Angel by the Sea

Many years ago, my sister and I took a summer holiday on the North Carolina Outer Banks. While we were there, I had an experience that I will never forget. It was a long drive from our home to the beach and when we finally arrived, we were so tired that we decided to retire early for the evening.

We made a quick dinner, unpacked, and headed to bed with reading material After thumbing through several magazines, I realized that I was too restless to go to sleep. I got dressed and decided to take an evening stroll along the beach. Before leaving, I looked in on my sister to tell her that I was going for a walk, but she was sound asleep. I quickly scribbled off a note, letting her know that I was out for a walk. I jotted down the time of my departure and left the note on the kitchen counter.

The evening was soft and sweet, with a full moon that touched the ocean with gentle light. Lost in thought, I covered several miles before being overcome with exhaustion. I sat down on a sand dune to rest. Suddenly, my senses were filled with the fragrance of lilies and roses. Curious, I turned to look behind me and, over the high dunes, I noticed an open gateway that led to a summer mansion.

My legs propelled me toward the gate for a better look, and it was then that I noticed a lady standing on the wide veranda of the mansion beside the sea. She wore a long blue chiffon gown that drifted about her in the breeze, giving her the look of a Greek goddess. She lifted one lovely arm to wave before walking down the marble steps to greet me.

“My dear, you look totally exhausted! Come up and have some lemonade with me,” she said, taking me by the arm and leading me to the charming veranda overlooking the ocean.

Her heart-shaped face was framed by loose, wind-blown curls. She seemed very familiar, but we had never met. She led me to a round, marble table with an umbrella and I sat down while she poured two glasses of very fragrant and delicious lemonade. I sipped slowly while we chatted sporadically, with immense gaps of satisfying silence between our sentences. She said that she loved the Outer Banks and had lived there, beside the sea, for many years. I noticed that she wore a silver heart-shaped locket around her neck, and I remarked that it was very lovely. She smiled brightly, telling me that it was a birthday gift from her sister.

My father had died only a few months earlier, and I soon found myself telling her all about his recent death, along with the grief I was experiencing. She seemed to understand and told me not to worry because I would see my dad again someday.

“Heaven is only a slight dimension away from earth,” she said. “Think of it as a gateway or portal that your father has crossed through. He can see you from that portal even though you may not see him.”

Her words seemed so genuine and true that I found myself nodding in agreement, knowing that she had touched upon something that I needed to know.

Just then, I heard the sound of a baby crying. The woman gracefully rose from her seat and hurried into the house. A few minutes later, she reappeared carrying a baby girl with lovely dark curls. As she fed the baby, I once more felt the tug of familiarity, or déjà vu, as though I knew both the lovely lady and her baby girl. Yet we had only just met. After a while, the baby fell asleep and a nurse wearing a white uniform came out on the veranda to take her back into the house. I looked at my watch, surprised to see that it was almost 2 am! I felt perfectly refreshed and rested, and as I rose to leave the stately mansion by the sea, I asked the lady if I might visit her again.

Continued on page 2: 'Indeed, we will meet again...' »