Is it a coincidence or a miracle?
I frequently ponder whether there is a God and, if so, how would I know? Despite not being especially religious, there is a particular instance that springs to me when I consider the existence of God and his validity. Although a small part of me believes it to be a coincidence, this moment doesn't really feel like one.
With my mother, brother, and boyfriend, I was on a summer vacation to celebrate my high school graduation. Even though we were staying at a beach in my hometown, the trip qualified as a vacation. My mother was monitoring some cameras she had set at my grandmother's home on one of the days we were there. My 93-year-old grandma had recently collapsed and was unable to go to her phone to call anyone. At the time, my aunt, who was my mom's sister, resided with my grandma, but she wasn't there in the fall either. My grandma was too proud to wear a life alarm necklace, so my mum decided to install cameras to make sure this didn't happen again. When there was activity, these cameras sent notifications to my mom's phone, and an hour or so had passed before she checked the cameras. My grandma exiting the house without her cane was captured on camera in the brief clip that was made available. My grandmother was not permitted to be driving at the time since she had suffered a concussion a few months earlier, and my aunt was not at home. Naturally, my mum started to freak out and kept calling my grandmother, only to discover that she had left her phone at home. My mum then called my aunt, who took a drive to my grandmother's favorite locations in the neighborhood to see if she could locate her. My grandmother, it turned out, was getting her nails done at a neighboring strip mall. My aunt followed her home once she was done, passing by a McDonald's drive-through. We all found this amusing, and we were just relieved that she was secure.
The following evening, my mother received a call from my aunt while she, my older brother, and I were out to dinner at a nearby bar. She was informed that my grandmother had fallen and had been transported to the hospital by ambulance. My mother assured us that everything was fine before leaving my brother and I at the bar/restaurant while she drove the car to the hospital. She stated we should have fun but that she would call if anything major happened. A little over an hour later, my mom called us in trouble. My brother had to sprint from the restaurant to our condo to fetch his pickup since we knew it wasn't good. My boyfriend and I made an effort to keep up as he ran barefoot for more than a mile. He went and retrieved his pickup, picking us up en route. We realized it was too late once we arrived at the hospital.
My mother chose to see the video of the incident the following day because she couldn't help herself. The previous night, despite having received them all day, she had not received any movement alerts. She looked and looked, but she was never able to locate the video of my grandma collapsing, the emergency personnel arriving, my aunt clearing the scene, or anything else connected to the incident. We were completely taken aback by this, especially since she collapsed in front of a camera in the kitchen.
This was and still is a miracle to my family and I. She was able to get her nails done and eat a cheeseburger the day before she passed away. Everyone shared what they loved about her as we talked about her throughout the day, not realizing that we would never see her again. In a way, I am happy that my aunt saw what happened because she is much more resilient than most. I am aware that my mother would not have been able to stomach seeing what happened. I make an effort to persuade myself that God kept us safe that night and spared us from seeing something we didn't need to see. Even though it didn't seem conceivable, he gave her a day to do as she pleased. He let us to all discuss her and how she had affected our lives. It might, however, just be a coincidence.