An Angel By My Side Michelle D. Smith   © Copyright 2021 by Michelle D. Smith

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash

My life has been filled with otherworldly occurrences. Since an early age, I have dreamt about deceased relatives as well as future events. None of these things were odd to me, but they did require explanations from my family.

Most of my answers involved a version of “You are too young to understand” in some form or another. I paid little attention to these occurrences. To me, they were natural.

As I got older, I realized not everyone has dreams about their deceased loved ones, or got inklings of when a beloved relative was leaving this earth. I kept my insights to myself; most people do not want to hear “bad news.”

All this changed one night in March, 1979. My current job offered me the best working hours of my life. As a night owl, I seldom go to bed before a 1 o’clock. This job offered working hours of 5 pm to 1 am. Just perfect!

The difficult part was getting home at 1:00 a.m. At that time, I took three buses. It wasn’t till years later that I learned the first bus I took would have brought me all the way home, albeit by a long and winding route.

The buses ran relatively smoothly. My first bus, which stopped across from my job, came at three minutes after 1:00. The next bus came at 1:10 a.m., and the final bus came at 1:20 a.m. Kind of tight, but it worked well for me. At no time was I on a bus stop longer than five minutes.

On this particular night, I arrived at my second bus stop at the regular time, but the bus was late, jeopardizing my ability to make the third and final bus. As the minutes ticked by, I got more anxious. The 13 finally showed up, fifteen minutes late.

With great trepidation, I got off on Park and North Avenue. My only thoughts were that I would be on that corner for almost forty minutes, alone on a dark and deserted bus stop.

The bus stop itself is isolated. There is a building on the corner of North Avenue and Park Avenue that is surrounded on all sides by a tall, black steel fence. I believe it used to belong to the Catholic Church. Today, it is a daycare center. The steel fence ensured no one could sneak up on me without me seeing them coming. That was the good news. Across the street was the edge of a fenced-off apartment complex and another bus stop. I had never seen anyone on that stop that time of night.

Rounding the corner, I was surprised to see a tall black man, dressed in a long black trench coat with a black hat. Under that coat were a suit and some really nice shoes.

As I approached him, I asked if I had already missed the bus. He responded the bus had not yet arrived. I thanked him and took a position a little to his right, at the top of the bus stop. Less than ten minutes later, my bus rounded the corner. You cannot imagine the relief I felt, knowing I would not be waiting forty minutes for a bus. I would be home in less than thirty minutes. The bus pulled up and opened the door. The gentleman on the corner stepped out of my way with an “After you” gesture. I nodded my thanks and got on the bus. The bus driver closed the door and pulled off.

“What are you doing?” I screamed. “Why did you close the door on that man?” As I looked out of the window, the driver answered with, “There was no one on the corner but you.” If my face looked as crazy as I felt, I must have been a sight. I had wakened those passengers who had fallen asleep, and everyone was trying to find out what was going on. The bus driver actually slowed the bus to give me time to see that there was no one on the corner, and nowhere he could have gone.

Stunned, I took my seat, embarrassed as hell by the commotion I had caused. But I knew there was someone on that corner. I just described him as I saw him that night.

That was my first encounter with one of my angels. It would not be my last, but I did have enough sense to ask that I not “see” another angel unless it was absolutely necessary. As fearless as I am about most things, seeing angels is not in that category. My angels have respected my wishes and now announce their presence by their distinctive scents: sandalwood, jasmine and another flower scent I have yet to identify.

We all have angels who love us. They whisper to us to guide, uplift, and inspire. They are here to protect us as well. All they ask is that we listen, pay attention and take action as directed.