small Miracles book was published in 1997, we have been both inundated, and enormously moved, by your kind letters, heartened to know that our series has brought you joy and comfort. Your excitement has in turn galvanized us, and therefore you are the true co-creators of our books. We applaud YOU for your open hearts and warm response, as well as the hundreds of incredible stories you have sent along our way.

After Sterling Publishing published a new book in the series, Small Miracles from Beyond (which came out in Fall 2014), we were thrilled that they also decided to relaunch Small Miracles for Womensince women are our biggest supporters and most ardent fans. Small Miracles books have been published in China, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, France, Brazil, Argentina, Korea, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Hungary, Israel, Germany, and Canada, and worldwide, women are our primary readers. Thank you for creating this global phenomenon!

The overwhelming support of women for our books doesnt really surprise us: Women always seem to be in tune with the messages sent to us through the miracle of coincidences. We know that we tend to live more in our hearts than in our heads, and we filter reality through the prism of spirit. Some would argue that women are more intuitive than men, more open to lifes mysteries, more mystically inclined, and we would certainly agree.

Despite our ever-demanding schedules and crazy, harried lives, women especially need to take time to stop and see the magic of the tiniest moments. These are Small Miracles, and we dedicate this book to you.

This collection celebrates the milestones and markers of every womans life: birth, love, marriage, friendship, and beyond. We have searched the country to find true stories that would speak to women of all ages and of all faiths. Quite simply, Small Miracles for Women addresses our shared experiencesthe triumphs and the defeats, the celebrations and the losses sustained during a lifetime. And woven throughout these stories is the magic, the sense of awe, the understanding that these experiences are being orchestrated by a loving hand that gently guides and connects us all.

Do women live too deeply? Being conscious, being awake, being open is part of the divine experience, part of feeling integrated into the cosmic order. So we say, you can never live deeply enough! We hope that this book will continue to open doors into that deeper, more profound experience and be a corridor to the mindfulness that makes life that much more sweet. For in a world where chaos and a sense of existential meaninglessness often swirl around us, possessing the knowledge that we are part of a divine plan and have sacred purpose is infinitely comforting.

May we all continue to be blessed with Small Miraclesboth large and smalland with the wisdom to recognize them when they touch our lives.

THE HOUSE AT THE END OF THE LANE

The pain hit with sudden fury. No, thought Monica. I cant be having this baby now. Not here in the car!

Frantically, she looked around. The country road was dark and deserted. No house beckoned, no phone booth appeared. Outside, icy winds pounded the car. It was almost midnight, New Years Eve 1998, and she was all alone. The pain lashed so hard she couldnt hit the brake.

How had it come to this? Only two days ago, her doctor had smiled reassuringly. Everything looks fine, Monica. The baby should be here mid-February. Confident she wouldnt deliver for six weeks, Monica had decided to make the hours drive to her parents house in Maryland and surprise them for New Years Eve. Now here she was, on the outskirts of her hometown, screaming with terror as she felt the baby coming right in the car.

Just go to the hospital. Its only ten minutes away, she told herself. But it was no use. She could feel the baby about to appear. Oh God, please dont let it come just yet; its going to suffocate.... Please God.... Fighting back hysteria, she took off her shoes so she could pull down her pants. She was now near her old high school. As she desperately tried to figure out how to drive and deliver the baby at the same time, she noticed a neighborhood shed never seen before. She turned into it and found herself on a little cul-de-sac. Somehow, she maneuvered the car to a stop and stumbled out into the freezing night.

Four houses, all with lights on, faced her. Grandma, Monica prayed. You can see from heaven. Help me. Where should I go?

Without thinking, without understanding why, Monica ran past the three houses that were closest. Staggering with excruciating pain, shivering in her stocking feet, feeling the baby coming any second, Monica chose the house that was farthest away.

Help me! she screamed, pounding on the door. Im having a baby! Call 911!

No one answered. Dont make me deliver my baby all by myself on this porch, God... help me, please...

Dont let her in. A man was speaking on the other side of the door. Theres a crazy lady out there.

Now a womans voice answered, softly but firmly. Im opening the door anyway, she said.

The door swung open. An elderly woman in a bathrobe waved Monica inside. Dont worry, she said kindly. My daughter is here.

In the upstairs bedroom of her parents house, Dianne slept, oblivious to the pandemonium below. That morning in Virginia, the snow had been falling so hard that she had almost decided to cancel her visit to her parents. But by early afternoon, the snow had let up enough for her to risk the four-hour drive to Maryland. The trip had been exhausting, and Dianne had fallen asleep at ten oclock, too tired to join her parents as they rang in the New Year.