God Sent Me

I walked into a Christian thrift store in the city. I had books containing subtle smatterings of druidic beliefs to donate to raise funds for Christian youth to attend Christian colleges. I handed them to a large woman seated at a table near the back. She thanked me. Something resting on the table caught my eye.

“Could I see those?” I said, pointing to the items.

She handed me the items. They were two 11” by 14,” black and white, plastic, team photos of the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers NBA Championship squad. On the reverse of the photo was a red and yellow tartan design with the number 77 emblazoned in the center. It was obviously some kind of collectible issued after the championship but its color and composition baffled me. Plastic? There was no accompanying text or logo. What the hell was this?

I wrote a bestselling book about the ’77 Blazers called Red Hot and Rollin’ and am the acknowledged expert on everything connected to this unique Oregon story. In all my research and memorabilia collecting, I had never seen this plastic team photo item.

I filled the woman in on my credentials, referencing the book, and told her these items were totally unknown to me. She remembered the ’77 team fondly and asked to see the items. I gave them to her.

“They’re placements,” she said almost instantly.

Of course! She even showed me the food stains on one of them. Probably chili!

I asked the provenance of the place mats and she said another volunteer had accepted them from someone only yesterday.

They weren’t priced.

I told her they should conduct an e-bay search but I thought they might be worth $100 each on the memorabilia market, perhaps more. I said I wouldn’t offer them in the store for less than 50 bucks each.

“Thank you!” she said.

She added, “God sent you in here today.”

I thought about that immortal Blues Brothers movie line about God.

Yes, why not? I had been sent. I’d take it. It felt damn good.

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