I am sure you have had the experience of meeting someone for the first time, but having an immediate attraction to them and within a very short period of time the two of you have formed a bond of some sort. This has happened to me several times in my life, but the one that I have been thinking about lately is one that happened in the mid 1980's.

At the time, the employment market was very slow and because I had been in the recruiting business already for a number of years, I took a job at a two--year school, teaching resume writing and interviewing techniques to the students graduating from the programs. It was also my responsibility to find employment for these people upon graduation from the school. Therefore, I was doing a lot of "door-knocking" to find potential employers. This was a busy time for computer manufacturing companies and I connected with a temporary agency that supplied electronic workers to help put the computers together.

My contact at the temporary agency was a lady named Nell, who was responsible for finding and placing the temporary workers. I immediately liked her and found her to be a very strong, organized, interesting person. We quickly became very good friends. During our lunch meetings we would discuss our families, likes and dislikes as you do when you are getting to know each other. I soon found out that she was interested in learning about the spiritual aspects of our beings and because I had a similiar interest, it became a big topic of our conversation. I was reading Edgar Cayce at the time about astral travel and Nell started reading about it too. Mr. Cayce taught excercises in his books about how to communicate over distances and even how to try to asterally travel together. We thought, "What Fun!" So, I must admit we did have some success and during that period, I can honestly say we both experienced some surprising results. I know there are skeptics and I was actually married to one at the time. lol

Nell heard about a very well respected Chinese fortune teller and seer in our city and wanted to go to see what he could tell us about our future. Actually, it was a very depressing time for me because my father was very ill and we knew he would not be with us much longer. I must admit I was a bit hesitant to go, but was very curious as we heard that people were flying in from all over the U.S. just to have an audience with this man.

His location was in his home and in a subdivision which we were both very familiar with and not too far from her house.  Because of the number of people that wanted to see him, it was necessary to show up very early in the morning and just sit and wait your turn. I heard that many times people would wait all day and still not have an opportunity to see this man. So, one morning, we took off work and went very early hoping to have our opportunity.

When we arrived, we were greeted by a young Chinese woman and told to take off our shoes before we entered the house. As we walked in we saw probably 20-30 people sitting in the living room. We could hear some loud chatter coming from upstairs at times. Sometimes a bell would ring and we would hear a voice and the young woman would escort someone sitting in the room with us up the stairs. While I was there I met two people from California, who visited the city regularly just to come to see "the man upstairs".

Finally it was our turn. As we walked up the stairs Nell and I both were a bit intimidated and very glad we were together. When we walked in there was an alter and a man sitting in front with his legs crossed and wearing golden colored clothes. He bowed his head and gestured for us to sit in front of him on the floor. There was a narrow table between us and the man and he was holding a deck of cards. Nell pulled out her tape recorder and the man grinned as if to say it was O.K.

His English was very hard for me to understand, but as he cut the cards he would tell each of us something about our current situation and things to come. At one point, he looked at me and said....."Your father......bye bye... very soon". I was very startled. He looked at Nell and told her that she was going to come into some money soon due to an accident. I must tell you she did have some insurance money paid later, but I don't remember all the details at this time.

He all of a sudden, however, turned to Nell and said, "You are an angel that was sent to help those of us living here on earth." Nell and I were both shocked and amazed. He seemed to be absolutely convinced that there was no doubt of her "Angel Origin" . I, however, did not get such a response. He began "thumping" me on my forehead several times - sometimes with the cards in his hands and sometimes just "thumping" me with a flick of his thumb. He did that at least ten to twelve times.

He told us lots of things that day and some have come true, but not everything. When it was time for us to go, he pointed to his collection plate in front of the alter and walked out the door. Soon, the young lady arrived and showed us out a back stairway.

When we got to our car, we listened again to the tapes and tried to decipher all the information that we had been told in our audience with this man. Mostly, however, we both laughed about him telling Nell that she was an angel and how he kept hitting me on the forehead. I still don't know what he was doing, and sometimes wonder if he thought he had to "knock some sense into me." :) He never touched Nell.

As the years passed, Nell and I became better and better friends, although because of our busy lives, we really didn't see each other very much. However, through all the traumas in my life, Nell was always there to comfort me. She never missed an opportunity to give me encouragement and even tried to protect me when she saw I might be in trouble. I was amazed at how her concern for the people she cared about never wavered.

In about 1996, Nell was diagnosed with an advanced tumor in her breast. At the time, she and her husband had a business and did not have medical insurance. The only alternative for her to receive treatment was for them to divorce so that she could receive help from the state. This was a very tough decision for both of them, since they were a very close couple. There was really no choice, however. She had to deal with  several other difficulties including her illness and chemotherapy, and the fact that she lived almost two hours away from the doctor's office.   However, every conversation we had, would start with her wondering how my life was going.  It still amazes me how consistently positive she was during this period and she was always interested in hearing about possible new ideas and treatments.

I went with her to her first meeting at the Cancer Support Group where all the individuals attending were the patients. My weakness was so evident and their strengths were so strong, I found that these people were comforting me and my tears by the time the meeting was over. It was so amazing to see a room full of people that were as strong as my friend all supporting each other, not to mention me, the one with all the tears.

As the illness took it's toll, she began planning for her funeral. She took care of every detail, including the obituary, the urn, music, pictures, readings, etc. When the dreadful day arrived, however, it was so lovely that we could feel her presence with us at every moment. She had planned everything to make it easy for those of us that she was leaving behind. I cannot even explain to you the feeling that we had in the room. It was felt by everyone and we all knew that she was with us. One friend and I talked about how organized and completely she took control, just to show all of us how much she cared about us. That day has stayed with me all these years.

One side note, the last time I saw her was the Easter before she passed away. She had all of us there and took all of our picutres with her separately. Later, I received a framed picture of the two of us in the mail. I cannot express to you how much that picture means to me now. It was then, I realized how extraordianary she had been in my life and how much my life was enriched just by knowing her.

In the Urantia book, we learn that in the beginning Angels were sent to earth to help us make our lives better. With all my heart, I believe that Nell was here to help me learn the lesson of letting the people I care about know that they are important to me and helping others to learn that lesson too. In our day-to-day lives, we forget sometimes that we need to remind each other how important we are and help each along the way. Nell is still helping me, guiding me and all I have to do is be willing to listen to her.

Keep your mind and your heart open. You may just have an angel sitting next to you now. :)