Patrick O'Reilly was lucky. Since the day he had found that
four leaf clover, everything good seemed to come his way. He
had met the wonderful Rosie, and after a whirlwind romance, they
were married. And now, a year later, he was the proud father of
beautiful twins, a boy and a girl.

At work, the story was the same. He had been promoted and had
received a substantial raise, and now the firm had come up with a
profit sharing plan.

Patty was certain his good fortune was due to his 4-leaf clover.
Everywhere he went, he was certain to be carrying the talisman
in his suit pocket.

One morning, Patty could not find the clover.

He searched the house, but it was not there. In panic, he tried to
recall when he had last seen it. He finally recalled it was in his
gray suit that he had dropped off at the dry cleaners.

He rushed to the cleaners only to find that the work had been
completed and his suit was ready to be picked up. He searched the
suit and found the 4-leaf clover, still in one piece but now flattened
from the dry cleaning.

>From that day on, Patty's fortunes changed. Life was good but was no
longer perfect.

The little inconveniences were always there.

He had a flat tire as he was driving to an important meeting.

The twins developed measles when his boss and his wife were over for
dinner.

No, Patty's life had changed. He still carried the amulet, but he was
certainly not living under the silver lining he was used to and had come
to expect.

Finally, he had had enough. He visited the parish priest to see if he
could help him understand what had happened.

"This certainly was to be expected," he was told. "You should have
known ... One should never press one's luck."