Maura Crowne

More than Manifestation

After my mother died, the responsibility of cleaning out her belongings was left to me, her only child. Digging through the disarray that she called a closet, I found a little black notebook with a note that read, "My dearest daughter, Elizabeth. You're ready". I had no idea what exactly I was "ready" for, but I trusted my mother. I took the little black notebook in my hands. It was thin and small but sturdy to the touch. I unwrapped the twine that was so neatly tied in a bow that you would have thought my mother re-tied it a million times to get it so perfect. Maybe she did. I looked into the journal and flipped through pages and pages of the same sentences and phrases repeated over and over again. I had heard of manifestation, but this had to be more than that. It had to. It was too specific. In the notebook was the phrase, "Lizzie will be promoted at her job in 2 weeks". I checked the date, and sure enough, it was dated two weeks before I received my big promotion. Every sentence my mother had repeatedly written in this tiny notebook of hers, had come true in less than a month's time from the date that it was written. About halfway through the notebook, the writing stopped. There was a note addressed to me. It read, "Lizzie, use the second half of this notebook wisely and carefully. I love you," followed by a page filled with the sentence, "My daughter has everything she needs". Little did I know, by giving me that notebook, she gave me just that: everything I need. The day after I found the notebook, I was running some errands and saw a billboard advertising a $20,000 lottery ticket. I decided to pick up a ticket for myself, and now the wait began. I continued to write the sentence, "I have everything I need" in the notebook. I wrote until my hand felt like it was going to disintegrate. I wrote for what felt like hours on end. The following week the winners were announced. I rushed to turn on the news. My hands trembled as I fumbled with the remote trying to change the channel. As soon as I had gotten to the right channel, I heard a man exclaim, "And the winner of the grand prize of 20,000 dollars is...". My heart was pounding. My nerves were shot. Then, I heard the man once more, "Elizabeth Beckam! Please call the number on your screen to confirm your prize!". My heart raced with excitement. I called the number and did exactly as the man said, secured my prize. I was so thankful to my mother. She really did hand me everything I needed when she left me that tiny black notebook. She handed me control over my own life, something I had never had before. Don't get me wrong, my mother made sure we never struggled. My father left when I was a child, and she had always done an exceptional job of taking care of me. A few days after I had called in to claim my winnings, I went through all of the tedious paperwork, which seemed to never end. Then, they wrote me a check for $18,000. They took taxes and fees out, wrote me the check, and let me be on my way. I stopped by the bank on my way home, explained to the teller that I had been fortunate enough to win this money, cashed out my check, and went home. I checked the online banking app that I have on my phone. The numbers I saw were just astounding. I was not even home from the bank for an hour when I decided to go shopping. I went and bought myself new clothes. I replaced my phone that was about 4 years outdated. I finally was able to do for myself without being overwhelmed with guilt. When I got home, I looked into stock investments. I bought stock in over 10 different companies. Over the course of the next ten years, I made 3 million dollars from the stocks I had purchased. I saved the remainder of the money to contribute to buying a modest house for my future family and put money towards my future childrens' education, only spending what was necessary over the course of the next ten years. In that time, I met an amazing man. He was tall, toned but not too buff, and he had the kindest eyes I had ever seen. I refrained from telling him about my winnings in fear that he would stay with me only for the money, but he proposed to me before I had even mentioned it. I gained a fiance and I gained his daughter from his previous marriage. She had twinkling blue eyes, only four years old. When she smiled at me, I melted. I had a happy family and more than enough money to support us all. When I had finally told my fiance about the money I had come into ten years ago, he pulled me in tight for a hug and said, "Baby, I love you whether you have $2 to your name or $200 million to your name. I'm not going anywhere, and I'm especially not here for your money. I'm here for you". I fell in love all over again that day. I realized I was going to have a beautiful life with a family I adored. My mother was right, I had everything I needed.