A brother killed in a car
accident 20 years before this incident is credited with saving his sister’s life.
While driving at high speed
a tire blew out on the car she drove. She skidded out of control—her car
careened down a ditch through dead brush and tall trees.
As this horrifying scene unfolded, she heard her brother’s voice state clearly, “Undo your seatbelt,
now.”
Without thinking, she obeyed
his command—she unclipped her belt. At that moment her body “like a ragdoll”
took flight and landed in the car’s backseat.
The car came to an abrupt
stop and flipped over. It had landed in a residential backyard. Hearing her
cries for help the owner of the nearby home managed to pull her battered and
bruised body from the window of the wrecked car.
When the emergency crew
arrived, they were at a loss as to how she had survived the crash. The driver’s
side of the car was crushed and smashed into pieces.
She told her rescuers that
her brother had saved her life. If she hadn’t unclipped her seatbelt when she
had, she would have been killed.
They listened but were
skeptical about her story.
This woman has never changed
her story. To this day, she believes if her brother had not spoken when he had,
she would not be alive to tell her tale.
During Hollywood’s Golden Era
James Gagney became one of its biggest stars.
Cagney in The Public Enemy
Gagney a multi-talented actor
proved he was a major box-office draw with film hits such as the groundbreaking
Prohibition film in 1931 The Public Enemy—which
he followed up with more successful gangster roles.
In 1942 he proved his
versatility when he danced and sang in Yankee Doodle Dandy, which he won an
Oscar for.
James Gagney began his career
in a revue as a female impersonator.
Cagney with chorus in Yankee Doodle Dandy
He was known to be a
no-nonsense actor who did not believe in the supernatural, which makes the
story that he told later in life more compelling.
With wife Billie
In 1964, he and his wife were
driving late one night to San Francisco. Anxious to get to their dinner and bed
Cagney was speeding—between 80 and 85 miles per hour.
Cagney states he heard a
voice in his ear say, “Take it easy, kid!”
He then took his foot off the
accelerator at first thinking it was his wife, Billie imitating him.
But as he turned toward her
she questioned him. “Did you hear that too?”
Cagney now uncomfortable
decided to ignore the command. He put his foot back down on the accelerator
again.
But as he neared 85 mph he
heard the voice once more. This time it shouted loudly, “Take it easy, kid!”
Now stunned Cagney told
Billie, “That was my father’s voice.”
She replied that it sure
sounded like him. At this point he looked straight ahead and spotted a
broken-down trailer lying across the road just 100 yards away.
It had come loose from the
car that towed it just moments before.
Cagney saw it in time to
avoid it—he admitted if he had still been going 85 mph he would have hit it
head on.
Cagney stated that his Irish
bartender father who had been dead for years saved him and his wife from
certain death.
The young man in this story receives a unique Christmas gift.
My parents abandoned me at
the age of 4 and my grandparents placed me in an orphanage. By my eleventh
birthday I was seen as a chronic runaway.
It was Christmas Eve and my
school let out early. As I exited the gate instead of getting on the bus I just
kept walking. By the time it became dark I was tired, cold and afraid.
I had not eaten all day but
my first concern was the police. If they found me and returned me to the
orphanage I would be beaten.
With no alternative I just
kept walking. I entered a park and sat on a wooden bench that was in the
shadows hoping not to be seen.
It was now very cold and I
started to shiver.
“Well, hello young man.” A
voice came out of the quiet that surrounded me.
I jumped almost falling off
the bench. My heart was racing. I could feel its beat against my neck.
I looked up and saw an old
woman standing behind me. She watched me with piercing brown eyes.
“You look cold.”
“I am cold, real cold.”
She approached and wrapped
her shawl around my shoulders.
I asked, “But ain’t you gonna
be cold now?”
“I’ll be okay. Is there
anything else you need?”
“I sure could use some food.”
She started down the
sidewalk. “Follow me.”
As she stopped under a
streetlamp she held out her hand to me.
“Here, you take this letter
and give it to a store owner.”
I looked at her outstretched
hand but didn’t see anything. I looked up her. “There is nothing in your hand.”
She shrugged and firmly
stated, “Roger reach out and take what is in my hand.”
Slowly I reached out and
pretended to take something. She nodded her approval.
“Now close your finger and
thumb and hold on tightly.”
I did as she instructed as if
I was grasping the letter.
“Take it to any store owner.”
“What do I say to them?”
“Nothing.”
“But what store do I go to?”
She smiled, “It doesn’t
matter.”
I walked out of the park. I
came to a store where a woman stood behind the counter. I entered the shop and
stopped directly in front of her.
“Can I help you?”
“Yes, Ma’am.” I looked down
at my shoes.
She reached out and touched
my hand. I opened my tightly closed fingers. She drew back and smiled as she
looked down at her own hand.
She then walked to the back
of the store. I slowly inched toward the front of the store afraid she was
calling the police.
As I reached the door she
called out my name. I whirled around and saw a paper plate in her hand.
“Roger here is something for
you to eat.”
“How did you know my name?”
“It was on the paper.”
“But there is no paper.”
She just smiled and indicated
with her hand that I should eat. I cleaned that plate quickly and I drank two
Coca Colas.
“Are you full?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Then it is time for you to
go.”
As I turned to leave she
touched my shoulder. She held out her hand. “Here, you almost forgot your
letter.”
Again, saying nothing, I
closed my finger and thumb tightly as if taking something from her.
I walked back to the park.
When I arrived the old woman was sitting on the park bench.
“Did you eat?’
“Yes Ma’am, I drank two Coca
Colas.”
“Good.”
I looked at her and
asked, “How do you get the magic?”
“Its not magic.”
“But how does everyone know
my name?”
“It was written in the
letter.”
“Can I keep the letter so I
can be magic too?”
She reached out and opened my
firmly closed fingers. She took whatever it was I was holding and tucked it in
her apron pocket.
She looked at me steadily.
“Would you help someone if they were hungry?”
Yes, Ma’am.”
“Would you help someone if
they were hurt, cold or scared?”
“Yes, Ma’am, I would be their
friend.”
She smiled at me. “Roger, you
are a very lucky little boy. You will never need the letter.”
She stood up, kissed me on
the forehead removed her shawl from my shoulders and walked down the sidewalk. I watched as she disappeared
into the darkness.
Here is a 1st
person account from the 1950s about a son’s angel.
My mother died too young. My
father had a portrait of her framed and placed it above our fireplace mantle,
it was his way of telling us kids she still watched over us.
Seven years after her death I
was in college in Pennsylvania when my uncle invited me to go hunting with him
in the Pocono Mountains.
My uncle returned to the lodge
early but I enjoying the day continued to hunt. I stuck to a well-trodden path
since I was not familiar with the area.
It was late afternoon and the
sunshine glistened at a low angle off the tall trees that surrounded me. I
stopped to shade my eyes so I could get a clearer view of the trail in front of
me.
Suddenly, to my right I
spotted a human figure in the shadows. Startled, I realized that just 30 yards
away from me stood my Mom. I could only see her head and shoulders amidst the
shadows but there was no mistaking that it was my deceased mother.
I stood rooted to my spot
dumbstruck not comprehending at first what was happening. I remembered my
binoculars around my neck and lifted them to my eyes.
Yes, it was my mother and she
was smiling at me. I couldn’t manage any words but I silently stated, “Hi Mom.”
I waited but received no response.
I watched this image for what
seemed like an eternity but it was actually just a few minutes. Then her face
slowly faded away.
Coming to my senses I stated
out loud, “Bye Mom, thanks for visiting.”
I continued down the trail
wondering if what I had seen really happened. I had walked about 50 more yards
down the path when a rifle shot rang out.
The bullet smashed into a
tree that stood on the path in front of me. It hit the tree at my eye level. I
realized that if I had been 20 more yards down this path the bullet would have
struck my head.
It dawned on me why my mother
had appeared. She had delayed me just long enough so that I didn’t reach the
spot where the bullet hit.
Without her intervention I
would not have been able to walk away.
John Ronner, a newspaper
reporter first told this story on the radio show Coast to Coast.
Diana was new to New York. It
was past 10:00 p.m. and she had missed her stop on the subway. Lost, she
got off the train to wait for another that would take her back the way she had
come. Nervous, she headed up toward the street level.She stopped when she saw a group of men
drinking and shouting at the entrance.
She noted several buildings
in the area were run down, even boarded up. Her stomach sank as she realized
that she was in a dangerous part of the city.
As she turned back toward the
platform she saw that the men above her had noticed her presence. Panic set in
as she saw how they stared at her. She rushed back down toward the subway
tracks.
Her heart sank as she saw
there wasn’t a train in sight. She became desperate as she heard the men’s
laughter approaching.
She stepped to the tracks and
looked down the tunnel hoping to hear a train but everything now was silent.
She turned to her left and
saw a tall man with steel grey hair wearing a tailored suit next to her. He
smiled at her.
“Are you lost?”
She briefly mentioned to him
that she wasn’t sure where she was.
He pulled out a map and
showed her where they were. He then pointed out the station she had missed. She
looked around and the man told her he would wait with her.
There was no sign of the rowdy
men she had seen earlier and she realized she felt safe with the stranger.
Twenty minutes later her train arrived. As she stepped in the car she turned to hand the map back to her companion but the platform was empty.
As the doors slid closed she
looked down at the map and saw that her exact route was highlighted.
