I grew up in a city just north of Birmingham, Alabama called Gardendale. I had a very unremarkable childhood, a very typical upbringing for the 1970s. When I was around nine years old (1979), we lived in a small house on a very quiet road. My sister, who is one year older, and I shared a room at the time. (Like I said, it was a small house.) Anyway, I slept in a bed next to the door of the bedroom and my sister's bed was across the room.
One night I awoke suddenly from a deep sleep. It was one of those times when you wake up and you're immediately wide awake. When I awoke, my eyes focused immediately on a small figure standing to the right of my bed. I remember not being scared for some reason, and the figure just stood there. It was white and glowed, although it wasn't very bright. I could tell it was a female by the long hair, and she appeared fairly young.
Naturally, I automatically assumed it was my sister and that she had gotten up for something and was possibly trying to scare me. So I remember looking across the room toward my sister's bed. The low glow from the figure allowed me to see my sister lying in her bed sound asleep. I then turned back toward the figure and we just stared at each other.
The figure never moved or said a word. I didn't speak either, I just stared. After what seemed like forever, but what I believe must have only been several minutes, I turned back toward my sister and began calling her name. Again, the figure never moved.
I finally was able to wake my sister. I told her in so many words that we need to head to our parents' bed. The next thing I remember was my sister and I jumping into the bed with my parents. My sister fell right back to sleep, but I kept watching the bedroom door for the rest of the night.
The next morning, I wasted no time explaining what had happened to my parents. My sister actually admitted seeing it, too. After that night, I never saw the figure again. Ever.
Years later, while talking about the incident with my mother, she told me that "I don't know what you saw, but I know you saw it. I could tell in your eyes you were telling the truth." Also, she made the point that a boy my age would almost certainly have exaggerated the details of the story. However, I didn't. I stated over and over that the figure did nothing but stand there staring at me. Never moved.
Looking back now, I truly believe it was my guardian angel. The fact that I felt no fear whatsoever is proof enough for me that it was not evil. And trust me, at nine years old I would have normally been scared speechless. Like I said, I never saw her again, but I believe she was just letting me know she was there.
We still own the house and currently rent it out. No former or present tenants have ever mentioned seeing anything out of the ordinary. I assume if it was anything other than my guardian angel, other people would have seen it by now since it's been 31 years ago. Anyway, it's something I think about a lot and it always makes me feel good.
