It appears to be a homemade Christmas ornament – a glass ball containing some kind of gold substance with a gold ribbon hot glued around the circumference. It is however an amazing story of an acquaintance being in the right place at the right time. It is a story of a one of a kind gift.

In the Spring of 2011, a friend would contact me stating that someone was trying to contact me and asking permission to forward my contact information to said person. I said “sure”. On Easter Saturday that someone would call and ask to stop by. They had something they knew I would want. My daughter and son-in-law were visiting. We were all slightly curious and a little skeptical so we said “fine, stop by”. The someone and his wife arrived carrying a plain brown box and a DVD. We invited them in and he proceeded to tell us about the contents of the box and the DVD. Before he started to speak his wife commented “watching the DVD was like watching grass grow”. Okay?!? He opened the box and it contained a plastic bag of metal shavings. Strange?!? And then he told us “I have been working at the company that is engraving the panels for the September 11 Memorial. I was working the day they engraved Bruce’s name. These are the shavings from his name being engraved. I also took a video of his name being engraved. You can’t show this to anyone until after the panels are installed” Oh my, I was amazed and ashamed of my attitude and dumfounded. Wow!!

In December of 2011, my daughter and I filled 3 glass balls with those shavings and glued a ribbon around the circumference. We made one for me and one for each of my daughters. That ornament hangs on my tree (and their trees) and I am ever reminded of how God uses everything to remind us of His love.