Today’s guest-blogger is Angels on Earth editorial assistant Kelly P. Gallagher.
After I learned that I had been hired at Angels on Earth, I was thrilled. But how would I find my way around New York?
As a lifelong upstate resident, the city seemed like a bustling swarm of strangers. I pored over maps and train schedules, planning my new commute down to the minute. I just had to remember to catch the Port Jervis train.
I spent my first day at the office learning the ropes and reading about real angel encounters. Then, in the evening, I realized that the clock on my computer was 10 minutes slow. My plan had been thrown completely out of whack! When I arrived at the station, I dashed onto the train without a moment to spare. I felt a wave of relief, but that pleasant feeling was quickly replaced with terror.
“Excuse me,” I asked another passenger. “Is this the Port Jervis train?”
“Port what?” she replied.
It couldn’t be. I was on the wrong train. Tears began to pour down my cheeks. After a day of reading stories about angels, I couldn’t help but wonder where my guardian angel was.
I got off the train at the next stop and found myself on a cement platform with a small cluster of people. “I got on the wrong train,” I said. “Can anyone help me?”
No one said a word. Why should they bother, I thought. This is my fault.
Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw an elegantly dressed woman with kind brown eyes.
“Where do you need to go?” she asked.
I told her my final destination. “You want to buy a ticket to Secaucus,” she said, pointing out the appropriate options on the ticket machine screen. “And change there to a Metro North train.” She traced her finger along the fine print of the timetable.
“You’re a real angel,” I said. And I meant it.
Earth angels really are everywhere, even in the midst of a busy city. Maybe New York wasn’t going to be so scary, after all.
