Angels Among Us.

In the summer of 1962, when I was eight years old, my mother and I were in a horrible car accident on the Connecticut Turnpike.  My mother's car crashed into one of those huge light poles on the side of the road.  I remember it was a hot August day and we had the windows rolled down.  I remember my mother was teaching me to sing "My Baby Don't Care for Shows."  I remember the blaring sounds of a large truck passing us.  I remember that my mother screamed at me to stop singing.  

I remember the sound of screeching, metal on metal.  I remember my mother reaching out to grab hold of me.  But here's where the memories become a confusing jumble.

I crashed through the windshield and landed on the side of the highway on the grass.  The highway sounds rushed around me. I'm sure it was not as simple as this, but that's how I remember it.  

I lay there on the grass in the summer sun and I looked up to see two teenage girls staring at me from behind a fence.  They were dressed in white and wore go-go boots.  I immediately decided they were angels, but truly, all I could think of was how I wanted a pair of go-go boots just like their go-go boots.  The angels didn't say anything to me, but they smiled at me.  I could hear the far-away sounds of sirens growing closer, but before the ambulance arrived, it came to me that I had received an important message and it was this:  if I wanted a pair of white go-go boots like those teen-angels, well, then I'd better live through this.

I never got the go-go boots.  1962 turned out to be a rough year and I learned a whole new array of skills, but I had many guardian angels to guide me.  This beautiful woman--the one in the photograph--is one of them.  She came to our home everyday and helped my mother who was then housebound and confined to a wheelchair.  She taught me what to do when she could not be there and I learned a lot about cooking and cleaning and basically how to be a caregiver.

Today, while I take care of my aged papa, I am newly aware that we are surrounded by guardian angels.  They are visiting nurses, APRN's, Physical Therapists, Doctors, Pharmacists and one lovely Nurse's Aid named Melissa.  

And I am so grateful to know that there are angels living amongst us.

This brings me to your creativity prompt for the week.  Look around and ask yourself who is an angel in my life?  Who has helped me in small ways and big ways?  Who do I love and trust?  

And then, I want you to tell this person how much you love and appreciate them.  Bring all this into your creative practice.  Appreciation for the gifts this world bestows upon you will open up your heard and your creative soul to new gifts.  You'll see.

Love,

Jamie