An Angelic Visitation

The events of this story took place in 1974, when I was turning 18 years old. This was not a dream; it was real.

When I was a young, foolish high school girl I became engaged to a young man three years my senior. He was attending a local vocational school and graduated from his program and moved away. We promised to stay faithful to each other and continue with our plans to marry in three months, after I turned 18 and graduated from high school. He proved to be unfaithful, however, and married someone else. He didn't call to tell me; his mother had to do it.

As you can imagine I was devastated. I cried and cried and wanted to die. I went to school but felt like a zombie. I just managed through the days, going home and going to bed before dark. I felt like life had ended for me (remember I was just a 17-year old girl and prone to the dramatic!) I would cry most of the night, getting little sleep. One night, after hours of boo-hooing, I fell asleep. I had been asleep about an hour when I woke up to the feeling of someone sitting on the side of the bed. I assumed it was my mother but when I turned over I saw something quite different. There was a being sitting there, dressed in some sort of robe, with a hood falling down over what should have been a face. The sleeves were long and wide and I could see no hands. At first I was terrified but the being began to pat my hand. I could feel the pats even though I could not see another hand. The being began to communicate, but not audibly. It was like I could read the thoughts but could not hear actual words. This wonderful creature told me that I was going to be all right; that life would get better and that "this too would pass away." I was told to be calm; to love others and forgive. I was told that God loved me and He had seen my sorrow and that He "had chosen to bring an end to my grief." I felt a warm calmness come over me. I began to relax and soon feel into a deep, restful sleep for the first time in several weeks. The next morning I awoke feeling hopeful and ready to take on the day. I told my mother about this experience and, being a skeptic, she said it was a dream but was glad I was better.

I have often thought about my "angel," for that is what I believe visited me that night. I have had other encounters of the angelic kind, but this was the first and it has never left me.