[Gráinne]

I'll tell a story on myself.

Over twenty years ago, my boyfriend at the time and I were driving straight through from Denver to Cleveland (my hometown). The circumstances are a very long story, but we had little money, enough for one tank of gas. We made it as far as Rock Island, Illinois before nearly running out of gas and realizing we needed help.

We stopped at a church, where the pastor gave us $20 and told us to go to this certain gas station-he knew the owner. So we did that, and the station was just this little beat-up place, not the shiny convenience stores you see today. The owner came out, and he was an equally plain little man in dirty overalls. We told him where we'd come from, and he immediately told us to fill the car up on him, then told us to go around the corner to a restaurant he'd point out for lunch-he knew the owner. The gas station man introduced himself as Mr. Moses (not kidding), and fussed over the car, making sure the tires were OK and checking the oil. We were so grateful, as I recall we asked if we could bring him anything back from lunch later on, but he said he was fine.

My boyfriend was pumping the gas, and when the gas station man began walking away from the car, I stuck my head out the passenger side window and called, "Mr. Moses, thank you!" When he turned around, all I can describe is that he was a glowing "being", almost as Princessbelle described (that gave me chills, as it's what I saw and felt). "He" didn't have a gender, nor even very distinct features beyond the eyes, but it was the most profound peace I have ever felt. I had this feeling, as if "he" was speaking to me, that everything was going to be all right and that I was going in the right direction. All this probably took a split second, and my boyfriend later told me he saw Mr. Moses turn around and look at me for a second, but it seemed like eternity. I wanted it to be so.

We went around the corner to lunch in this stereotypical Irish pub-like place, but I still remember that sandwich today. When we were finishing, I told my boyfriend I wanted to go back and thank Mr. Moses. Really, I wanted to go see him again and make sure I wasn't over the bend. We should have been able to go back easily-the restaurant was only about four blocks from the station-but we drove back to where we knew we'd been, and the station wasn't there. Everything else looked exactly the same. We drove around the block another time or so, but never saw it.

I don't necessarily believe that angels live in Heaven with harps and wings, but that's because I don't exactly believe in the concept of heaven as a separate place. That would be a whole other post, but I absolutely believe that there's much that we don't see or understand.