If you’ve read many of my blogs, you may have noticed that I often express gratitude to my special guardian angel for sending me subtle messages that guide me in my endeavors. I can recall five significant moments when I found myself in the right place at the right time, clearly with my angel giving me a gentle nudge.
In 1975, I worked at a small, family-owned answering service situated on the front porch of their home, just a half-block from Richey Elementary School. One day around noon, I spotted a very small yet determined child walking away from the school, and something felt amiss. A quick call to the police resulted in the child being safely returned to the school. This experience likely influenced my decision to sit-watching outside my son’s school years later, on his first day of kindergarten.
Fast forward to 1993: on an early morning ride back into my neighborhood, I came across a small, disheveled child wondering in tears. I immediately stopped and called for help. As I sat in the back of the police car, holding the urine-soaked child on my lap, the officer and I drove around checking with neighbors and a nearby preschool until we were finally able to locate the mother.
In 2014, while driving home from dinner with my sweetie along busy SR 52, we spotted a man stranded on his motorized scooter with a dead battery. We pulled over to offer assistance. Although he couldn’t speak anymore, he had the most endearing smile. He didn’t have any identification, but the name “Larry” was written on the inside of his shirt collar. Recognizing that he might be a local resident of a nearby ALF, I asked him, and he nodded in acknowledgment. My husband and I pushed him about a quarter of a mile before I sent him back to retrieve the car, while I continued to push Larry another two miles. I’m happy to report that Larry made it back to his assisted living facility just in time for his evening meal (see the picture below).
In 2019, I was driving home from work at 5 PM when I noticed a young boy walking along the sidewalk of a major roadway. Given that he was carrying a backpack adorned with a stuffed dinosaur, I concluded he was too young to be out alone at that hour. To avoid scaring him and to ensure my own safety, I pulled over and, with the police on the line, cautiously approached him, sitting on the curb nearby. Within minutes, at least six patrol cars arrived, along with frantic relatives and the elementary school principal, all wearing looks of relief. Although the child had a bus pass, he had mistakenly exited the bus at the last stop, after a brief nap along the way.
Then, in 2021, as I was heading to work, I saw a small child—dressed only in a nightshirt and underwear—dancing barefoot at the curb of a four-lane road while dangling a piece of yarn. With cars speeding by, I quickly made a U-turn and raced back, already on the line with 911. As I pulled up, the child was blissfully unaware of my presence, which I was grateful for. I positioned myself just close enough so that if he wavered, I could gently encourage him back into the grass. A woman who recognized the non-verbal child pulled over; she knew he lived in a trailer just off the roadway. She banged on the door, where the obviously startled father ran out just as the sheriff arrived.
You might be wondering how one person can encounter so many of these situations. First and foremost, I often stop to help, only to discover that everything is fine—thankfully! But even so, I never hesitate to intervene. Even if I turn out to be mistaken, it’s a chance worth taking every single time.