Soon October is here and it will be mid-fall. I felt a compelling urge to get rid of all unnecessary belongings cluttering my closet before my birthday in order to start new. However, like a needle lost in a haystack I accidentally found a treasured keepsake which I thought I had lost a long time ago. As soon as I saw the face memories rushed through my head. I beg anyone to pause for a moment and to contemplate the portrait above. And I challenge this person to say what he/she sees is anything other than a beautiful angel. Her name was Marie-Ange. And this name was not a coincidence. Yes, angels do walk on earth. They’re mortals like us and they do not always travel with wings, crowned in a white halo. They usually come and meet us wherever we are in life in this particular moment in time.
Marie-Ange appeared into my life at a time when I was battling my own demons. I was a new student in a foreign land in the pursuit of a beautiful dream which was to become a medical doctor. At the same time my marriage was hitting the rocks and consequently divorce would soon ensue. I was a walking mad woman. I was mad at the world and mad at myself. Needless to say I was sinking down into a major depression. The day of the orientation Marie-Ange just walked into the auditorium. She took a seat next to me and with a big grin on her face she introduced herself. Thereafter, I saw her at the cafeteria, in the student lounge, in my classroom, at the library, everywhere as if she was stalking me.
After enough efforts on her part Marie-Ange finally broke through the shield, the wall that I unconsciously built around me for whatever purpose. I was forced to lay down my guard and I opened my door to her after I learned she had been the victim of a burglary at her apartment. Soon thereafter we were known as the campus twins. For one would seldom be seen in the absence of the other. I learned that our family was traced back to the same heritage. I realized I needed her friendship or her company more so than she needed mine. But once she nursed me back to health and her godly mission was accomplished she was immediately taken away. My dearest angel was diagnosed with a brain tumor that soon led to her demise.
Why did I decide to write this post? And the question here is do you believe in angels? Whatever the belief system is I think it was a personal story worth sharing. For every man or woman experiencing a divorce or going through any sort of hardship rest assured that there is an angel out there whether visible or invisible looking out for you. If anything, the picture brought me renewed hope and energy. It reminded me of my inner strength as a woman. It forced me to return in time and to evaluate both past and present.
My conclusion is the mind may be so clouded at times. Sometimes we may fail to see our way through when all it takes is to tap into our own inner resources. If for any consolation it helps to believe that my friend’s journey at the medical school, however fleeting, was not without its purpose. And the mystery of her death was much too tragically sudden or too symbolic not to read more into it.
