MY NYC MIRACLE
It was always my life’s dream from the age of 15 to move to New York and become a professional dancer. I worked diligently towards this dream every day of my life. For six days a week, I would train anywhere between 2 to 6 hours while putting myself through college. I had such a deep burning desire to share dance with as many people as possible because I felt it saved my life. Before I found dance, I was heading down a bad track; I weighed over 100 kilos; I was getting into fights, and I was experimenting with drugs and alcohol. When I found dancing all of this changed.
At the age of 23, I got the opportunity to move to New York, I had been invited to teach at one of the top three dance studios in Manhattan. I was elated with joy. I didn’t have much money at the time so I moved to Spanish Harlem, which was quite a dangerous place. It was funny though, everyone in the neighborhood thought I was an undercover cop because I didn’t look like anyone else so they all left me alone.
As I was moving into my apartment I got a parking ticket for $100 which for me at the time was a lot of money. I had invested everything in making this move and didn’t come from a family with money. I just had put myself through college by working three jobs which didn’t leave much money for moving to NYC. As I got the parking ticket, my new roommate who was a bit unstable, got incredibly angry at the police officers and was cussing them out. I thought he was going to be arrested. I calmed him down and told him, “It will be fine God will take care of it.” I have always had a deep faith in God and this faith has helped me through several difficult situations in life.
The next day I taught my first dance class in New York. My dream had finally come true; I was a dancer in New York. I had made it and was elated with joy. To make that first day even sweeter, the wedding couple I taught tipped me $100, which was exactly the amount of the ticket. I went home that evening and told my roommate, he was in aww. Little did I know my faith was to be tested in an even larger way the next day.
The next morning I began my walk down 116th street to the subway. Just as I was crossing 5th avenue a car went the wrong way down a one-way street and hit me hard. I rolled onto the car and came back down. I got up in a daze, hit the hood of the car and began to yell at the lady. She looked petrified, in that moment I saw a rosary hanging down from her rearview mirror and a little voice inside me told me, “Be quite.” Being in shock and intense pain I shut my mouth and stumbled down into the subway.
As I sat on the 2 train my legs began to swell, especially my knees. In that moment, it set in that I was severely injured and the thought, “I may never dance again,” kept going through my head. The train stopped and I found an elevator to the street level. At this point every step was torture. I didn’t know where a hospital was, but I did know there was a church right behind my dance studio. Once again I heard that little voice say to me, “Go to that church.”
I followed these directions obediently. I entered the church and collapsed into the first pew and began to pray with tears streaming down my face. It seemed that everything I had worked so hard for had been taken away in a matter of minutes. I don’t know how long I sat there, but I knew it was still too painful for me to get up. In my haze, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw an old lady smiling down at me. She said, “Can I give you something?” I nodded my head “yes” unable to speak. She took my hand and dropped a little medal in it. She then told me, “The Virgin Mary is your mother and she is watching over you; you will be fine.” After she said this, she turned and walked away. I looked down at the medal, on one side was two bleeding hearts and on the other was the virgin praying at the foot of the cross.
I bowed my head and began to pray even more. After a few minutes passed, I felt another tap on my shoulder. This time it was an African American lady. Just like the first lady, she asked, “Can I give you something?” I nodded my head once more and extended my hand. She smiled and placed a small rosary in it. She then said, “The Virgin Mary is your mother and she is watching over you.” With this she turned and left. I was astounded at what just happened. With a leap of faith, I stood and my legs were healed. I no longer felt any of the pain that once was there.
After that, every day I would teach I would go to the church and pray. I found out it was a Capuchin church and they had many relics of Padre Pio, including his blood-soaked gloves. I feel that Padre Pio had a hand in that miracle and feel he has shown up in my life many times after. Also, since then I have achieved my life’s goal. I have led a very successful dance career sharing dance with hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
To learn more about that church folow the link below
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_the_Baptist_Church_(Manhattan)