The Park Bench

I am sure that anyone who has ever needed desperately to sell a house can relate to how hectic and exasperating an experience it can be. During the summer of 1989, we had been in just such a predicament. My husband was very ill and we were financially strapped to the hilt.

I had asked Venerable Father Solanus Casey to intercede to help us sell our house and find an affordable home we could rent when ours sold.
One of the lovely things I have always appreciated about Father Solanus, was his rich Irish sense of humor. Being Irish myself, it certainly kept me amused as each new obstacle came into the mix that summer. At each new challenge, some amusing thing would happen to solve the problem. And it was always as a result of a direct prayer to Venerable Father Solanus. When the A/C broke, and we had no money to fix it, Father Solanus promptly came through. A bolt of lightening struck it one night and melted it. The insurance company paid for a brand new one. From then on, I grew to expect an answer with an impish Irish twist to it.

Whenever our friends would ask,”Where will you move to?” I would reply with a smile…”Knowing Solanus, it will be a Park bench, but it will be a nice one.”
By mid August our contract with our realtor was running out. My faith was getting a bit shaky by then. On August 14th, I exclaimed to Father Solanus in my nightly prayer…”Times running out. You better ask Our Lady to intercede, because Gods not listening to you. “

Early the next morning…on the feast of “The Assumption,” we received an offer and sold the house. It was such a good offer that, we only had 30 days to find a rental house and move. In the weeks that followed we were having no luck finding a place we could afford. On September 5th, I said one more prayer to Solanus. I simply said…”Solanus, we are indeed going to end up on a park bench if you don’t do something quick. Within 30 minutes the phone rang. The man on the phone said he had received my call on his answering machine, but he exclaimed he was very puzzled. He said he didn’t have an ad in the paper. He had just decided to rent his new town home that very day instead of selling it, so he had no idea where I got his number. In the end, Father Solanus once again came through in our need. The house closed and we were able to move on schedule. And the icing on the cake was that the home was on ‘Park Drive.” Solanus I know punctuated his answer with his Irish sense of humor once more. WE lived on that Park bench quite comfortably for the next seven years.