The Coin of Hope

The night was growing late as yet another vehicle passed through the toll booth. Her job was at the midpoint of a long and steep ten mile hill on the road from Toluca. At the window an American family handed her an unusual coin, a coin of hope they said. She smiled, expressed warm appreciation and watched as they drove off. Looking down at the coin she saw the words, “For God so loved the world... Then turning it over in her hand she read, “Where will you spend eternity?

Keith and I stood in the rest area in casual conversation as we waited for the others. We were only twenty minutes from Zitacuaro where we would finally be able to call it a day. Our families planned to find rooms there and get an early start the next morning. We were on the way to see the Monarch butterflies that congregate in Michoacán before they make their long flight to Canada later in the spring. The air was cool in the late evening. The night was still.

She recognized the unmistakable roar of a runaway truck even before looking up. Now its headlights bore down on her as the driver steered desperately to maneuver through the narrow toll booth. There was no time to flee harm’s way. The crack of the barrier sounded like a gun shot as the truck barreled through. She jerked around to follow its path as it sped on toward the rest area.

“Who’s slamming the door so hard?” I thought and then a second later was startled by the roar of an out-of-control truck. It slammed into the metal light pole beside of us sending up electrical sparks as the lights crashed to the ground. Debris pelted our faces. The driver tried desperately to avoid another truck parked at the end of the lot but couldn’t manage it, instead searing off the back tire and careening into the night.

The truck now spun completely out of control; the blocks were slung off the bed littering the highway. Inside the charms hanging from the window swung about wildly. Unable to resist the brute force of the spin the two men were thrown from to the truck as it continued to spin until slamming into the guardrail and coming to a stop.

A surreal moment settled in for us as the ambulance arrived. Huddling close we prayed…and waited. When a pathway was made through the strewn blocks, we loaded up our vehicles and picked our way through the debris and around the accident. A few minutes later we arrived at our hotel emotionally spent.

I laid awake that night long after everyone else was asleep. Thinking about the thin thread between life and death and its delicate balance.

She returned home that night shaken, her mind still preoccupied by all that had elapsed in those few moments. Sitting down in the mostly dark room she stared out into emptiness, wondering. In her hand she turned a coin over and over.