One of my favorite books is There are no Coincidences by Father Benedict Groshel.  In this book Father Groshel puts forth his belief that God has his hand on our lives and his Divine Providence dictates everything  that happens.  So begins my story.  During Advent 1998 i was in a funk or as one of my favorite priest calls them "a rough patch".  This particular Sunday my after communion prayer was "Come on God, show me what to do, this is my favorite time of the year HELP"  After mass i decided some retail  therapy might help, so i took Gianna to the mall. When we got home six hours later  Felix said, "Hey Diane Ferrara called."  Now Diane is a great person to talk to for hours so i'm thinking God is really answering my prayers here, a shopping marathon at Menlo and now a gabe fest with Diane.  Little, did i know.  Diane told me she needed a first grade teacher at Our Lady of Peace a Catholic Elementary School where she was the vice principal.  Here's my first non coincidence.  She tells me to come on in and meet with Sister Trinitas first thing Monday morning.  So in i go the next day resume in hand.  Diane brings me in to meet Sister.  No way was i prepared for this.  Here's this older nun in a full habit (think Mother Angelica).  Amazingly she and i hit it off, so well in fact that i brazenly suggest that she put me in Kindergarten or Preschool and move one of those teachers into first grade.  This nun was slick.  She smiles and replies, "try out first grade for the rest of this year and then we'll see where we'll put you."  A funny thing happened.  i had two great teachers to work with.  My best years teaching were at Our Lady of Peace and some of my closest friends are from that school. i never left first grade and i was actually awarded Teacher of the Year.  But all good things come to an end for me the end came in the form of John Donza.  When Sister Trinitas retired Donza was hired as her replacement.  He was a an ex Port Authority cop (hippies don't usually like cops) whatever.  i continued to work there for two years but i couldn't watch the destruction this person was causing.  So after a wonderful go at Our Lady of Peace, i resigned.  God is good eventually John Donza parted ways with the Diocese of Metuchen.  His downward negative spiral had taken hold however and the great teachers at OLP had lost their  mojo.  July 14, would have been my mom's 100th birthday.  July 14th they decided to close OLP.  There are no coincidences.