How the Fear of an Angel Saved My Life

October 13, 2009

Severe thunderstorms with torrential rain awakened us on March 23rd. Angel, our 4.6 pound miniature rat terrier, panicked. I thought she was going into shock from her fear of hearing the heavy rain pounding on the skylights in our home. Her body trembled from the tip of her head to the end of her tail, all ten inches of her frame.

In the kitchen, I found her anti-anxiety medication to relax her during stormy weather. Grabbing a can of E-Z cheese, I camouflaged Angel’s medication so I’d be certain she would relax. Besides, I needed to shower and get ready for work.

Angel refused the cheese she loved, but her fear was not unwarranted. If I had not been so preoccupied with preparations necessary for the day ahead, my own trepidation may have stalled me as well.

Inviting Angel to rest on the bed with my daughter before she needed to leave for school was one of Angel’s favorite things to do. They both loved to snuggle. My hope was to calm Angel but she was not the least bit interested in this option.

I warmed blankets in the dryer just like the hospitals do for patients after they have surgery, to comfort them. Placing the warm, fuzzy blankets on the bed, which previously enticed her to rest, held no attraction for Angel that day.

Perhaps she knew I wouldn’t give up offering her the camouflaged medication in the cheese from a can. After Angel accepted the medicine and cheese, I carried her in my arms with a blanket. She and I went to the couch. I hoped she would forget the booming thunderstorm overhead while I held her and comforted her in my arms. Although it seemed like an eternity, Angel finally rested her head on my arms.

“You’re going to be late for work,” my husband fussed. Although I consciously knew the time, Angel had several health issues during the nine years we’d adopted her into our family. We had been to the emergency veterinary hospital so often that the staff knew us on a first name basis. Those bills reminded me of the frequent medical visits required to care for her but that didn’t matter; I loved her.

When she relaxed, I did too. Zipping through a shower and dressing for work, I asked my daughter once again to watch our precious dog a few more minutes before she needed to leave the house. Angel was mischievous if left free to roam on her own so we always secured her in her dog crate which was partially filled with her favorite toys and blankets.

Confident now that Angel was calm; I was satisfied to leave the house for work.

I left our home for work about five minutes later than usual. As I approached the intersection near work, I saw the traffic snarled ahead of me. This particular road was the main route I traveled every work day.

I saw marked and unmarked police cars, flashing red lights, fire trucks, paramedics, vehicles, bystanders and concerned spectators. People were walking toward the ramp over the intersection in front of me. “What could have happened?” I thought to myself. What had happened that morning was confined to a small area.

I managed to peel away from the traffic snarl into a detour which meant I would arrive late for work just as my husband had predicted, five minutes to be exact. I remembered the snarl of traffic and wondered how I could have arrived at work as quickly as I did.

Work was hectic that morning. Two co-workers were out sick and the telephone rang continuously. When lunch time arrived, my boss asked if I heard that another fellow employee had been killed in the morning traffic accident. I gasped.

I overheard conversations in the cafeteria and realized the person was killed in the exact path I normally traveled. And I also learned a high school teenager had been killed as well. The more I listened, the more I realized the value of those five minutes I’d spent with Angel. Only a few hours earlier I’d worked to assuage the fear of my tiny Angel. Her fear saved my life that day. It’s a good thing I didn’t know how my life would be used only three months later to help save the life of my husband.

 

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