Wake Up Call

Igrew up in a house where my mother encouraged all of her children to beleive that there are things out there that cannot usually be seen, including the spirits of those people who have passed on. In other words, we all believe in ghosts. Especially protective ones. So what happened didn't surprise me too much, though I did appreciate it.

At the end of a two-week tour of Britain, I was not getting along too well with the friends I had chosen to travel with. I especially was irritated by one of my companions who found it necessary to use her hair dryer every morning, as early as 5 am. I was hoping that there would be someway we could be spared that grating sound on the very last morning of our trip.

We set the alarm for 5 am, since the bus was arriving to take us to Heathrow airport at 6 am. The next morning, I was awakened suddenly, only to see a tall, thin figure standing beside my bed. I immediately ducked beneath the covers, since my first thought was that one of my friends was about to continue the pillow fight we had the night before. But after a few minutes of silence, I peeked out to see no one beside my bed, and even more, no one was even awake yet! I quickly dug my watch from my bag, and realized it was 5:54 am, and we only had 6 minutes to get to the bus. We just made it, and best of all, I didn't have to hear that hair dryer ever again.

I believe the figure I saw was my grandfather who had passed away several years before. I know it wasn't one of my traveling companions, since they are all shorter and heftier than the figure was.

My family has often felt my grandfather's presence during crisis and emergencies, but I think this was the first time he has helped us to catch a plane.