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It was July of 1996 when the telephone broke the silence at work. It was 3:50 p.m. and the other staff were getting ready to go home for the day. I was working the overnight shift. It is amazing how one remembers such trivial details.
I answered the phone and was surprised to hear my mother's doctor. "This is Doctor Stewart and your mother is going by ambulance to the hospital right now. She is very very sick. I need a family member here as she is going to have emergency surgery and your brother is out of town. You have to come right now!"
I heard the words but my brain couldn't comprehend the meaning. Mother was in another city, some three hours away from me. My brother and his family were somewhere up north at a rented cottage.
I mumbled something about being on my way and hung up the phone in shock. I turned to my boss and told her "I have to go right now, Mom's sick".
I explained the call and I think I was in shock because everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. I couldn't think. What should I do?
My co-workers gathered round and were trying to give me moral support.
My boss did something I will never understand. After calling someone to come in, she decided that everyone should go home and I should wait for my replacement. I was too numb to argue. The anger would come later when I thought about the fact that I should have left immediately. Someone else should have waited for the replacement worker.
My co-worker didn't get in until 6:00 p.m. In the meantime, I had managed to get hold of my brother through the resort where he was staying and the knowledge that he was also racing back home gave me some comfort.
As soon as my replacement appeared, I was in the car and racing for home. I threw some clothes into a suitcase and at the last moment, with tears running down my face, added an outfit for a possible funeral.
Back to the car and off and racing, it suddenly occurred to me that I had no money, so I drove to a friend's who gave me some cash. By now I was getting hysterical.
It was now 8:15 p.m as my car raced towards the ramp of the highway that would take me to my mother. I was upset and crying. It was now four hours since the doctor's original call!
My car had been my Dad's - his pride and joy. It was an 1980 Chrysler Cordoba. I had tried my best to keep it in good condition but the reality was that it was 17 years old, and each trip in it had been a gamble. Dad had sold it to me for one dollar shortly before his death in December of 1988.
As I raced onto the ramp to the highway, I called out to my father. "Dad, you have to get me there, Mom needs me!"
The instrument panel light was out so I have no idea how fast I was driving. I was very surprised when the exit sign for the town just west of the city where my Mom was living flashed by. This three hour trip was accomplished in just two hours.
I had been carried safely on Angels' wings to my destination. It was a beautiful starlite night and as I rounded the off-ramp to the city, my eye caught a glorious full moon. It hung just over the ramp and seemed to be saying "Follow me".
I think I took a breath for the first time in the whole trip and the tears started running down my face. I had made it! I looked directly at the moon and heard myself say "Thank you, Dad" and for one fleeting second, I saw his face smiling back at me.
I had forgotten one difficult part of the trip. From the highway to my brother's house are countless stoplights and as I looked to the south, there were red lights as far as the eye could see!
"Oh dear," I thought, "it will take forever to get there."
As I approached each stoplight, much to my amazement it would turn green, and I sailed right through. I never stopped once until I reached my brother's driveway! He has lived in that city for 30 years and has never had that experience!
I pulled into his driveway and gave thanks that I had safely arrived.
The next day, I discovered that one tire on my car was completely flat. My brother and I took it gingerly to the garage. The mechanic called me to say how badly the tire was shredded. Much to my shock, he added "You have no brakes...your brake line broke open and you had no brake fluid. You must have a Guardian Angel, Lady, cause if you had gone any further, you could have been killed!"
I simply said "I do!"
Not once during my trip had I felt a flat tire or needed to brake until I reached my brother's driveway. If anything I had felt the sensation of being carried. I was in my father's car and had simply asked for and received his help.
My Mother died a week later, and I needed that outfit I had packed. But I was able to be with her and comfort her and tell her how much I loved her before she passed on.
I will never forget the night my Dad carried me safely on Angels' Wings to be at her side!
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