A couple of months ago my sister-in-law passed away after a short illness, leaving behind her loving son – my nephew, Sean. She was only 55 and my nephew, 21. Sean was very close to his mother, making it all that much harder to lose her so quickly and at such a young age.

My sister-in-law was cremated and her remains were buried next to her father in Greenwood cemetery. My brother, my nephew and I drove to the cemetery where we met other members of the family for the burial. The ceremony at the gravesite was very touching. When the minister finished with prayers and kind words, Sean placed his mother’s urn into the grave.

After the service, the three of us decided to have breakfast before driving home. Five minutes away was a place called Greenwoods Café. Ironically, it had the same name as the cemetery. It was Veteran’s Day and there was a sign on the door that Veterans eat free. I don’t know if that was the reason it was so crowded or if that was the typical Saturday morning crowd. When we walked in, there were no seats available. I wasn’t sure if we wanted to wait or leave and find another place to eat.

A woman was sitting by herself at a table (right next to us) and asked us if we wanted to join her. It took us a minute to understand exactly what she was asking/offering because it’s not every day a stranger asks if you want to sit at their table and eat with them. We took her up on her offer and sat down with her. About five minutes later a booth opened up and the waitress asked us if we wanted to move to the booth and we said no, we were good where we were. I’m so happy we stayed put.

This lady was so nice and hilarious too. We learned that she’s 74. She joked about how she was in the CIA and insisted my brother was too. She kept telling my brother that she knew him from somewhere and what a good father he is. She thought it was so cool that Sean was studying Cybersecurity. She really took a liking to Sean, telling him how she could tell what a good kid he is. At one point my brother and I started talking about something else and she started talking to Sean like they’ve known each other for years.

So, we ate, talked and laughed for about an hour or so. It wasn’t until we were ready to leave that we introduced ourselves. She said her name is Sister Mary. I couldn’t believe this funny woman who jokingly cursed a couple of times, talked about the Spotted Cow beer she had at the bar last night was a “Sister”. Then she shook my brother’s hand, my hand and gave Sean the biggest, tightest hug I’ve ever seen a stranger give anyone.

We walked out of the restaurant, and I said “Sean, we just had breakfast with your Mom”. I said, it may sound crazy but I believe it. My brother and Sean believe it too.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this encounter the whole drive home. She told my brother what a good Father he is to Sean. She told Sean how proud she is of him and what a good kid he is. And for me, prior to her death, my sister-in-law and I had been talking about going out to breakfast for months. For one reason or another, we didn’t get around to it but she always promised we would. That was the breakfast she promised me! All three of us felt such peace after our angel encounter with Sister Mary.