Happy Guardian Angels Day

 My morning walks the last few days have been exquisite with the sun being just the right amount of sparkly and the cold the right amount of crisp. 

Somewhere in between I feel freezing hot and can't decide if I overdressed or needed an extra layer. In each of my morning walks I pray and I walk past the most beautiful inviting wooded area  with a stream where I can clearly hear my dad tell sternly me, "Don't go in places where you'll get raped and murdered!" Good ol'daddy instincts... 

A wise man. 

So, while I stand at the entrance of the woods and stream, I ask my guardian angel to protect me and I use my common sense not to venture in.

Today, October 2, is the feast day of all Guardian Angels. 

My guardian angel's favorite place to be is in the Presence of Jesus

I have given mine some good thought because over the last two years or so I have become somewhat closer to him. Maybe it was wearing a scapular that did it, or learning about St. Cecilia and Padre Pio and their relationships with their guardian angels. St Cecilia's is my favorite, she was an early Christian who was tossed into a heated cave to die and her guardian angel covered her with his wings and after three days of hearing her sing her heart out, Roman soldiers took her out. Yes, she did killed eventually, but she had more adventures of safety with her guardian angel as well, such as him protecting her purity. 

I was listening to a beautiful love song that no doubt my guardian angel has sung to me, "To make you feel my love", and as I washed my cats dishes I thought about some of the times I am so thankful he was there with me, protecting me. So Guardian Angel, you know the nickname I call you in my heart, this one is for you my forever friend....

Dearest Guardian Angel,

Thank you for being there when I was conceived, and my mom didn't know she was pregnant and started eating so much peanut butter, it could have been the end of me.

 Thank you for protecting me as a baby and soothing me when my parents were too exhausted from my constant colicky shrieks to keep up with me. Thank you for protecting me when I was little and would do daredevil things like standing on both rocking horses to jump and fly, climbing trees too high for me and dangling from the tallest branch upsidedown by my knees...

Thank you for saving me when I nearly drowned in that lake in the Alps with my brother, and for keeping us safe when Daddy went to War and mommy didn't know how to drive the Autobahn in Germany. 

I was so insanely happy the day he came home.

Thanks for keeping me safe when I would do incredibly stupid things like playing on thin frozen lakes with my friends.

I know you remember all the times I walked in the woods in Washington state and there were coyotes nearby, even though I was terrified, I am so glad you were near me and protected me and my dog. Remember the time I was in the white water rafting accident in Alaska and they couldn't get me out of the water? Thanks for protecting my head from those rocks. In more recent times, thanks for keeping me safe in DC traffic, that alone is just as dangerous and being flipped from a white water raft.

I know I have probably made you shake your head in disbelief and frustration at least 50% of my waking hours but I am glad I now know you're here, you're my friend, you're my shadow and you have been with me since I existed. I know you're rooting for me to do the right thing, to be bold, to be a princess of the King and to never forget how much He loves me. Please pray for me, that I have the courage to live the life He created me to live and to not settle for living for myself or in comfort. 

I wish I could give you a meaningful present, or bake you a cake... But from the bottom of my heart, thank you...thank you for never closing your eyes when I have been a little too wild, thank you for keeping me safe in bad neighborhoods, thank you for giving me courage to know I'm not alone when I need to do something that intimidates me, thank you for staying with me all of the times I have been as sick as a dog, thank you for reminding me of things when I forget and I ask you to help me remember what I really should be doing, thank you for stopping me in small moments to look at a beautiful moment and see the love of God for me in it. 

Like finding the perfect silky soft cherry blossoms to lay my rosary in..

Or the teeny tiny mushrooms that look like parasols. 

Or stopping me to see the most perfect flower in Fr Al's neighborhood and knowing if he were here, he would love its God given beauty too.

I probably owe you so much that I will never be able to repay you, but know that I am so grateful for you and love knowing we have been together since ever and you'll be at my side the last moment of my breath here on earth. I can't wait to see you one day.

Love, 

Your Earth Lady