{"id":14500,"date":"2026-03-10T10:14:49","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T10:14:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/uncategorized\/they-took-direct-flights-to-heaven\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T05:57:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:57:33","slug":"they-took-direct-flights-to-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpbookstore.org\/articles\/angels-and-miracles\/angels\/they-took-direct-flights-to-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"They Took Direct Flights to Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"

You probably have someone like Edgar at your church. That beloved member who always shows up, knows every hymn by heart, greets you at coffee hour with a radiant smile, always wishing you the best. When our kids were young, he\u2019d slap their outstretched hands with a high five. \u201cThere\u2019s my boy,\u201d he\u2019d say. If my wife, Carol, and I tried to explain what God\u2019s goodness was like to our sons, we could point to Edgar, a walking example, a real angel.<\/p>\n

His presence was especially welcome in our family because my parents, the kids\u2019 doting grandparents, lived in California, thousands of miles away from us in New York. They were good about visiting once a year and sending presents for special occasions, but Edgar was always there in the flesh for our sons. At church every Sunday. Ready to give a hug. To applaud them in the Christmas pageant, to hear them sing in choir<\/a>, to celebrate their Sunday school graduations. Their surrogate granddad.<\/p>\n

Edgar had immigrated to New York from Barbados back in the 1950s, working first at Horn & Hardart, the legendary New York City automat, where you could put your coin in a vending machine and take out your sandwich, salad and dessert. Lunch on the go, like magic.<\/p>\n

He showed up at St. Michael\u2019s\u2014named for the archangel\u2014in the 1960s and soon made himself invaluable, serving on the board and then becoming the sexton and all-around handyman, painter and carpenter. He once described the challenge of painting our Chapel of the Angels\u2014the place where Carol and I were wed\u2014and how he had to work around the mosaics and Tiffany stained glass. I like to think that the prayers made in that space have soaked into the walls, Edgar\u2019s own handiwork providing a base coat.<\/p>\n

We grew older and Edgar did too. He must have been in his nineties when I visited him in the hospital after he\u2019d rallied from surgery<\/a>. We sang a hymn together, me at his bedside. I had to refer to the hymnal. He knew every word, even then. Of course. A couple years later, when I was struck down by some mysterious infection, who should show up at my hospital bedside? Edgar, of course.<\/p>\n

The time was nearing when our church would celebrate his hundredth birthday, a milestone for the whole congregation. His daughter Millie came down from Upstate New York, and was joined by Edgar\u2019s grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a few great-great-grandchildren<\/a>. After the service we had a big cake for him and shared our favorite Edgar stories.<\/p>\n

I recalled a men\u2019s dinner a couple years earlier when we sang some rollicking spirituals, including one of my favorites, \u201cShall We Gather at the River.\u201d Edgar started chuckling at the music. He said it reminded him of when he was a kid back in the Islands and a visiting evangelist urged everyone in town to give up their wine, beer or liquor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe took us down to the water to dump out the contents of any bottles we had,\u201d he said, \u201cand led us in song.\u201d The song? \u201cShall We Gather at the River.\u201d I can assure you the story added to the evening\u2019s merriment. Edgar might have needed a walker by that time, but nothing could slow his good humor and style.<\/p>\n

Edgar\u2019s family planned a second, smaller celebration of his birthday with a fancy dinner at a Harlem restaurant on a Saturday night. Carol and I couldn\u2019t wait to go. Alas, our life took a different turn.<\/p>\n

Monday that week my 93-year-old mom in California landed in the hospital with a case of pneumonia and a rapidly beating heart. I flew out on Tuesday. She seemed in good spirits when I got there, restless and uncomfortable but quick to brag to the hospital staff: \u201cThe last time I was a patient here was when I had my last child.\u201d Some 62 years earlier.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d always been so healthy and vibrant it was hard to imagine that this wouldn\u2019t be something she\u2019d get over. The doctors would fix her up and she\u2019d go back home. But I couldn\u2019t help recalling the prayer I\u2019d been saying for her for two or three years now and had even told her about. \u201cMom,\u201d I\u2019d said, \u201cwhen the time comes\u2014and none of us hope it will come anytime soon\u2014my prayer for you is that you get a direct flight<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA direct flight,\u201d she said, thinking it over. \u201cYes, I like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Thursday two ministers from her church showed up at the hospital with all of us kids gathered around her bedside. One of the ministers asked her what her favorite Bible passage was. \u201cThe one about the eagle\u2019s wings,\u201d she said. He read the whole chapter from Isaiah, and then Mom turned to me and quietly said, \u201cI\u2019m going to the Lord\u2019s house soon.\u201d Those words took my breath away. Soon. Sooner than any of us could expect.<\/p>\n

That night, when all of us had gone home, she died.<\/p>\n

I called Millie in the morning, explaining why I wouldn\u2019t be able to make Edgar\u2019s big party. She offered her sympathy<\/a>, and I told her about my prayer for Mom. That answered prayer. The direct flight.<\/p>\n

Sunday morning, after going to church in California, I got a message from Millie, asking me to call. How sweet<\/i>, I thought. She probably wants to tell me about the birthday party.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cHi, Millie,\u201d I said, getting her on the phone. \u201cHow\u2019d it go?\u201d She described the fun at the restaurant, how her dad had gotten up from the table, hardly needing his walker, and played the piano, singing and dancing, with everybody clapping, shouting, \u201cGo, Edgar!\u201d His church friends, his family. And then, at the evening\u2019s end, he collapsed and couldn\u2019t be revived.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe died right there,\u201d Millie said. \u201cAt the end of his party.\u201d<\/p>\n

I paused in disbelief. Mom, Edgar. Gone from this world. Gone in a flash. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u201d I said, offering all my sympathy. Millie was quick to remind me of my prayer. \u201cIt was a direct flight for both of them,\u201d she said. \u201cFirst Class tickets.\u201d I could just imagine them on their angels\u2019 flights, and there was much peace for us in that.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

For more angelic stories, subscribe to <\/em>Angels on Earth<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You probably have someone like Edgar at your church. That beloved member who always shows up, knows every hymn by heart, greets you at coffee hour with a radiant smile, always wishing you the best. When our kids were young, he\u2019d slap their outstretched hands with a high five. \u201cThere\u2019s my boy,\u201d he\u2019d say. If […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":25957,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[152,226],"tags":[23,19,166],"ppma_author":[476],"class_list":["post-14500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-angels","category-coping-with-grief","tag-angels","tag-angels-on-earth","tag-grief"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThey Took Direct Flights to Heaven - Guideposts Articles<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"They Took Direct Flights to Heaven\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"You probably have someone like Edgar at your church. 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