Earlier this week, I had a conversation with a woman who felt compelled to share her story and that I would think she was crazy. That exact day, a year earlier, she died.
While sitting outside saying her morning prayers (a daily ritual), she said she heard a voice tell her that she needed to go to the hospital because she was having a heart attack. She then asked her husband to take her to the hospital because of what the voice said. Her husband didn’t quite believe her (or more obviously, the voice) and asked several questions. He asked if she felt any heart attack symptoms. At that moment, the only “off” thing she felt was numbness or tingling in her pinky finger. Based on this one, minute point, he did not think it warranted a trip to the hospital for such a potentially silly reason. She insisted. He acquiesced. While they were on their way, her heart stopped. Technically, she was dead. Her husband flew to the hospital as fast as he could. She cycled through resuscitations and flat-lining multiple times. Finally, the doctors were able to stabilize her condition and find the root cause of her heart attack – a completely clogged artery. She underwent bypass surgery and remained in the hospital for quite a while.
While recovering in the hospital, she saw a little boy in her room around 2am. According to her description, he was looking around the room in complete wonder. She was, of course, concerned that there was a young child in her room, away from his parents at such a late (or early) hour. However, he would never speak. At some point, she must have fallen asleep. The next morning, she asked her husband, who slept in the room with her, if he had seen the little boy during the night and he said he had not. The following night, the little boy reappeared. Again, he said nothing. This time, she decided to try to touch him to get his attention. When she reached out to him, her hand went through him. In the middle of the night, in her hospital room recovering from a heart attack a voice told her she was having, she met an angel.
Yet, her story doesn’t end there. She returned home after being released from the hospital. While sitting outside saying her prayers, a voice (or THE voice) spoke again and told her to go the hospital because she was having a heart attack. Dutifully, she told her husband, who thought it was a not-so-funny matter. However, he did take her back, only to find that, yes, she was having another heart attack due to the diminished capacity or output of her other arteries.
The day I met her was a year to the day after the original voice and heart attack. The person I spoke to was a vibrant and thriving woman. She jokingly mentioned that she was now living on lagniappe. We spoke for so long that the conversation veered off to other subjects as well; spiritual healing, giving service to others in lieu of birthday gifts, adoption, angels and spirits. Once again, she mentioned that I might think she was crazy and I told her that she had a most amazing story that I was happy that she felt free to share with me. I now share it with you.
For me, almost everything relates to something else. While she was telling me her story, it reminded me of the movie, City of Angels. The song is especially appropriate…