When I was little, there was a patch of clover that grew in the strip of grass between our house and my Granny’s.

Not just a few clovers either.

A whole bed of them.

On warm afternoons I would flop down on my stomach right in the middle of that patch, the cool earth beneath me and the soft clover leaves brushing against my arms. Then the hunt would begin.

I’d push the clovers aside one by one, studying each tiny leaf like a scientist on the verge of a major discovery.

Three leaves.

Three leaves.

Three leaves.

Then suddenly…

Four!

If you’ve never found a four-leaf clover, let me tell you something: the moment you see that fourth leaf, your heart does a little flip. It feels like the universe just tapped you on the shoulder and said, “Well now…look what you found.”

I would pluck it carefully and run straight to Granny.

Now Granny believed in luck… but she also believed in rules.

The first rule was simple.

“You can make a wish,” she’d say, “but don’t you dare wish for money.”

Naturally I asked why.

“Because if you wish for money,” she told me very seriously, “some poor leprechaun has to take it out of his pot of gold.”

Apparently this pot lived at the end of a rainbow.

Now that sounded like a pretty reliable banking system to me.

So one day, when I saw a rainbow stretching across the East Texas sky, I did what any determined child would do.

I followed it.

Across the yard. Past the trees. Down the road.

And you know what I found?

Absolutely nothing.

No pot. No gold. No leprechaun.

Now I figure two things could explain that.

Either the rainbow moved… or somebody before me had already wished for money.

And somewhere out there, I imagine one very irritated leprechaun checking his empty pot and saying,

“Well that’s the last time I fund someone’s new bicycle.” Because that’s exactly what I would get if I found gold!

These are the things I think about when lying on a hospital table.

Years later, I found myself stretched out under bright lights getting ready for an endoscopy so the doctor could check on an ulcer that had been giving me trouble.

Not exactly the moment you hope your childhood luck kicks in.

The nurse placed a little plastic bite block in my mouth.

It had a hole in the center so the tools could pass through, and just before they gave me the medicine to send me off to sleep, I took a slow breath out.

And it whistled!

Not a quiet whistle either.

A sharp little whooooooo.

The medical team looked at each other. One nurse tilted her head and said,

“Well… that never happens.”

I remember thinking through that bite block, Of course it does. It always happens to me.

Those four-leaf clovers never seem to work when I really need them.

But then I had an idea.

If the thing was going to whistle, I might as well make it worth their while.

So with the little air I had left before the anesthesia kicked in, I whistled the most important tune known to mankind:

Shave and a haircut…

The anesthesia hit, and the room faded while the nurses burst into laughter.

And as I drifted off to sleep, I remember thinking one thing very clearly.

Those doctors may have done thousands of endoscopies…but they had probably never met anyone who played a whistle solo on the equipment before.

Now somewhere out there, I hope that old leprechaun heard it.

Because if luck has anything to do with laughter…I might finally be getting my money’s worth!

And maybe that’s how luck really works.

Not in pots of gold at the end of rainbows…and not always in four-leaf clovers pressed inside a book.

Sometimes luck shows up as a room full of nurses laughing at a tune you whistled through a piece of medical equipment.

And sometimes the best wish you can make…is simply hoping you gave someone a good story to tell later.

Authors Note

Happy St. Patrick’s Day, friends! 🍀

If you happen to find yourself wandering through a patch of clovers today, take a moment to slow down and look closely. You never know when a little four-leaf surprise might be hiding there, waiting to remind you that a bit of luck can still be found in the simplest places.

And don’t forget to wear green. Trust me on this one.

Because if you forget, someone will absolutely try to pinch you… and let me save you the trouble of attempting the classic defense.

Nobody believes your panties are green.

Really…I’ve tried.

PJ Hamilton