My youngest son came into the world at 4:44 p.m. and every nurse that happened by kept telling me I needed to buy a lottery ticket. I couldn’t help but wonder if babies born at 3:33 or 9:99 got the same advice.
But then, over the years, that number appeared everywhere. I would see 444 on license plates, 444 on account numbers and occasionally I would glance at a clock and spot 4:44. I wondered if my experiences were like being pregnant and suddenly seeing pregnant women everywhere. Was I noticing this repetitive set of numbers simply because my darling boy was born at that time?
And yet, I felt there was something more. The numbers would surface when I needed emotional support or if I was on the fence about something. I began to wonder if it was the universe or God or some divine force telling me that everything was okay, or that I was safe to forge ahead.
One day I decided to do what I should have done all along, Google the phenomenon. Because you know the Internet, if there’s an idea floating around, there will be websites, Facebook pages and chat rooms about it. Sure enough, here’s what I found.
“If you keep seeing the number 444, someone may be trying to send you a message from heaven,” wrote ThoughtCatalog.com. “Pay close attention if the number 444 keeps appearing in your life.”
That website chalks it up to angels since, according to the site, angel numbers runs in repetitive form, like 111, 222, 333 and the like.
“Some people (like the theologian St. Augustine of Hippo) believe that numbers are used by the universe to contact us because unlike language, they have a universal meaning,” the site continued. “Messages from above are typically 3 repeating digits. 444 is a number of protection and encouragement. It is a sign that you are currently following the right path.”
“If you’ve seen 4:44 or 444 repeatedly, you must know that you’re receiving a powerful message from your spirit guides,” said https://thesecretofthetarot.com/.
“When you see the number 444, whether you've looked at the clock right at 4:44, or you simply notice 444 on a sign, on a license plate, as the number of likes on a Facebook post, or in any other place…It's not just a coincidence…,” claims https://www.ask-angels.com. “The angel number 444 carries a powerful meaning from the angels.”
Here’s where 444 blends into my novels. My third book in the Viola Valentine mysteries, “Trace of a Ghost,” takes Viola down the Natchez Trace where she not only learns about the angelic DNA her husband carries but a journalist on the trip is not what he seems and it’s a divine DNA of a darker kind. So, yes, I was thinking about angels writing this book.
I also had to research the Natchez Trace, one of the most beautiful and historic highways in America (if you haven’t been, put it on your bucket list). Guess how long the Trace is, from its beginning in Natchez, Mississippi, all the way to Nashville, Tennessee?
444 miles.