This article was published in the "Martinelli Newspapers" in the November 16 , 2006 weekly issue of The Westchester Crusader, The Rye Chronicle, The Eastchester Record, The Pelham Sun, The Sound View News Home News & Times, The Mt. Vernon Independent, Harrison Independent
and North Castle News

Life and Money TM - "Losing and Finding - Part 3 "

By Frank Sisco, CPA, PFS

Copyright 2006 Frank Sisco

Cell - 914.589.1013; Email – ideasmoney@aol.com

www.LifeAndMoney.com

(Word count =942 plus 68 words for About the Author)

Issues about life and money are impacted significantly by confidence and faith in God and that other people will do the right thing.    Here are excerpts from emails I received from two women among the many people who have responded to prior columns about how I lost and recovered my laptop computer.

#1. To me from Mrs. D. on 11/3/06 at 1:08 pm:

"Two months ago my father, who lives in Brazil, called me with very sad news. His dog Ralph had disappeared. Ralph is a miniature pinscher that was adopted by my father years ago and since all the kids are married and out of the house, it became his "baby."   I knew the negative impact that this could have in my father and I prayed to God every day that he would find Ralph and that nothing would happen to the dog.

My father got very depressed and even though he never lost hope, the thought of having his baby lost in the city of Sao Paulo was unbearable and, together with other problems, the result was devastating.   Ten days later I received another call, this time from my sister Simone to tell me in tears that my father had a heart attack and was in the hospital's intensive care unit.   My sisters and my brother went to see him, but I could not make the trip. The only thing that I could do was to get on my knees and pray to the Heavenly Father for support and to help my father get through this hard time so I could see him again.   My father spent a month in the hospital and had to undergo double bypass surgery.   It is a month now that he is home and he is, thanks to God, doing well.

Last Sunday (10/29) my father called me and asked if I could guess who was at his house. My first response was that my brother, who lives in another state, was there to visit him. His answer was no.   It wasn't my brother; it was Ralph, his trusted companion.   I started screaming with happiness and saying, "Thank you God, thank you God, I knew you were there". My father explained how his dog Ralph was recovered.   A friend of the family was at church talking with a lady about her dog that had died when this lady turned and said: "You know, a month ago a tiny dog showed up at my door steps and he was hurt, thirsty and hungry. I have been taking care of him since then, but would like to find his owner."   My father's friend then said: " I know someone who lost his dog (referring to my father).   Would you mind if we come over to your house to see if the dog is his?   She responded: "No problem"" When she arrived with Ralph at my father's house, he was amazed to see again his "baby."

My father is so happy and we are all amazed by the love God has for His children and that He is listening to our prayers.   In the last two months my father and my family have been doing nothing but praying. We have been praying for my father to get better and if it wasn't asking too much, also to find Ralph.   And God answered our prayers. I feel so blessed. My father has recognized the hand of God in his life and is very grateful for it. We did not pray for 1 day, we did not pray for a week, we prayed until. I believe in God and prayer is the way I communicate with him all the time. Thanks for the opportunity to share my testimony of prayer."

#2 - To me from Mrs. H. on 10/26/06 at 7:08 pm:

One of the two instances, Mrs. H. emailed me about is as follows: "My sister and I were dropping my brother-in-law off at the NYC Marathon. We were just over the bridge in Staten Island. We were removing my brother-in-law's stuff from the trunk and wishing him luck when a man came along and asked for directions. While we were pointing out where he should go, his 'friend' was stealing our pocketbooks (including my brother-in-law's wallet) from the front seat of our car. We realized it just a moment later and a chase ensued.  We never caught the thieves. We figured that was the end of our bags and everything in them. We had no money, no pocketbooks, nothing. We got some money for the toll, borrowed money from friends in the city and continued on our way to the Marathon finish line. We got home late that evening and received a call from our dad. It turned out that when we chased the thieves, we must have put a scare into them because they threw our pocketbooks out of their car window and took off. A woman walking her dog found them and used our address book to contact my dad. We returned to Staten Island the next day to pick up the bags. Nothing was missing - it was all there: my brother-in-law's wallet, money, jewelry, credit cards, everything. I never thought in a million years that we'd get our things back and to this day I am still grateful to the people who found the bags and were honest enough to return them - again the same thing I would do in that situation.  I could go and on with stories. I think it's preferable to believe that people will do the right thing. And maybe not everyone will, but it's good to have faith.

About the author.

Frank Sisco is a CPA and Personal Financial Specialist, and author of many articles about personal finance and issues of life and money.   His firm, Financial Management Corporation, is located in New Rochelle, NY, where he resides with his wife and daughter.   He can be reached at 914.740.4422 or by email at ideasmoney@aol.com.   Visit his website at www.LifeAndMoney.com, which contains this and prior articles.