Tuesdays With The Angel’s-Chicken Soup For The Soul

It’s another one of those synchronicities in my journey with the angels. I’ve always loved the books Chicken Soup for the Soul. Over the years their stories from a list of  wonderful writers on inspiring topics have helped so many who read them by soothing hearts and minds.

A writer I know suggested I write a story and submit it to Chicken Soup for the Soul for their forthcoming publication on dreams called Listen to Your Dreams. I have told the story to friends and family of a dream I had after my daughter passed away over twenty years ago.  In the dream a voice, I would like to believe was an angel’s voice, told me to read a classic children’s book for there would be a message in it for me. The next day I bought the book and sat down all afternoon to read. Miraculously, I  found the message of a lifetime. This classic children’s book changed the course of my life.  I decided to write the story down and submitted it. Lo and behold the wonderful people at Chicken Soup for the Soul chose to publish my story. I am pleased to announce my story called, “Voice of an Angel’ in Chicken Soup for the Soul Listen to Your Dreams available August, 2020.  Writing brings me joy and to be published in this revered publication is an honor.  Sending love, health, gratitude and many angels to all my readers, friends, family and to the people at Chicken Soup For the Soul.  

Tuesdays With The Angels: Angel Story by Dawn B.

Yes there are angels! If you allow yourself to become still, in a quiet space of love and trust, you may just see one too. I saw my angel during a crystal bowl meditation. His name came first which confused me, so I questioned why I was seeing the name “Gerald” and the name appeared a second time, even more clearly. Then I saw the most beautiful, tall, huge angel and I realized it was his name. Although I could not see details of his face. He was the most magnificant angel with light blue/grey colored wings as long as his body. I remember this vividly! What is also interesting is that I picked up a journal I had kept in 1993, and just before Christmas that year I had journaled seeing “the most powerful and beautiful angel with huge arching wings” in my twilight state just before falling asleep. I personally believe they are joyful when we see them and acknowledge their existence, and that we begin to feel them always with us. I gives me great peace and comfort. Believe. Love. Trust.

Tuesdays With The Angels-The Angels Sent Courage

My daughter, Elizabeth read the draft of my memoir, ‘Children With Special Needs The Angels On My Shoulder’. She called and told me she never knew the story of how I became a teacher or how the students impacted my life helping me cope with the loss of her sister, Kate.

We all grieved and grieve still after twenty-five years but then Elizabeth said something that touched my heart. “You must be the strongest person I know, Mom!”  I told her I don’t think it’s just strength but more the blessing of love and courage from God. 

My memoir is a love story about my students with special needs. I was blessed to find a career teaching. My own children and the children I taught helped me find the courage to go on. As courage came little by little. I realized faith and courage are like gloves on my hands and the soothing pillows for me to lay my head down at night.

Tuesdays With The Angels-Special Needs Children The Angels On My Shoulder

I’ve written a memoir of my career teaching children with special needs. A hint below of what’s to come from my heart and soul:

“You must be so patient teaching special ed!” I must have heard that comment one hundred times over the course of my twenty-five year teaching career. I usually would reply,” I love teaching the kids.” Of course I didn’t know until years later the magnitude of what my students brought to my world. My students over the twenty-five years taught me so much about kindness and living in the now. They showed me gifts from their pure and honest hearts. Oh, there were challenges of course, but we met them together.

As I wrote the memoir,  I can tell you I believe in angels, in heaven surely for I know I met one once.  But also, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet some people who to me are angels on earth, They guide us all with their unique gentleness of persuasions. Such is the case I believe with children with special needs.

I believe people come into our lives for a reason and have many qualities I believe angels have.  This has been my writers message to all who read my novels, children’s book and blogs. The truth is I’ve always believed this. At age three, I had  imaginary friends, three of them. Yes, three! But I can’t remember what they looked like only that they happily played with me. I have a psychic friend who told me they were my guardian angels. I’d like to think they were.

So many of my life experiences have fallen into place, a synchronicity, a tapestry woven together with a fabric of kindness.  Besides my guardian angels,  I believe heaven sent two teachers who unknowingly influenced the path I took on the road to teaching. To me they were angels on earth guiding me, albeit unknowingly, towards my teaching children with special needs.

Decades later I can still see the kind and loving face of my second grade teacher, Mrs. St. John. I see her kind and loving face as if next to me and remember she was the first person who made me feel worthwhile.

Through grade school and up through high school and beyond life was difficult. My family life unfortunatley was disfunctional and  so I suffered as an underachiever. But this story isn’t about my childhood. It’s about the synchronicity of events that changed my life, the people I met, the students I taught and lastly at the saddest part of my life. This is also the time I know I met a real angel.

These were the defining moments in the steps to a rewarding career teaching children with special needs. This is a book about the serendipitous events unfolding the teaching career bringing me my life’s most valuable teachers, my students….

Tuesdays With The Angels- On My Shoulder

As I sat down in early morning to write chapters for my memoir today, I reflected as I often do on God and the angels sending me blessings everyday. Sent from above are calls from family members, hearing from a caring old friend or kindness from a new friend. I’m fortunate to know  people who have graced my life with just that, their grace. I’m writing  my memoir about my life as a special education teacher. It will be a love story all its own. It will be the story not so much about me but how these special students changed my life’s journey. There will be others who have graced my life with their kindness and helped me down the path I’ve taken. I hope to honor each and every deserving child and person in my new book in the making. Special Needs Children, The Angels On My Shoulder. Oh, and of course added in will be the time I met a real angel. This event has to be in the book for it was the primary event that turned my face towards heaven.

Encounter With An Angel – Submission By Kathy Noel DeCaria

DO NOT BE AFRAID

Angel Stories

On the morning of March 31st 1987, around 3:00 am, as I slept alone in my apartment, I was aroused by three very gentle tugs of my bed covers, by the foot area of the bed. I had my bed covers up around my neck, which is always how I sleep. I did not awaken, but was aware of SOMETHING. I guess I fell back to sleep, but the same three gentle tugs came again. I again was aroused, but again did not open my eyes. The third time the tugging happened, I was aroused enough to turn around to my right, and open my eyes.

What I saw was a most beautiful man standing, now away from my bed, by the side of my bedroom wall. A white light surrounded him from head to foot. All I could see of his skin, were his hands and face, which was a dark bronze type color, but not real dark. He was not looking at or facing me now but was facing my living room door, which was open.

As I stared at him I took in his garment. He was wearing the most beautiful white long robe .He had a sash around his waist of the same color, but about 6 inches high. The white robe was a color white that I remember as so beautiful that I had never seen such a beautiful cloth before. He had a white turban wrapped around his head, which covered all hair. Like I said, all I could see was his face and hands. He stood very straight and his arms were straight down by his side. What a beautiful face he had. He had to have been almost 8 feet tall. I say that because my ceilings in that apartment were at least that high, and he almost reached the ceiling.

He said ” Do not be afraid, it is the voice of god, read Isaiah, man of the patient realm. ” At this point, I do not know how he got from the wall to the side of my bed, but somehow he was right there. He reached out his mighty arms as he bent over coming down, as if he were going to pick me up. Which is exactly what he did. All of a sudden I was cradled in his arms, but I now felt as if I was just a little baby, cradled in the arms of her mother, wrapped in a warm blanket. Then I heard a noise that sounded like a whizzing sound, and we were moving in that sound. Then, we were standing on a very rich and beautiful earth, which somehow I could seem to feel with what seemed now to be BARE FEET. We were in some sort of what seemed like a market place of some kind. There were others walking around like him, in the same white robes… some were alone and some were walking in twos. We were facing a booth, which resembled a booth at a carnival.

Inside the booth were three rows high of the largest vessels, hand crafted, in type… He then said to me, standing on my right side, “choose something”. I said, ” I don’t have any money”. He then answered, “You don’t need money here, everything is free”. At this point I remember hearing that same whizzing sound and remember that we again seemed to be moving at a great speed. Now we are again standing by the same side of my bed. He very slowly begins to lean over, with me in his arms, again feeling like a child cradled in a warm blanket, he begins to lean over and carefully and very gently places me back into my body. I could now feel my body in the bed, and he was gone. I thought about it for a while, because it all happened so fast.

Realizing that something happened, I got up out of bed and turned on a nightlight to write down “Isaiah, man of the patient realm”. For the next few days I read the book of Isaiah. I found out that God is real, and that he heard all my cries for help and proof that he was indeed there.

by Kathy Noel DeCaria

Encounter With An Angel – Submission By Jill Maksym

I was visited by an angel in the late 1990’s…

My mother and I were not getting along at the time. She was verbally abusive. She was hurtful, etc. I did not want to be around her and was having a difficult time dealing with her. I reluctantly agreed to meet her at a Bob Evan’s restaurant because I felt she was my mother and I did love her.

We were seated in a booth. She began to start criticizing me and verbally abusing me as usual. I just sat there while she hurled the abusive and hurtful things at me. In the atmosphere of the restaurant, I could hear the banging of knives and forks and conversations of all the people there.

Then, something changed. All of a sudden it was like a new sound frequency had happened. I could no longer hear my mother’s voice or the other people in the restaurant, etc. There was a high pitch sound as if a thousand violins were playing the highest note possible at the same time. My mother was still talking. I turned to my left and noticed a person cleaning the empty table across from us. The table was not dirty and did not need to be cleaned.

As I watched this…man…I knew something was very different about him. He was dressed as a waiter in clean black slacks with a perfect crease in the front and he wore a crisp, clean white shirt. But, it was the way he was cleaning and his appearance that made me captivated. You see, he was smiling while he moved the salt and pepper shakers out to clean behind them and most importantly, his head was the color of black and bronze. From the top of his head, there was a golden light as if his head was lit from within with a warm glow. He was bald. He went about cleaning that table as if it was the most joyful thing to him. He loved doing it. He then turned to me and smiled. When I saw his entire face, it glowed. I was mesmerized. I could not take my eyes off of him. He was looking into my soul. As far as he and I were concerned, there were no other beings around. He then came over to me and softly whispered in my left ear, “Can I get you anything?” Can I do something for you?”

I could not move my mouth to answer. It was as if I had seen a celebrity and was dumb struck. He stayed near me waiting to find out if I needed something. His voice was soft and well, there are no adjectives in any language to describe it. He knew I was upset with my mother. I managed to eek out a wimpy, “no” when he asked me if he could get me something. Then he took his left arm and covered my mother’s face as if to tell me, “don’t pay any attention to her.” He then asked again, “Can I do something for you?” For a moment that seemed to last a lifetime, only he and I were there…kind of suspended in a time warp or another dimension. While there, I felt the most abundant peaceful state that I have ever felt in my lifetime. It was intense peace that hovered over me and in me. Then, he left and walked away.

I looked at my mother and she was still carrying on talking like she did not see him at all. Then, the frequency changed in the atmosphere. I could hear the knives and forks clanging on the plates and the other conversations again. I sat there….and I said to my mother, “I am leaving.” I got up and went to my car. I was still in a peaceful state. I do not remember how I drove home. I felt as if I was floating in peace and tranquility.

Two weeks later, my husband and I went to the same Bob Evan’s restaurant. We were seated in the same booth that my mother and I were in before. The whole time we were there I kept thinking that maybe I would see this angel again. I asked myself, “Will he show up?” I wanted to thank him. We ate and my husband got up to go to the register to pay the check. I was following behind him. But, I stopped. I then looked up at the breakfast bar area and …..there he was.

It was my angel. He was alone standing up against the bar. He had his arms crossed against his chest. I froze. I didn’t know how to tell him, “Thank you.” I looked to the right and saw my husband at the register and it was alright because he did not know I was not with him. I started to walk up to the angel and he…mentally told me not to do that because….no one else could see him but me and that would look weird if I were to start talking to him. So, I stopped and looked at him and said, “thank you.” He was grinning from ear to ear and nodded. In fact, at the time, he was quite pleased with himself in that he felt he had sort of “gotten me” like it was a nice little joke to speak. He did have a sense of humor.

I turned to walk toward my husband and then turned back to see the angel and he was gone. The day with my mother, he came to give me peace. The peaceful feeling he gave me lasted for hours. And, I don’t know how to describe him. I can tell you that he was the most exquisite and beautiful being I have ever seen. The beauty of his perfect features is not easy to describe using words from this earth. He was perfect in every feature. Perfect. They say that some times people may just fall down and die when they see an angel because of their perfect beauty and love. I can understand this. But, i did not die. I think he was able to not release his beauty and power to a certain extent so that I would be able to understand his message.

Tuesdays With The Angels-The Angels On The Writers’ Shoulders 12

If only bees, butterflies, flowers and trees could talk. Many scientists think they communicate for sure. Do they experience some form of hopeful instinct to keep going through global warming? Do they see angels?

There are angels everywhere in the fictitious novels I write in the Mystic Bay Series. But today as we face the coronavirus pandemic, I find myself praying to God and the angels without ceasing for our families, friends, and the world. In my mind I’m forever  sending angels to my children and grandchildren who don’t live near me. I send angels to protect my friends who are ill. I send angels from my heart and mind, healing angels as a never ending prayer. One of the quotes I try to live by is,” Fear comes to the door and faith answers it.” Sending prayerful thoughts of healing to the whole world has power. Millions believe there is spiritual healing energy in prayers.

It’s spring and the  promise of flowers blooming and bees and butterflies flying is real. As I breathe in the essence of flowers and new mown grass, I imagine the world becoming a more enlightened place. For every year there is an awakening of Mother Earth. We can help her heal by sending loving prayers to the earth, the ill, and every medical professional and scientist trying to end this nightmare.

 The sun will shine, the moon will cast a  glow and the winter of the pandemic will eventually leave. During this difficult time it came to me to write a memoir of my life as a Special Education teacher. Each and every one of my students inspired me to become a better human being. I’m convinced there are angels on earth for I know I met an angel once and that meeting has forever changed me.  I will write with faith and hope a story that needs to be  told,  my memoir, The Angels On The Writers’ Shoulders.

Tuesdays With The Angels-When The Angel Sent Butterflies 2

When I wrote my new children’s book, When The Angel Sent Butterflies, it came from the heart and the miracle of seeing butterflies at the most serendipitous of moments. My late daughter, Kate at four years old, was for a brief time, afraid of bees. As I wrote the story I thought of  butterflies as calming the character Kate’s fears as love is sent by Angel Ken with a wave of  butterflies from his hands.

But really the synchronicity of it all seems angels, butterflies, and bees, all represent hope, joy and love to me. One of the favorite lines I ever wrote was not in one in my books. To one of my best friends who is fighting illness I wrote:

“Though thought to be fragile, butterfly’s wings are strong in the wind. They fly miles on angel wind.” 

The strength of angels sending love through the flight of butterflies and bees gives me peace. This is part of the wondrous spiritual awakening in me

My granddaughter Kate’s photo with  a butterfly visiting last year.

Tuesdays With The Angels-When The Angel Sent Butterflies

I’ve always wanted to write a children’s book but never in my wildest dreams thought I’d become an author of three novels let alone pen a lovely children’s book. But then a serendipitous moment arrived. An acquaintance read Town of Angels. She said, “You know, this story is so beautiful you need to write a children’s book with Angel Ken and the butterflies!” I was touched and pondered it for a few months yet I knew unfortunately, my artistic skills were limited to stick figures.

Not knowing who could illustrate the book I set to writing the book anyway with hopeful anticipation using my grandchildren Jones and Kate as the children’s characters, Angel Ken, from Town of Angels, and Billie, my grandchildren’s dog as the other characters. Of course butterflies were everywhere in the story.

Yet the synchronicity of happenings arrived as it does so often. It came to me to  ask my friend and fellow author Susan Clare Anderson if she would illustrate the book for me.  I love the way she draws and paints. She said she’d think about it. Lo and behold some time later she told me she found a big white feather on her driveway and thought of me and my angel books. “Funny you should mention this,” I told her. ” For  recently, I too found a big white feather by the side of my house!” We compared them side by side and decided When The Angel Sent Butterflies was meant to be. 

But in the way of the angels this was not the last of the synchronicities because as Susan drew the little children I realized they  looked a lot  like Jones and Kate. The amazing part of it was that Susan had never  seen a photo of the children.

You can call it fate or coincidence but I call it something else. Swirling ideas were sent to me on angel’s wings and a beautiful children’s book came to life. Children need to know love from their parents and others surrounds them. Love conquers fear and believing angels are near can help sweep away any childhood fear. In this story Angel Ken sending Jones and Kate butterflies is my example of sending love.

And the butterflies and bees in the story? I  believe they are guardians of this precious Earth, little angels themselves, every one.