Saved by an "Angel" to Help an "Angel"

Do you have or have you ever had a friend that came as close to being an "angel" as humans can? One who kept a perpetual smile on her face all of the time? Who seemed to have as one of her purposes in life to alleviate unkindness, one who always had a sense of fair play, and who left an unconscious imprint of love wherever she was? I have one such friend. She shall remain nameless so as to protect her privacy, but an "angel," to me,  nonetheless.

How We Met

We met when we were both newlyweds and became fast friends. Lived next door to each other in university housing. Her husband was in school and so was I. Attended the same church and had several other young married ladies in our group of friends. Nevertheless, during the summer time when regular school was out, we found time to go shopping together and various other things. All of the things that we did together seemed to cement our friendship.

I never will forget one day we were going out to find some cattails. If you don't know, cattails are reedy marsh plants with brown furry fruiting spikes. We had seen an arrangement with them in a local variety store and decided to make our own arrangement because the price was too high for the one in the store. At any rate, on this particular day, we were going out to find some that grew along the railroad track not too far from our houses. We found the cattails and were on our way back to the car.

Cattails Found and...

My baby was on the tracks with us and I reached down to pick him up. He was just a toddler just barely learning to talk and had decided that he had had enough of exploring the gravel on the tracks. My baby was a good little tyke and just loved being outdoors if I were alongside him. So we were walking along the tracks, that seldom had a train on it when from around the bend behind us came a train coming full blast. We took off running for all we were worth. I knew that I was a fast runner and I laid it down, y'all! Didn't think about my friend or anything else. Was getting my baby and me off of that track. I was picking my feet up and puttin' 'em down! All I could hear was the rumble of that train behind me!

"Dit di tar!"

Then I heard my friend's voice yell, "Get off the tracks, Alma!" And that is what I did without hesitating. She had already gotten off and saw how close the train was to overrunning me. I had no clue until I got off of the track and before I could turn around, the train went zooming past me! I was horrified and my baby who had been on my shoulder the whole time facing the train started jabbering uncontrollably. Remember, he was just learning to talk, y'all. He kept yelling,  "Dit di tar, dit di tar!" over and over again. (I will continue this blog on tomorrow if the Lord wills.)