guardian angels

I don't usually lift things from other blogs, but this was too good to pass up. It's by Madeleine L'Engle, and appeared in Penguins and Golden Calves, as quoted by Sheila O'Malley in The Sheila Variations.

Children are often better believers than we are. A young friend of mine who works in a day-care center one day overheard a little boy say, "I want to die," and he meant it. She swept him into her lap to try and find out what was wrong that he should feel and say such a thing ... Everything was wrong. His parents were drinking, fighting, screaming, throwing furniture. His anguish at the violence at home had focused into a terror that someone was going to come take him away in the night. My young friend said to him, "I'm going to fix that for you. I'm going to send four guardian angels, one to stand at each corner of your bed. They will spread their wings around you, and you will be enclosed in their love, and no one will be able to take you away."

The next morning when he came to the day-care center she hurried to him, asking, "How did it go last night?" He responded very seriously, "I think we can cut down on the angel guard. One will be enough. The flapping of their wings kept me awake."

So for each of my readers, I wish for you exactly one guardian angel, quietly flapping her wings, watching over you as you sleep, keeping you safe. And if you're extra lucky, perhaps there will also be a beloved dog or cat standing guard, assisting the angel.