Amazing Grace & the CLEP Exam

This isn't my usual funny, sarcastic blog (I know, I know, I'm sorry for trying to get serious for once). This is something that happened to me that is a total mystery, something so profound yet confounding that it is difficult to explain it, but I'll try (of course).

My father passed away from esophageal cancer on August 11, 2004. I went to the wake and the funeral and I was miserable at both. I didn't like seeing my father in a casket with entirely too much makeup on, and the pink lipstick was over the top! At the funeral, my cousin Toni sang "Amazing Grace" which was one of my dad's favorite songs, and he always loved her voice.

A few months after the funeral I was trying to finish a degree and I wanted to "test" out of some classes, which means I take the CLEP examination for the course, and if I already know enough about the topic, and pass the test, I don't have to take the classes, etc. So, I had scheduled a CLEP exam at a small college in Philadelphia, where I was living at the time, called Manor College. I didn't even know where Manor College was, but I followed the directions. My exam was scheduled on a Saturday at noon.

I gave myself plenty of time to get there, but due to road construction (imagine that, road construction in Philadelphia). I had to take several detours around this construction (or "destruction" in Philadelphia...not to go off on a tangent, but due to the unions in Philadelphia, things get finished at a slower, relaxed pass because that means, well, more money), and I was hopelessly lost. I was frantic. I drove up and down streets, looking for the school. If one is scheduled for an exam and more than 5 minutes late, they won't let you in! I was in a panic, tears streaming down my face. I had the radio on, and out of nowhere, "Amazing Grace" started playing. I was stunned. I hadn't heard this song since my father's funeral, and the radio station I had on, a college station, wasn't in the habit of playing gospel music.

As I listened to the song, tears still streaming, I began to calm down, and an almost peacefulness took over. I took a deep breath, and I looked up, and directly in front of me was Manor College.

I made the exam on the dot, and passed. Thanks Dad.

--Fortuitous Observer