Thoughts, inspirations, and ideas shared by a death and dying class at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Personal Guardian Angels?

I’d like to pose a question to you. Now, this is obviously saying that your beliefs somewhat fall within this thought process as well.. Do you think that if there are really the spirits of those who have died still lingering around us, that they can choose whom they can be seen by?

My reasoning behind this question is through various instances within my life thus far. I’m going to share the few that really stick out to me & I would love to hear any responses that are similar in nature if there are any! I try to make them short & sweet.

When my grandmother (Nana), my mother’s mother, died we went up to Kentucky to attend the funeral with the rest of my family. One of my older sisters has 6 children. They all attended the funeral as well. Each one of her kids have a very different personality. Her second oldest son, Hunter, has a very recluse type of personality. He isn’t very shy, he just keeps to himself unless otherwise needed. He and I are actually quite similar in nature. The rest of them are very loud & outgoing. Well, my mother realized while the others were crying & very upset, Hunter seemed very calm and okay with the situation. Mom asked him if he was okay, if he was missing Nana. He replied, “Yes, of course I miss Nana but I know that she’s okay.” Mom was a little confused & asked how he knew. “She’s here with us.. She’s standing right over there..” Surprisingly it didn’t freak Mom out. She was kind of calmed by it. Mom and I talked a lot about this & we came to the conclusion that she chose Hunter out of everyone because he wouldn’t get scared, he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it & he would find the right way to let the family know she was okay.

When I was very young we lived in an old Civil War townhouse in a small town in Kentucky. Every so often when my mother would go to put me to sleep I would complain to her that I couldn’t sleep because of the music that was playing. My sister had already gone off to college so her room was unoccupied. There was still a bed, a dresser, and a stereo in there. Well, those nights when I complained about music, her stereo would be playing on it own. Mom and I were the only ones that could here it. They would even play music according to the Holidays. Apparently I was never frightened, but knew what was going on. I just wanted the music turned down so I could sleep. As I got older the music stopped. Sometimes I think that perhaps they knew it would scare me the older I got & more I learned. Who knows.

Okay, final example - For eight long months of my life I lived in Tucson, Arizona. One night Mom and I were driving home in our van. I remember it was a longer trip, we were at least 30-45mins away from home. Driving in front of us was a white beat up truck with tools & ladders in the back. Well one of the ladders came loose and flew directly at the windshield of our van. I mean this thing was within feet of our faces. I one slow motioned second I caught a glimpse of my Grandmother, my father’s mother who had died when I was 7, and then ladder was forced very quickly underneath the van as if it were pushed or slammed down. We ran over it instead. Mom & I thought were terrified. She didn’t want to stop in the middle of nowhere in the dark so we kept heading for home. About 30 mins later we pull into our driveway. We barely had enough time to close the car doors before the tire went flat. But we made it that far without it doing that?

Whether this is all just made up in my head or it’s real - I find comfort in believing we all have our own personal guardian angels protecting us in our daily lives.

3 comments:

  1. I like to think my Gandmother, Adda, or as us grandchildren called her Addita, watches over me. She died when I was about 10 and I was pretty shooken by her sudden death, which in retrospect was a "good death". She died practicing her tap dancing routine with her twin sister. She was from a different time and tap dancing was one of her passions.
    One night I was sleeping. I had this terrible feeling that something was holding me down. I was paralyzed with fear. I tried screamimg out, "Help Me!, but my voice was only in my head no one could hear me in the room. I felt Addita's presence there and slowly the paralysis slipped away and my voice though faint started coming out until finally I was fully there and My Mom heard me and woke up. I don't know what I felt but it was very spooky, but I am comforted by knowing that someone I love was with me too...

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  2. I personally feel as though our guardian angels are always with us. I took today off to celebrate the birthday of my boyfriend Adam who died overseas while in the military. I chose to celebrate Adam's birthday rather than the anniversary of his death so I can remember all that he stood for and the life that he brought around him rather than remembering the tragedy of losing another soldier, son, boyfriend, friend, and hero. Upon Adam's last leave, he brought home his dogtags and gave them to me. I have had Adam's tags with me since he gave them to me. Whenever I look at Adam's tags, I like to think that he's there with me.

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  3. I believe that loved ones who have died, do in fact linger around as a guardian angel type. If I'm ever having a feeling of disappointment, regret, or sadness, my thoughts immediately are directed towards my grandmother and how she would comfort me. I'm not sure if it's because we were so close or if it's because she's trying to take some pain away, but whatever it is, I'm grateful to have someone watching over me.

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