My husband Don and I had planned a trip of a lifetime, and in 2000 we were finally able to take our journey.

Our home was located in the Pacific northwest in the San Juan Islands, and our dream was to drive across the states to the Atlantic Ocean, up into Nova Scotia, and then back home across Canada. We had purchased a newer car for the trip and took in all the tourist sites along the way. Places we had read about or seen in magazines became a reality for us. It was such an adventure--one that we knew would only happen for once. All went well on the trip and we started home.

We were somewhere in the back roads of Canada when we started hearing a strange noise coming from our car. We stopped several times to check for the source of the sound, but we couldn't see anything. Finally, we stopped in the middle of nowhere to fill up on gas and check again. Still finding nothing, we continued on to the next big town and to a garage. It was getting late in the day and we still had about 100 miles left to the city. We must have been about five miles away from the gas station when we heard a loud sound. Pulling over, we saw that we had lost the tread from one of the rear tires. The tread had been on the inside of the tire which is why we couldn't see it when checking earlier.

Since we were on our way home, the trunk was loaded down with extra things we had purchased. Naturally, the spare tire was under everything. So here we were on the side of the loneliest highway, unloading the trunk, and trying to find the spare. As we were doing so, a car pulled up behind us and parked about 50 feet away. The car sat there for a while, and then a young man got out and asked if we needed help.

Don, being a bit upset, started to say that we were OK. But, I said that we needed help. The young man started helping us unload the trunk and even changed the tire for us. Then, he loaded everything back into the trunk. We offered to pay him for his help, but he would not take anything. He revealed he had been at the gas station where we stopped for gas, and he had noticed the car making noise when we pulled out. He felt that he needed to check on us and had followed our car. Upon finishing his story, he got back in his car and went back in the direction from which he had come.

As my husband and I continued on the road, we were both silent a while, surprised by the whole event. The young man had gone out of his way to help two elderly people. Then, a thought dawned on me, and it was so clear: We had been visited by an angel. Realizing this, both of us thanked God for sending the angel to us in a moment of need.