My life and my brother's life were spared from a collision with a 'drunken' driver. I can't say for sure that the driver of the oncoming vehicle was drunk or what, but headlights were swerving back and forth across the lanes and coming right toward us. I was driving my VW bus which doesn't have an engine in front to absorb any impact to the driver or front seat passenger. My brother was the passenger, and we must have been driving to an out-of-town hospital for his medical treatment. Why we decided to take the trip at night, I can't recall, perhaps to arrive early and beat morning traffic. But with oncoming headlights swerving back and forth across the lanes, I had only seconds to react, I remember deciding that I couldn't risk swerving off the shoulder because a VW bus, while getting great gas mileage and had tons of room inside, is prone to flipping being it's center of gravity is high off the ground. And it was dark on that two lane road between cities. I decided to brace for the impact by holding tightly to the steering wheel and I probably said out loud, 'Hold on.' as my brother was looking, too.
| A Volkswagon Bus |
But the impact never came, Nothing happened. I had stopped by now, still in our lane. The oncoming lights had gotten so close and I was sure we were gonna have a head-on collision, but it never came. We were okay, thank God. It was as if the lights went through us. No other vehicles were on the road. You can see headlights or tail lights for a distance in the dark, but the road in front and behind was completely dark. Nothing. The vehicle was gone, vanished. We both looked at each other. It couldn't have turned off the road that fast or gotten behind anything. I started driving again, continuing on, very glad the collision never happened. I was happy my guardian angel and my brother's were present and on the job, otherwise we both could've been very seriously injured that night.
My second very real experience with angels was the night my brother was taken at his death. I've written about it as best I can in my other blog, UpForGrabsToday.blogspot.com. Click here and read the story which I began with how our senses trigger strong memory connections helping us feel a sense of closeness with memories of our loved ones. Click here for the posting describing my other very vivid angelic encounter.
When I was young, I remember at my Grandparent's, gazing a long time at a painting of an angel protecting children as they crossed a bridge. I since found this image on a wooden plaque, torn, but still the image.
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| image on wooden plaque of guardian angel |
Most likely my guardian angel has been busy on a daily basis keeping me safe from harm and guiding me without my knowing she's on constant watch.
Without a doubt, I knew the presence of angels about me and my brother and experienced their super-angelic capabilities.
Keep reading for the third time of angelic intervention in my VW.
My1977-78 Champagne Edition VW was the first vehicle I owned. She was purchased in the Denver. Colorado area and with the help of my Dad, I got it financed through the FAA Western Federal Credit Union. (Funny, I can't remember what I called her). Anyway, her first of many trips she transported me and friends was from Colorado back to Cherry Point, N. Carolina, where I was stationed at the time. Her compartment and seating was adequately roomy enough for loading whatever luggage and friends into and hittin' the road on weekends for exploring whatever new and exciting place we could find from D.C. to Florida.
After I'd gotten out of the service and was in college, another VW memorable trip started in Waterloo, Iowa. That 1000 mile trip was to move my girlfriend lock, stock and barrel to Texas. Again, the roomy compartment came in quite handy adequately holding all her belongings. I think I took the middle seat out for more open roominess. We made the trip stopping only for brief breaks to stretch, make bathroom pit-stops or to eat. The trip was fine, but I do remember when we reached Houston, it was nighttime and the highways looked like they were looped on top of each other- I'd never seen so many layers of highways on top of highways. With me driving if I got in the wrong lane and missed a turn, it wasn't gonna be easy getting back on the right highway in all that spaghetti- mess. We made it to our destination without getting lost. But the surprise of the trip came the next morning. From the house where we met friends in Katy, just outside Houston, I drove not even half-a-mile on a level residential street to the bank. When I turned into the bank parking lot, the clutch cable broke! Had that happened on any of the stacked Houston highways, we might have made the morning headline news, 'out of town VW bus without brakes, driver loses control and crashes'. I was so thankful we were protected and the cable didn't break on any highway while on our trip. No doubt my angel again performed her duties well. And, my friend is still resides in Texas as does her children and grandchildren.
I can't recall the exact year, but sometime around 1993, due to an unresolvable exhaust malady. I retired her to pasture. She sits in the yard at a dear friend's who wanted her, and she's in the company of other retired vehicles in that country yard. She's retired from travel but still in service by being the storage facility for chicken feed, horse feed and various tools. Her large sunroof isn't any longer opened and closed, her motor is silent and still, but her sliding door and adequately roomy enough compartment is still loaded. Whenever I go to visit, I glance over and see her and a smile rushes over me remembering the many good times and places spent traveling in her.
Out of respect, I'm abstaining from snapping a picture in her retired condition. But I found a link with photos of two Champagne Edition VW buses. Scroll down until you see the shiny bus with the nice stripes- that's how I remember how she looked some thirty years ago when she and I both were in our prime. Click here.
Until next time, on that straight and narrow path I continue to take.
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