I\u2019ve reported on countless stories of angels. It\u2019s important to me that each of these stories is checked out as thoroughly as possible. I like to talk to the witness directly, and if there\u2019s corroboration, such as newspaper clips or onlookers or medical reports, I\u2019ll use them as well. But there are moments when I\u2019m unprepared: Someone approaches me at a book signing when I have neither notepad nor tape recorder, or phones in on a radio show where I am a guest, or speaks up at a lecture, to tell a story of her own.<\/p>\n
Invariably, during the hubbub these people get away before I am able to jot down their full names and addresses. But their stories are too good to go untold.I may not have all their names right, but the facts are exactly as they were related to me.<\/p>\n
During a book signing in Lexington, Kentucky, a group of women gathered around my table to tell about their neighbor, Barbara, who had not been able to come and tell me this story herself. Barbara was driving her six-year-old son, Benjamin, to his piano lesson. They were late, and Barbara was beginning to think she should have canceled it. There was always so much to do, and Barbara, a night-duty nurse at the local hospital, had recently worked extra shifts. She was tired. The sleet storm and icy roads added to her tension.<\/p>\n
Maybe she should turn the car around. \u201cMom!\u201d Ben cried.\u201cLook!\u201d<\/p>\n
Just ahead a car had lost control on a patch of ice. As Barbara tapped the brakes, the other car spun wildly, rolled over, and then crashed sideways into a telephone pole. Barbara pulled over, skidded to a stop and threw open her door. Thank goodness she was a nurse\u2013she might be able to help these unfortunate passengers. Then she paused. What about Ben? She couldn\u2019t take him with her\u2013little boys shouldn\u2019t see scenes like the one she anticipated. But was it safe to leave him alone? What if their car were hit from behind?<\/p>\n
For a brief moment,Barbara considered going on her way. Someone else was sure to come along. No!<\/p>\n
\u201cBen, honey, promise me you\u2019ll stay in the car!\u201d \u201cI will, Mommy,\u201d he said as she ran, slipping and sliding, toward the crash site. It was worse than she\u2019d feared. Two girls of high school age were in the car. One, the blonde on the passenger side, was dead, killed on impact.<\/p>\n
The driver, however, was still breathing. She was unconscious and pinned in the wreckage. Barbara quickly applied pressure to the wound in the teenager\u2019s head while her practiced eye catalogued the other injuries. A broken leg, maybe two, along with probable internal bleeding. But if help came soon, the girl would live.<\/p>\n
A trucker had pulled up and was calling for help on his cell phone. Soon Barbara heard the ambulance sirens. A few moments later, she surrendered her lonely post to rescue workers.\u201cGood job,\u201d one said as he examined the driver\u2019s wounds.\u201cYou probably saved her life, ma\u2019am.\u201d Perhaps. But as Barbara walked back to her car, a feeling of sadness overwhelmed her, especially for the family of the girl who had died. Their lives would never be the same.<\/p>\n
O God, why do such things have to happen? <\/em>Slowly Barbara opened her car door. What should she tell Benjamin? He was staring at the crash site, his blue eyes huge.<\/p>\n \u201cMom,\u201d he whispered,\u201cdid you see it?\u201d \u201cSee what, honey?\u201d she asked. \u201cThe angel, Mom! He came down from the sky while you were running to the car. And he opened the door, and he took that girl out.\u201d Barbara\u2019s eyes filled with tears.\u201cWhich door, Ben?\u201d \u201cThe passenger side. He took the girl\u2019s hand, and they floated up to heaven together.\u201d \u201cWhat about the driver?\u201d Ben shrugged.\u201cI didn\u2019t see anyone else.\u201d Later Barbara was able to meet the families of both victims. They expressed their gratitude for the help she had provided.<\/p>\n Barbara was able to give them something more: Ben\u2019s vision. There was no way he could have known\u2013by ordinary means\u2013who was in the car or what had happened to either of the passengers. Nor could the passenger door have been opened; Barbara had seen its tangle of immovable steel herself. Yet Ben\u2019s account brought consolation to a grieving family. Their daughter was safe in heaven. And they would see her again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve reported on countless stories of angels. It\u2019s important to me that each of these stories is checked out as thoroughly as possible. I like to talk to the witness directly, and if there\u2019s corroboration, such as newspaper clips or onlookers or medical reports, I\u2019ll use them as well. But there are moments when I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":26109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[170,203,44,156,158,51,72],"ppma_author":[1401],"class_list":["post-14812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-after-death","tag-angel-sightings","tag-community","tag-courage","tag-death","tag-heavenly-angels","tag-inspirational-stories","tag-stories-of-faith"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n