Lessons in strange places...

angels

I was watching a re-run of an old Unsolved Mysteries last night (okay, so it is my version of junk food TV!) and a story they spotlighted resonated with me enough to bring it into my Blogger today...

If you have seen the program, you probably know that they feature the occasional "feel good" story about old friends or lost family members being reunited. Well, this was one of those.

Last night's little feel good episode was about a man searching for the woman who saved his life. Apparently, on the way home from the hospital, where his wife had just given birth to their first child, he lost control of his motorcycle when he hit a large pool of water (as he explains it, there had been a rain storm a few days prior, and while it wasn't raining at the time, the low lying lands had been flooded).

When he hit the water, he was immediately thrown from his motorcycle and landed head first in a drainage ditch. Even though he was wearing a helmet, he was knocked unconscious -- And the last thing he remembers was a flashing light, then nothing...

When he awoke, he heard a "soft, calm voice" telling him that all would be okay. He remembers being helped out of water by someone he described as "magically beautiful, with the face of an angel." [His sincerity in his description was apparent. You could hear his immense gratitude and his love for this woman he believes is his guardian angel.]

Anyway, from there he remembers being helped into a car, then darkness, then waking up in the hospital.

According to police reports, the woman happened to come along at the right time, saw him face down in the water, pulled him out, talked to him to maintain consciousness, but left soon after the ambulance came. She provided no name.

To make a long story short, the guy is alive today because she happened to act quickly. That, in and of itself, is wonderful. And despite suffering from mild seizures to date, he would have been dead in a matter of minutes if not for the passerby.

But this is not what I wanted to focus on...

What I find most interesting is when they actually found the woman and reunited them. Half expecting to see the face of the "angel" he described, I was taken a bit off guard see a conventionally plain woman, not physically spectacular, and certainly a far cry from what we traditionally deem an "angelic appearance."

In fact, the woman looked quite tired, overweight, out of fashion, perhaps even frumpy. I immediately thought about my reaction and my obviously brainwashed attitude about conventional beauty...Why did I assume she would be some thin Barbie, for instance? Where the hell did I get this narrow concept of beauty, of "angelic?"

And yet, as I watched this man speak to her, his "angel," I could plainly see that to him, this woman is a walking portrait of Beauty, a Goddess.

Nothing will change his view of her because she is the reason he shares in the joys of being a father, of being a husband. Her humanity and quick thinking, as accidental as it all may be, is treasured in him so that every time he gazes upon her, he sees the boundless beauty of Life. What could be more beautiful than that?

I am still amazed and will try to think about the lesson one simple twist of fate provided for two strangers... and for me.

jane