The Miracle of Annie

                         Stainglasswindowmary

My eighty-eight year old friend Annie, went to Lourdes with me. She is a trooper who goes with the flow. She is well-organized…even down to the toothpick she packed in our lunch, for our six hour train trip.

                         Stainglasswindowatlourd_3

When we arrived at the hotel, our room had only one double bed. Annie looked at me and shrugged. "It doesn’t matter, I don’t move around when I sleep, nor do I hog the covers." And then she added, "I snore. But one bed or two, isn’t going to make a difference about that fact."

                         Stainglasswindow_2

Later in the afternoon we came back to the hotel. Annie needed to rest. She fell fast asleep. Around seven I tried to wake her, but she kept on snoring. In the evening I climbed into bed. Somewhere in the night my head leaned on her shoulder…I startled myself, "Hey, this isn’t French husband." I bounced wide awake, and looked over at Annie, who was still snoring. I curled up, rolled over, went back to sleep.

The next morning I told Annie what had happened. How I couldn’t wake her, how she slept like a rock even through dinner, how when my head touched her shoulder she didn’t move an inch. I teasingly added, "Annie, I am very glad that you snored. It reassured me that you weren’t dead."

Annie cracked up laughing, and then threw back the best punch line:

"There you go, you have witnessed your first miracle."

photos: Poignant details of the 19th century stain glass windows, of Mary, at Lourdes. Who says God doesn’t have a sense of humor?!



Comments

53 responses to “The Miracle of Annie”

  1. Shannon

    Ha! Very funny story. I knew you’d experience a miracle!

  2. Annie sounds like a great travelling companion. Not just to Lourdes, but in life..
    I love her sense of humour..!

  3. I already love Annie!

  4. I wanna be just like Annie! I cracked up at her line!

  5. It is those small, often overlooked miracles which fill our lives — often ending in a good laugh!

  6. oh my gosh this has me laughing so hard this morning corey! I think I love annie! she has my kind of quick humor! xoxoxoxoxo

  7. patpaulk

    You have a wonderful friend with a great sense of humor. You tell the best stories.

  8. What a sweet moment shared ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Annie’s the Best! You are too!

  10. I’m hoping I will one day be able to master such lines… my fingers are crossed tightly in hope. Better get in some practice too.
    see you, g xo

  11. Hah! Annie is a hoot!

  12. Well, it is easy to see why you and Annie love each other! And why we do, too.

  13. Ha! Supposedly I sleep like that as well except I don’t snore as often. The husband said if he comes in to bed after me, I turn into a 400lb starfish and it’s impossible to move me or wake me up. Needless to say, he tries to go to bed before I do. For some reason, when I have to crash with girlfriends, the starfish never appears and I always sleep quietly on my side of the bed.

  14. Marie-Noรซlle

    Your French friend Annie sounds like my good Welsh friend Rosa…
    She came over and stayed with us for a while a few years ago.
    I could visualize your scene at the hotel starring you and Rosa as Annie. (Her hand photographed in Lourdes had reminded me of hers the other day!!!)
    Many many good memories and laughters with her !!!
    MUST phone her right now !

  15. Very Nice blog !
    a comment to the south of France
    good Week-end
    Saint-Ange

  16. Great story. Annie is an inspiration. haha. I love the windows.

  17. what a cute story! and i love those windows!

  18. That is funny! I love quick wit!

  19. I LOVE this! I so needed this smile and humor this morning! You’ve done it again, Corey! hugs!

  20. martina

    Annie is a hoot!

  21. Good friends do make miracles! Your name came up so often in my day with friends I felt as though you were there too! Oh if only you were!! Someday perhaps???

  22. What a wonderful time the two of you must have had.
    Your link to the book “Growing Old Is Not for Sissies” made me laugh. That is So True.
    Darla

  23. Corey,
    What a cute story! How did you ever sleep with all of the snoring LOL!!
    The stained glass windows are beautiful.

  24. Paris Parfait

    She sounds like an amazing woman!

  25. I am so glad I found your blog!! What a blessing to have such a dear friend! Thank you for this story!

  26. I was so happy and smiling to see you had visited my blog and then smiling even more at this post and the wonderful stained glass. We all need an Annie, don’t we?

  27. Oh, I’m sure that God has a sense of humor. And that people like Annie are plugged directly into it. How wonderful that you two got go to Lourdes together.

  28. I liked this story too. I love good friends and I miss mine!!
    My husband snore and yesterday his little boy got up and told me that for the first time his daddy’s snoring woke him up and kept him awake. He said, “I had to put magazines under the door and put two teddy bears over my ears in order to sleep.” I laughed and promised to buy him some earplugs so he won’t have to do all that in the future.

  29. What a delightful day (and night) you must have had together. It wouldn’t have been the same if you’d spent it with someone who puts on airs. What a gem Annie is!

  30. What an enchanting and heartwarming story. I feel HUGGED.

  31. Bossy adores her some Annie.

  32. Laughing, laughing, laughing! She is just too cute!

  33. What a great story. I would love to meet Annie.

  34. Gosh I’d love to be a deep sleeper like that! Annie sounds like a great travel companion and friend.

  35. how funny…what a great sense of humor…no wonder she has lived as long as she has

  36. Tamara Giselle

    This is the first time I have commented on your blog and do so only because I am feeling such gratitude for finding it and for the treasure that it is. I have been coming here to visit for quite some time. I get such a sense of calm, and ever so uplifted when I come here. It truly is an escape and I suppose I am living vicariously, which for now will suffice. You have a special gift of making one feel welcome. Today tears wet my cheek as I read back on what I have missed the last couple of weeks while I was in New York with my daughter. Thank you for sharing your wonderful life with the likes of me. Isn’t modern technology just a marvelous thing. I wonder what the future holds? Exciting isn’t it? God bless you and your beautiful family always.

  37. Is slightly reminiscent of the last couple of weeks I’ve just had traveling with my mother (who is just now starting to be ‘old’…).
    Gorgeous stuff, as usual. Your figure here reminds me of all the images we saw of St. Catherine in Siena.

  38. I frequently suffer from insomnia, so truly, this IS a miracle.. as is your blog, my dear.

  39. Oh, and p.s. Everytime I read your posts about Annie, I feel so lucky that we share the same name.

  40. Great story, Corey- and I love the stained glass windows- they are beautiful…

  41. Thanks for leaving the comment on my blog! Your site is very lovely… my mother is a French teacher (and I am in her footsteps, teaching English), so it is lovely to see something so utterly familiar and unfamiliar here. Lovely.

  42. After endless cups of tea as I catch up on a week’s worth of blogs from all around the world, I come to yours last.
    I leave it ’til last because as I have mentioned before, you usually make me think, which in turn makes my head hurt. Of course, you have not failed to disappoint.
    I loved your post on 7 May – Aim for Love. And I love the photo from 5 May.
    What did you think of Lourdes?
    I went to primary school named Our Lady of Lourdes.

  43. Annie! What a doll! I love her too. I love your dad, and Annie, Ellen, your kids, french hubby, and the most, YOU! You have a way of making us all fall in love with your people. maybe because you love them so, and we see it all through your eyes….xxo.V
    ps: I feel the same with old-hippie-not-quite-husband. I sometimes think, he is not with us…then a little snore, and Phew, I am relieved…Miracle #2

  44. Great story. I have a 97 year old pen pal who is also very active. So glad to hear that life can be so full at any age.

  45. what a wonderful story and a wonderful place and 2 incredible women – I am listening to Jann Tiersen from Amelie – French cafe music
    so entranced – do so!
    xox – eb

  46. What an excellent sense of humor Anne has. See sounds delightful!

  47. I’m going to have to share this story with my DH – we both snore, and each accuse the other of snoring louder ๐Ÿ˜€
    What a wonderful sense of humor your friend has!

  48. A beautiful friendship. Two amazing women. A miracle indeed.

  49. Tell Annie that she has an admirer in Wisconsin :o)
    And Corey, that stained glass window is so beautiful…I may just convert :o)

  50. That is a precious story, and what a great person your friend Annie must be! I am glad you got to share that experience with her.

  51. What a wonderful and miraculous story! Laughter is always a miracle isn’t it?
    Thank you so much for sharing those pictures. They are beautiful and will be one of my best mother’s day presents. Another blessing from you and Mary as well. ๐Ÿ™‚
    Donna
    PS. Thank you for your so sweet comments on my blog!

  52. LOL!
    ๐Ÿ™‚

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