Was he an Angel?

Was he an Angel?: I had a period of what I call transformation a year after my brother Conor had passed away.

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His passing had opened a period of learning or more like a thirst for knowledge which allowed me to expand my mind and open my eyes to things I had dismissed previously or simply chose to ignore.  The following story I am about to relay is like most things subjective and so I will leave it to you to accept or dismiss as you please or see fit.

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I had been in town with my eldest brother Paul and had a morning of interesting conversation particularly regarding spirituality. We ended the meetup with a look around a bookshop ending with a purchase tea and cake.  We said our goodbyes and I headed off towards the bus and home. I had just managed to catch the bus so was a little hot and bothered when I eventually sat myself down heading home.

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My wife Clare was due to go out early that evening, so I was mindful that I had to be home no later than 4:30.

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The journey home on the bus took roughly 30 minutes I was nearing the turning towards the local hospital where i lived. I had received a text of someone I know telling me that she had spoken to someone who was willing to show my artwork in town. So, I rang my brother Paul to tell him the news but didn’t get an answer so, I decided to get off the bus a stop early and try to call him again. I stepped off the stop one stop early and rang his number once more.

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It just rang and rang with no answer, so I stopped trying and headed along the road that ran alongside the hospital grounds. As I was halfway along this road, I could see the bus stop I normally get off at clearly. I noticed a tall man who walked past the bus stop and headed in my direction. The man walked across the road that was across the entrance to the hospital and straight over towards me.

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He was very tall thick set man wearing glasses and a long heavy coat which must have been uncomfortable as it was a very hot day. He stopped me and asked if I knew where a particular place was which I didn’t but recognised the road it apparently was on. I explained to him he was heading in the wrong direction as it was some distance from the hospital in the opposite direction.

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I was mindful of the time but said to him “don’t worry, I will show you where it is”. He asked if I was sure and I said I will take you most of the way at least. We headed back towards the bus stop he had previously walked past, and it was then that I noticed that there were three people waiting for the next bus. I wondered to myself why he hadn’t asked those people directions but put it out of my mind for the time being.

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There wasn’t much conversation from him as he walked alongside me, but I persevered and asked him several questions. The first was where had he walked from to which he replied, the local train station. I explained that he was closer to where he needs to go from the station. I managed to gleam from him that he had been with friends who were going to a local football match. I assumed it was Everton or Liverpool, but he said no. They were from Lincoln and after much thought I realised it must have been over the water on the Wirral.

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He had walked at least half a mile from the train station before approaching me and I thought it strange that at no time along this journey had he seen or possibly approached anyone else for help during that half a mile walk.

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I asked did he not have a phone as he could have called a taxi or hailed one from outside the train station. He replied his phone wasn’t working.  I thought that was unfortunate seeing as he was out of town and had no means to find the place he was looking for. More so how he was going to find his way back to his friends after the football game. The fact that he had caught a train across to Liverpool then walked to Lime Street to catch another train to Broadgreen station all without any help on his phone was a little fortunate for him.

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I noticed he never really turned towards me during our conversation he just kept looking forward when replying to my questions. I decided to get my phone out and tried to get Google Maps to open the directions he needed to follow. My phone wouldn’t work even though I tried numerous times, and I noticed that the time was getting on. I recall saying to him that my wife isn’t going to be happy as I had said I would be getting off the bus soon some twenty minutes earlier.

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He replied to this, by saying, ‘don’t worry I will put a good word in for you’ to which I smiled. He wouldn’t elaborate on where exactly he needed to be just the name of the road and a meeting of some sort.

*** Was he an Angel? ***

I walked him most of the way and said that I had to get back as I was already late. I gave him general directions as to which road it was, he needed to follow and told him to ask anyone on that road, and they would be able to help him. He thanked me and carried on down the road.

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It felt good to do a good deed, but it was strange the whole thing.  More so because my phone started working fine even though earlier it failed to work properly when walking alongside the man. Google Maps worked and I was able to find the directions I was looking for earlier. I headed back home and later looked up the distance I walked with the man, and it turned out it was over 3 miles.

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Again, later I took the dogs for a walk and noticed right next to the bus stop and side railing to the hospital grounds there was a public transport sign providing a map of the area. Again, it seemed strange that the man hadn’t asked anyone at the bus stop nor noticed the map showing him where he need to go clearly indicated on the map.

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I recall telling someone in a works meeting not long after. It was just the two of us and I had this compulsion to out of nowhere ask them did they believe in things spiritual. I don’t know why but I just felt comfortable asking them. Thankfully they smiled and said yes, they did.

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This led to a long, none-work related conversation about their experiences. I only refer to this because they said something that I had never thought about before. They recalled walking along a road at night and finding a man who was distressed and needing help. I won’t go into details, but they called an ambulance and waited a good hour two with the stranger until help arrived. They said that they had an overwhelming feeling that they had enough of a calming effect on the man that it prevented something worse happening.

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The person I was in a meeting said that they felt that to that man who was distressed they probably looked back on the situation and felt that an Angel had helped them in a time of need. For they never met again so possible in the man’s view it was a moment of divine help. I don’t think my colleague was implying that they were an Angel themselves. More that the other person could possibly believe that is what or whom they had been helped by.

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I cannot explain why I felt strange in my encounter nor am I able to explain why the person in my situation didn’t ask anyone else for help but instead came to me. Were they an Angel or was I merely an Angel to them for that brief moment in time?

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As a footnote: Several things happened to me during my transformative period after my other brother Conor had passed away. One particularly poignant was when I was reading a book on Angels and there on the page was my brother’s name. Or when I was travelling to work and asked for a sign and a white feather could be seen floating along the windows of the bus I was on. I was upstairs and three windows along from the front of the bus. Next, I noticed a white feather floating towards each of the windows before eventually finding my one. It floated for some time before disappearing again. Or when watching a TV program and I just knew what the person’s name was, Angel.

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The following is a poem I wrote about my

 brother

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