Growing up, I was always very close to my grandparents. But
my maternal grandfather and I seemed to have a special bond. I can
remember endless weekends when I would spend Friday night with my
grandparents and after grandma went to bed, gramps and I would watch
TV sometimes and then before we went to bed for the night, we would
always sing some of his favorite songs. I can clearly see gramps
sitting on the couch and I would stand next to him with my arm around
his shoulder and we would sing and laugh and have wonderful times
together. I knew I was his favorite even when I was little, and he
always knew that no matter what, he was my favorite too. We
preformed this ritual at least twice a month from as far back as I
can remember until I was 10 years old. Then one terrible night in
1958, my life changed forever.Grandma had gone to bed as usual, and
Gramps and I were singing "On Top of Old Smokey". He was feeling a
little tired that night, so we decided to go to bed a little earlier
than usual. As he always did, he insisted I go to the bathroom and
get ready for bed first and then he'd get ready. As I stood there
brushing my teeth and humming to myself, I heard a funny sound and
opened the door to peek out. Grandpas' bed was next to the bathroom
wall, and I could see he was lying on the bed, but his body was
jumping up and down (convulsions I now know). I ran to him and found
him clutching his chest. So, I ran and woke up my grandmother and
ran right back to the bathroom and got grandpas heart pills to put
one under his tongue. I climbed up on the bed and he was very still
now, just looking at me. I could see he was trying to speak, but
only his lips (which were a funny shade of purple) were moving as he
tried to reassure me that everything was OK.When grandma got there
she yelled at me to run next door to my aunt and uncles for help. It
was around midnight by now and my aunt's place was about a half acre
away. That seemed awfully far and I was afraid to go out in the
dark, but I ran as fast as my legs could carry me, and beat on their
bedroom window. When my uncle looked out the window and saw me, he
immediately knew something was wrong and I yelled that something was
happening to gramps. Then, I ran back to the house.Everything got a
little crazy after that. Grandma wouldn't let me stay with gramps,
and told me to leave the room. Then my aunt and uncle came, and soon
an ambulance and the police arrived. Right after that, my mom and
dad came. I heard someone say my grandpa had died of a massive heart
attack. An unknown fear gripped me and I slipped away from everyone
and went outside. The next thing I knew, I was running and running
and ended up somewhere at the back of my aunt and uncles farm. I sat
under a big tree and cried and prayed to God not to let my grandpa
die. I prayed that he'd bring him back to me because we needed each
other and I knew he'd be lonely without me. Who would hug him and
sing with him? After a while, I noticed the dark and the quietness of
the night. Shadows seemed to loom all around me and I began to get
scared. I looked around and could see no lights from my aunts or
grandmas' houses. Suddenly I realized I was pretty far from home and
wasn't sure which was to go to get back. I was cold and tired and
growing more scared by the minute, and strangely I found that my legs
wouldn't unfold from beneath me so I buried my head in my arms trying
to hide from the night. Suddenly a hand touched my shoulder and a
voice spoke softly to me not to be afraid. For some reason, I wasn't
scared, and I instantly felt safe. I looked up and there stood a
policeman. He asked me if my name was Donna and I said yes. He said
he'd been looking for me for some time and wanted to know why I'd run
away from my family. As the policeman sat down beside me and put a
comforting arm around me, words just seemed to pour out of me. I had
heard someone say my grandpa had died of a heart attack and I knew it
was all my fault. I didn't think anyone would forgive me for what
I'd done and I wanted so much to tell gramps that I was sorry and
that I loved him. You see, I knew grandpa kept his heart pills that
he put under his tongue when he had pain, in the bathroom. He had
told me to go to the bathroom to get ready first, and I had just
taken my time singing to myself and primping and grandpa couldn't get
to the bathroom in time to get his medicine. The policeman told me
that it would not have made any difference if grandpa had gotten his
pills or not that night. God had just decided that it was time for
him to come home and end his pain. He said he knew that gramps had
been in the hospital a lot over the past two years and had already
had 8 or 9 heart attacks. I didn't know how the policeman knew that,
but I guessed my mom or someone had told him. He told me gramps was
in a wonderful place now and I'd see him again someday and he said I
shouldn't be sad because gramps would never be sick again. He was
with Jesus now and singing with the angels. We sat there and talked
for a little while and then he took my hand and led me back to my
grandma's. As I was walking up to the house I found my parents
looking for me. They wanted to know where I'd been, they'd been so
frightened. Hadn't they dealt with enough that night without my
running off? I looked up at my police friend and he gently pushed me
forward toward my dad who reached out and hugged me so hard it hurt.
Dad asked me where I was and I told him I got lost and couldn't find
my way back. But then, the policeman had found me and brought me
home. Dad asked where the policeman was and when I turned he was
gone. Dad said he hadn't seen anyone walking with me and that I'd
been all by myself. I insisted that I hadn't been alone and that I
couldn't have found my way back without him there. Dad pointed over
to the two policemen by the ambulance and asked which one had found
me. I told him it wasn't either one of them. So, Dad walked up to
them and asked where the other policeman had gone. They said they
were the only two policemen there and they hadn't even known I was
missing.Mom and dad couldn't understand how I could be so confused
but decided that seeing my grandpa die had traumatized me so bad that
I wasn't thinking straight. I was too young to know what had really
happened. But I knew he'd been there with me.It wasn't 'til years
later that I realized that God had sent his guardian angel to watch
over me and lead me safely home that night. Why was he dressed as a
policeman? Maybe because any other stranger coming upon me that
night would have only frightened me further. I was always taught
that policeman were our friends. I believe that's why he chose to
send His Angel in that form.Several times in my life His Angels have
intervened to save me from harm or to help in a time of crisis. I've
been asked what makes me so special that God would send his angels to
help me when other people never have had his angels help them. Don't
they?I know and feel God's love in my life daily. I believe it was a
simple child's prayer for help that sent His Angel to me. I also
believe that Angels don't appear in a bright light with wings and a
halo. I believe they are around us everyday. You only have to
believe and have faith. Haven't things happened to you where you've
thought, "wow, was I lucky that time." Where you? Or, did you say a
silent prayer and an Angel intervened just in time. Be open to his
love, and let God work in your life. I believe it's that easy.
