Hail pelted my office window. I switched off my computer. The storm was so bad, we were being sent home early. Good thing I’ve got only a short drive, I thought.
I scraped the ice off my car in the parking lot. I grew up in New York State, so I’d driven through plenty of storms. On a good day my commute only took 15 minutes. This was going to take considerably longer.
I called my husband, Aaron, and warned him not to expect me anytime soon.
“I’ll start dinner,” he said. “The news reports are intense. Be careful.”
Traffic crawled. It took me an hour to make any headway at all. I called Aaron back. “Go ahead and eat without me,” I said.
An hour after that I clicked on Google maps on my iPhone to see how far I’d traveled. Less than half a mile! My legs had fallen asleep and my stomach was grumbling. The storm worsened. Now I was scared.
Cars slid on the hill up ahead. I inched along. When I reached the hill myself, I pushed harder on the gas pedal. Nothing happened. No traction. I was stuck. I’ll never get home! I thought. I reached for my phone to dial Aaron. A rap on my window startled me. It was a young man.
“I’ll give you a push,” he said. The man went round the back of my car. Beside me, another car slid past, going backward down the hill. My knuckles turned white as I gripped the wheel. Could my roadside angel push my car on his own?
I checked my rearview mirror and saw he didn’t have to. Someone else had joined him. Still another kind Samaritan laid down chains in front of my tires. The men rocked the car back and forth until the tires got traction, then pushed me up the hill.
I’d barely turned around to wave at them before they were back down the hill helping another motorist.
I drove on another hour and kept Aaron posted. I didn’t want him to come get me unless he had to.
About two miles from home my wheels stopped again. Wind whipped snow all around me into a perfect whiteout. Aaron won’t even be able to find me in all this! I thought.
Headlights approached from the other lane. An SUV pulled up. The driver rolled down his window. “All roads up ahead are closed,” he said. “I can tow you just enough to get you off the road at least.”
He towed me into the parking lot of a fast food place. When he was done, he had to head off in the opposite direction to help someone else.
I’d have to walk the rest of the way, more than a mile in the dark, in the snow. I went inside the restaurant to collect myself.
When I checked in this time, Aaron insisted on setting out in the storm himself and walking toward me. “I’ll get to you as fast as I can,” he said.
Lord, walk with me, I asked. I passed another customer as I left the restaurant, and I could tell she was stuck too. “Which way are you going?” she asked. Turned out we were headed in the same direction.
Having someone to walk with, I didn’t feel so afraid. We talked about our jobs and our husbands.
After a while, a familiar figure appeared up ahead. Aaron! My companion turned off toward her house, and Aaron and I walked the rest of the way hand in hand.
My three-mile commute took six hours. But angels had pushed me, encouraged me and walked with me every step of the way. Plus one of my angels even made sure to have a warm dinner waiting for me.
