by D. L. Dennis
Jenny looked back at Jake and said in a very serious tone, “Christopher whispered to me that my foot is going to get better, and that soon I will not need a crutch. He said not to worry about him.”
After hearing this, Jake was determined to get Jenny back to the orphanage a quickly as possible. Mrs. Miller is not going to believe what Jake had to tell her.
Jake did not want to upset Jenny so he tried to stay calm and not let his frustration show. He told Jenny that it was time to get back to the orphanage. Jenny took one last look at the forest with a big dimpled smile and raised her hand in a wave. She tucked the medallion and note in her pocket and grabbed Jake’s hand and said, “OK, Mr. Jake. I am ready to make the trip back across the footbridge.”
When Jake and Jenny return to the house, Jenny looked up at Jake. “Thank you, Mr. Jake, for taking me to take Christopher’s coat and staff back to him. I know he will need it so that he will be warm this winter. I remember exactly what he said to me.”
Jenny squeezed Jake’s hand and ran off toward the play room, dragging her crutch before Jake had time to say a word. Jake was shocked at Jenny’s attitude. She did not seem upset or anxious. She did not mention going back to see Christopher. She did not mention her crippled foot. All Jake could think of was to find Mrs. Miller as quickly as possible.
It did not take Jake long to find Mrs. Miller and relate what had taken place. Mrs. Miller made him tell it to her several times. She just sat listening with a frown on her face. After repeating every little detail as best he could remember, Mrs. Miller said, “Well, Jake, at least Jenny did not come flying into the house wanting to know when she was going to get to go back over the footbridge to see the old man. Maybe now Jenny is satisfied. I wish we had answers to all of this. The only thing that concerns me is that she thinks her foot is going to get better. I do not want her to be disappointed. I guess we will deal with that problem as it comes up. Thank you for being so patient with Jenny.”
When Mrs. Miller was able to carve out some time alone, she sat at her desk and mulled over what Jake had told her. Jake had said that Jenny told him she saw Christopher in the forest, and he whispered in her ear. One of the things he told her was that her foot was going to be healed. Why would Jenny say that? And, now Jenny was content not to go back across the footbridge to see the old man. This was a complete change in her attitude from the last several weeks. Where did the note come from? Where did the medallion come from? Jenny’s life seemed to be filled with miracles, but all of this was just too much. Mrs. Miller knew that she had even entertained the idea that Jenny’s foot might straighten out someday, but that was more wishful thinking than anything else. She could not make any sense of any of it starting with the first day Jenny saw the old man on the bench until today. It was all a mystery.
Mrs. Miller was very busy over the next few days getting ready for the school year to start, and she kept Jake busy building new shelves in one of the classrooms, cleaning and a multitude of other tasks. Jenny was busy playing with the other children and working on her projects. She never approached either of them about making more trips across the footbridge or even mentioned Christopher. Occasionally, Mrs. Miller would observe Jenny rubbing her foot. She wondered if it hurt, or if Jenny was thinking about the old man telling her it was going to be healed someday. Mrs. Miller did not want to bring the subject up to Jenny. Several days later after lunch, Mrs. Miller walked down the hallway to her office. As she approached the door she could see a little crutch leaning against the wall by the door. As she got closer, she could see that a piece of paper was tied onto the crutch with a piece of red ribbon. She immediately thought of Jenny because Jenny was the only one of the children that was using a crutch at this time. Her heart lurched and began beating faster. She was baffled at why Jenny would leave her crutch at her doorway.
Carefully Mrs. Miller untied the bow and pulled the ribbon. The note was a little scrunched after being tied with the ribbon. As she unfolded it, she saw that it was decorated with red hearts all around the edges. In the middle was a big heart, and in the middle of the heart was a message written in a child’s handwriting.
“I will not need this anymore. Jenny.”
Chapter 30
ANOTHER MIRACLE
What was Jenny talking about? What was she thinking? Nothing had been the same with Jenny since she first saw the old man, Christopher. She was still the happy, delightful child, but Mrs. Miller never knew for sure what Jenny was going to come up with.
She immediately grabbed the crutch and turned back down the hall looking for Jake. Maybe he knew something about what was going on with Jenny. After checking several classrooms, she found Jake working on a shelving unit. She showed the note and crutch to him. Seeing the concern on Mrs. Miller’s face made Jake apprehensive. What was she doing with Jenny’s crutch? Had something happened to Jenny? He carefully unfolded the note and read it out loud. Jake shrugged his shoulders and said, “I think we need to find Jenny and find out why she wrote this note.”
Finding Jenny was not a difficult task. All you had to do was follow the sound of laughter, and you could find Jenny. When she saw Mrs. Miller and Jake, she ran toward them – no thumping, no limping, two feet pointed in the same direction!
Mrs. Miller and Jake did not take another step or say a word, but simply stared at Jenny as she ran towards them. They were frozen in their tracks.
Jenny threw her arms around both of them, ran in a circle around them and immediately ran back to the other children. Then she turned toward them and let out one of her famous squeals. Neither Mrs. Miller nor Jake could say a word!
Jenny walked back to them and said, “My foot is not crippled. I can run and jump and play. Christopher told me it would be healed.”
How could either of them argue with Jenny? They could see it with their own eyes.
Had another miracle occurred in Jenny’s life? There was no explanation.
A few days later Dr. Carlson made one of his routine stops at the orphanage to check on the children. Mrs. Miller saw him as he came in and immediately asked Dr. Carlson to stop by her office before leaving the building. She was quite anxious to talk to him about Jenny. He was never going to believe what she had to tell him!
The minute Dr. Carlson opened the door, Mrs. Miller started rattling off what she and Jake had observed. Dr. Carlson had never seen Mrs. Miller so flustered. She was talking so fast that Dr. Carlson was having a very difficult time making out what she was saying, but he finally determined that it was about Jenny. He sat down in the chair by the desk and asked Mrs. Miller to start all over with her story and try to calm down.
Suddenly, the sound of laughter could be heard and the office door burst open. Mrs. Miller and Dr. Carlson quickly looked to see who was barging into the office. No one ever opened Mrs. Miller’s door without first knocking.
There Jake and Jenny stood in the doorway. Jenny’s face was beaming. She ran across the room to Dr. Carlson and jumped into his lap before he had a chance to stand up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and exclaimed, “Look, Dr. Carlson, Christopher fixed my foot.”
Jake and Mrs. Miller did not make a sound as Dr. Carlson put his arms around Jenny and held her tightly. Finally Jenny loosened her grip from his neck and wiggled away. She jumped off his lap and did a little dance in the middle of the room, giggling and chanting, “Watch me dance, watch me dance.” It was a magical moment and Jake, Mrs. Miller and Dr. Carlson stood silently watching with big grins on their face. What else could they do?
Dr. Carlson grabbed Jenny’s hand and did a little dance with her. Jake and Mrs. Miller let out a whoop and a laugh that could probably have been heard all over the orphanage. It did not take long before Dr. Carlson was out of breath. He held on to Jenny’s hand and walked her around to Mrs. Miller’s padded office chair. He sat her in it, pulled another chair up close and said, “Jenny, is it OK if we take your shoe and sock off so I can take a look at your foot?”
Jenny was grinning f
rom ear to ear as she said, “Sure. I want you to see it. It is perfect. I knew it was going to be perfect someday.”
She held her leg out and Dr. Carlson propped it on his knee as he removed Jenny’s shoe and sock. Mrs. Miller and Jake moved closer in so they could see Jenny’s foot as the sock was removed. They certainly were not looking at it for the first time, but they never got tired of seeing that one crippled foot perfectly formed. Dr. Carlson prodded Jenny’s ankle and moved it in every direction. Nobody said a word! As he examined Jenny’s foot, you could see a tear running down his cheek.
Dr. Carlson finally looked up at Mrs. Miller and Jake and proclaimed, “Jenny’s foot and ankle are perfect. As a doctor, I have had the good fortune to see medicine do many wonderful things, but it is not often that we have the privilege of seeing a miracle.”
With her voice full of emotion, Mrs. Miller exclaimed, “How blessed we are. We now have had that privilege of seeing another one of God’s miracles.”
As Jake stood staring at his Jenny, he was so overcome with emotion that he could not utter a word. Tears welled up in his eyes and his lips quivered as they broke out into a broad grin.
“In my career as a doctor, I have seen many wonderful and unexpected occurrences. Medicine can do some wonderful things but only God can work miracles. This is truly a miracle from God.”
With her sock and shoe still lying on the floor, Jenny jumped out of the chair and ran to each of them, throwing her arms around their waists while she let out one of her famous giggles. Tears of happiness ran down their cheeks.
Chapter 31
GROWING UP
Jenny continued to stay at the orphanage even though several families had offered to adopt her. She was an intelligent, well-mannered, beautiful child, but Jenny did not want to leave the orphanage. Mrs. Miller and Jake were secretly delighted each time Jenny expressed her desire to stay, although they never discussed their feelings.
When Jenny reached what would have been classified as her freshman year in high school, she was sent to the local high school along with a few other children that had not been adopted. The group was very small as most all the children at Anderson Calvary Orphanage were adopted out long before they became that age. Jake would take all of them into town every morning and pick them up after school.
During the four years of high school, Jenny blossomed into a beautiful, blue eyed young lady whom all the boys were interested in escorting to the high school dances and games. She excelled in her studies and became involved in many of the school activities. Just as when she was younger, she was oblivious to her beauty and her magnetic personality.
As she matured, Jenny never lost her love for the “Littles” at the orphanage. She helped them with their homework, sat with them during mealtime and gave special attention to any little boy or girl that had a physical deformity. She could soothe their hurt feelings and make them feel special. Jenny had a special touch and could calm a crying child when no one else could get the job done.
Jenny spent many hours talking to Mrs. Miller about how she wanted to be a teacher and teach at the orphanage. Mrs. Miller remembered Jenny as a little girl gathering the other children around her, telling them stories and reading to them. At that time, she never dreamed that this was a precursor to Jenny’s future desires.
Mrs. Miller never discouraged Jenny’s conversations, nor did she discourage her desire to be a teacher at the orphanage. She thought that as Jenny matured and was exposed to other areas in her schooling, she would change her mind, but that never happened. Jenny stood steadfast in her decision to become a teacher and return to the orphanage. Her only reluctance was that she would need to leave the orphanage to go to college. She fretted about this quite often.
With the help of the school counselor and Mrs. Miller, it was arranged for Jenny to go to a teacher’s college nearby. Mrs. Miller never knew just exactly where the money came from to pay for Jenny’s college education, but she often suspected that Dr. Carlson was the benefactor and had arranged for it through the school counselor.
Jenny was thrilled at the chance to go to that particular teacher’s college as it was close enough for her to return to the orphanage for the holidays and during the summer. She insisted on working at the orphanage during the summer doing whatever they needed her to do to pay for her room and board. Jenny received her teaching certificate in record time by doubling up on classes and returned as a teacher in just two and a half years.
Jake was quite an elderly man by the time Jenny went to college, but he never hesitated to make the trips between the orphanage and the college to pick Jenny up. He did not have many duties at the orphanage, but he was such an integral part of it that no one expected him to leave. No matter how old Jenny was, she was his special little girl. After every trip, he would sit in his rocking chair and re-live the time he found Jenny in the basket at the gate, the trips over the bridge to the playground, the time Jenny fell off the bridge, and the healing of her foot. Each one of them was a miracle!
Chapter 32
THE PASSING YEARS
Throughout the years, Mrs. Miller and Jake became quite good friends. The orphanage was their mission in life which gave them a common bond, not to mention the events that had taken place in Jenny’s life. These events affected everyone at the orphanage, but not like Mrs. Miller and Jake.
Mrs. Miller was always in awe of how the orphanage continued to receive the necessary funding to keep it functioning. Mr. Anderson had left a great deal of money for the creation and operation of the orphanage, but over the years, the funds began to be depleted. Just when she would get concerned, another miracle in the form of donations would be received. She was thrilled when visitors would come bearing monetary gifts only to learn that they had once been residents for a period of time in their childhood. This was a testimony that not only had they received the emotional support they needed, but they had also received a proper education which enabled them to have a successful life. One such former resident became so successful he donated enough money to refurbish the entire structure and add a few more bedrooms, thereby allowing for the care of even more children.
Jenny began her teaching career in the kindergarten class and throughout the years, taught every grade, but her heart was always with the “Littles.” She was Miss Jenny to all the children. As Mrs. Miller watched Jenny work with the children, she knew who the perfect person would be to step into her shoes when the time came – Jenny! She began grooming Jenny for the job without Jenny even being aware of it.
When Miss Jenny received her first paycheck as a teacher at the orphanage, she put part of it in a special envelope marked “Christopher’s Footbridge and Bench.” Every paycheck, a little more money would be tucked into that envelope. She wanted to make sure that funds would always be available for any needed repairs, or if funds were needed for a special pair of shoes for another little boy or girl.
The image of Christopher sitting on the bench in his raggedy coat was a vision that never dimmed in her mind. It was an important part of her life at the orphanage and would never be forgotten. She even had Jake make two signs – Christopher’s Footbridge and Christopher’s Bench – which were secured into the ground. These signs often elicited questions from her students, and she told the story of her “miracle foot” over and over. The children would sit around her with their upturned faces hanging onto every word she said. Miss Jenny wanted each child to believe in God’s miracles!
Upon Mrs. Miller’s retirement, Miss Jenny was made the director of the Anderson Calvary Orphanage. With Jake and Mrs. Miller at her side, it was as though her life was complete. She knew immediately that their mission had become her mission in life. Miss Jenny started life as a tiny baby in the Anderson Calvary Orphanage, and her life would someday end in that very orphanage.
As the years passed, Miss Jenny never wavered in her decision to become a teacher. The only incidents that marred her life were the deaths of the two people she loved most – Mrs. Miller, her
life long friend and mentor and Mr. Jake with whom she had a very special bond.
Because of her dedication throughout the years, as Miss Jenny declined in age and was no longer able to continue as the director of Anderson Calvary Orphanage, she was provided with comfortable quarters. She continued to visit each classroom every day and delight the children with her presence. As Miss Jenny aged, she never lost the infectious laugh that she had as a child, which made all of the children giggle. They loved her as much as she loved them.
Quite often, Miss Jenny would sit quietly in her rocking chair during the evening hours with a book open in her lap, but never turned a page. She would stare off into space with a hint of a smile on her face, and quite often would take a chain from around her neck. Miss Jenny always wore the chain with the medallion on it. She would look at the medallion and gently rub her fingers across it. If you got close enough, you could hear her whisper, “My friend, Christopher.”
Throughout the years, Miss Jenny took the children across the footbridge to the playground. These trips did not stop when she retired as director. The older she got, the more important these treks across the bridge seemed to be. There was no one left at the orphanage that remembered Jenny’s fall into the Calvary River so there was no one that could fully understood why that footbridge and bench were so important to her. Often times, she was content to sit on the bench with the sun shining on her face.
Chapter 33
ONE LAST VISIT
One warm summer day when there was not a cloud in the sky, Miss Jenny requested that one of the staff members walk across the footbridge with her. Miss Jenny had always insisted on going by herself. At those times, one of the staff members would watch as Miss Jenny walked across the footbridge to make sure she was safe. She would sit on the bench while the staff member busied herself in the yard waiting for her to return.
