This is my story about my encounter with a guardian angel. While I was going to college over the fall and winter of 1987-1988, I worked at a hair salon in Boulder, Colorado as a receptionist to earn extra money. The salon was located in an indoor mall, and since I was going to school, I would often work late afternoon until closing, which was 9:00 p.m.
One night in January of '88, the weather had turned bad and we were getting a really severe snowstorm. All of the stylists had gone home and I was left to close up the shop. It was around 8:30 p.m. and I was just grabbing my coat to head out the door when an elderly gentleman came in. I was irritated because I wanted to get on the road and I knew my normal 20-minute drive home was going to take much longer because of the storm.
He greeted me, and before he could even ask, I brusquely told him that we were closed and there were no stylists available if he was looking to get a haircut. He seemed disappointed and I immediately felt bad for how I spoke to him. He said he had just come in from outside and asked if he could sit for a moment and warm up. I said of course, although I noticed that he didn't seem to have a single speck of snow on him and his shoes were completely dry.
I noticed he had a Walkman cassette player in his hands and asked him if had just gotten it. He said he had received it as a gift, but didn't know how to work it, so I gave him a tutorial as we chatted. He told me his name was Michael and he seemed truly amazed by modern technology, as if he had been living in a cave for the last 30 years. I was very fascinated and taken by him.
About a half hour later, he stood up quickly and said he had to go. He said, "Thank you, Sandra, for your kindness. Have a safe trip home," and walked out the door. Now, I had not told this man my name and was not wearing a name tag. I went out the door after him to ask him how he knew my name, and he had simply disappeared. Confused and feeling a little light-headed, I walked out to my car to head home.
As I was traveling down the highway, up ahead of me were all sorts of emergency vehicles. There had been a horrible accident involving multiple vehicles, and the next day I found out there had been a couple of fatalities. If I had left the salon when I was originally heading out, I surely would have been in that accident! I truly believe that the elderly gentleman, Michael, was a guardian angel sent to protect me.
