The Faces of Angels

I recall a time back in October of the year 2000, when I saw an angel on a TTC bus in Toronto. Now granted it was Halloween and she was with a few others that were in costume, but still.

I was working down in the city at this time and staying with my sister in an apartment near Eglinton and Avenue Road. Coming home from work late that night I got off of the Yonge subway and jumped onto the connecting bus. A few stops up was when my angel boarded. She took no notice of me and I did not approach. My stop came before hers and I slowly got off to watch her and our motorized carriage leave.
Even though quite some time has past since then, I will not forget. I cannot forget. She was so beautiful and perfect!

That angelic costume is what first grabbed my attention, but I am almost certain her flawless good looks alone would have done the same. Her hair, that olive skin, those brilliant eyes; from top to bottom she was the ideal package. Aside from any attraction this gorgeous being may have sparked within, her image also left me with another feeling, one of hope, and from that a smile grew on my lips and in my heart. That distant, unspoken encounter made me realize the serenity that life can be.

Plenty of darkness fills our lives and over time I have come to realize, and I need to continually remind myself every so often, that the occasion of Halloween is not needed to encounter the face of an angel. They are around if you slow down a bit to look and feel.

Even before the above mentioned event occurred, years earlier when I was thirteen, my father passed away. I felt as if my life had lost an integral piece that kept it all together as things began spinning out of control. But I have come to understand that if I stop for a moment and close my eyes while taking a breath, the feeling of love and security he offered then, is still with me now.

And Currently I am blessed to be living with two angels. my three year old niece and seven month year old nephew.
Times are tough and waves of depression are felt, no matter the disguise I try to use to mask it. But there is no need to hide from the feeling I get when looking at them; the feeling of hope; the feeling of serenity.

Angels are among us and do roam this earth..... whether it is through a feeling or if it is discovered through the loud sounds of gigglng or singing "wheels on the bus."