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The Price Of A Miracle
Sally was eight years old when she heard Mommy and Daddy
talking about her little brother, Georgi.He was very sick
and they had done everything they could afford to save his life.
Only a very expensive surgery could help him now and that was
out the financial question. She heard Daddy say with a whispered
desperation,"Only a miracle can save him now."
Sally went to her bedroom and pulled her piggy bank from its
hiding place in the closet. She shook all the change out on
the floor and counted it carefully. Three times... The total had
to be exactly perfect... No chance here for mistakes...
Tying the coins up in a kerchief, she slipped out of the
apartment and made her way to the corner drug store.
She waited patiently for the pharmacist to give her attention,
but he was too busy talking to another man to be bothered by
an eight year old. Sally twisted her feet to make a scuffing noise...
She cleared her throat... No good... Finally she took a quarter
from its hiding place and banged it on the glass counter.
That did it!!
"And what do you want?", the pharmacist asked in an annoyed
tone of voice. "I was talking to my brother."
"Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Sally answered back in the same annoyed tone. "HE'S SICK.... AND I WANT TO BUY A MIRACLE."
"I beg your pardon," said the pharmacist.
"My Daddy says only a miracle can save him now. How much does a miracle cost?"
"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I can't help you."
Sally replied "Listen, I have the money to pay for it... Just tell me how much it costs."
The other man, a well-dressed man, stooped down and asked, "What kind of a miracle does you brother need?"
"I don't know," Sally answered... A tear started down her cheek... "I just know he's really sick, and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my folks can't pay for it, so I have my money."
"How much money do you have?" asked the well-dressed man.
"A dollar and eleven cents," Sally answered proudly..."And it's all the money I have in the world..."
"Well, what a coincidence," smiled the well-dressed man. A dollar
and eleven cents... The exact price of a miracle to save a little
brother. He took her money in one hand and with the other hand he grasped her mitten and said, "Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents."
That well-dressed man was Dr. Carlton Armstrong, renowned surgeon, specializing in solving Georgi's Malady. The operation was completed without charge and it wasn't long until Georgi was home again and doing well...Mommy and Daddy
were happily talking about the chain of events that had led them
to this place. "That surgery...,"Mommy whispered, "It's like a miracle. I wonder how much it would have cost? "
Sally smiled to herself...
She knew exactly how much a miracle cost... One dollar and eleven cents... Plus the faith of a little child.
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