Angels in real life
This is a tale of how people were inadvertently angels today. From their perspective, they were having a sort of shitty day after making an irritating mistake in the ferry line. It reminded me of the time I came in DFL in a road race, and how sometimes we don't even know when we are being angels sent by God.
Regular readers know that I run a business from the front part of my home. With employees and clients always around, there's no way to be OFF when I'm at my home/work. So we have a week-end house on an island three hours away. This became particularly crucial when I came down with a serious case of breast cancer and all of a sudden needed a full mastectomy. I didn't have much time to get work stowed away, so when I came home from the hospital my staff and clients still needed me to clean up loose ends. It was horrendous having to go to work the first week, but I worked on Monday and Tuesday following my surgery on Wednesday night. I was beaten up by it. I couldn't figure out how to escape, as we'd previously rented out the island house for the week to someone. Finally, the renters left and we were able to get on the road to my refuge.
Sadly, it was a circus at the car ferry terminal. Normally I'd park someplace in town and walk to the passenger ferry and walk onto the island, but I simply couldn't this time, weak as I was, and also carrying a week's worth of groceries and we had two dogs with us, too. But Wednesdays happen to be half-price days for the ferry, so people flock to use the car ferry that day when they have a choice. I arrived in time for the 2:15 ferry, but there were already so many cars ahead of me in line that we didn't make it onto the ferry. That's okay, there's a 3:15 ferry, too. But, oops, the line was SO LONG that it was questionable whether we'd be on that one, either. It was 95 degrees out, we had two dogs in the car, I need ice for my surgical wound, and I was just SUFFERING.
Sometime after the 2:15 ferry left an attendant came out to tighten up the line for the 3:15 ferry. Someone ahead of us in line wasn't waiting with their car. The attendant directed several cars around them, including us. Now they were directly behind us. A few minutes later they came back and discovered that they were now 13th in line, and only 12 cars fit on the car ferry. The wife and the husband started bickering about his suggestion to leave the car and being forced to wait for YET ANOTHER ferry.
I heard the couple bickering behind us and realized what just happened: I'm wounded, needing ice, needing pain meds, in line longer than expected, and my prayers were answered: we were going to make the next ferry. That couple? They were the angels sent to protect me.
When I realized how the count was coming out, I went back and thanked them, told them how their annoying mistake turned out to be a blessing to me when I needed one. I'm glad I did that. It's a weird thing to tell someone, but I think they were comforted to hear it.
I'm safely on the island. I'll be okay now.