There is a song by the group “Alabama” that I hear a lot this time of year. The lyrics say, “I believe there are angels among us…” That was what popped into my head when my brother who lives in Opp shared a story with me that I want to share.

His son lives in Rhode Island with his mother and was coming south to be with his dad for Christmas. Everyone was excited about him coming and so last Tuesday morning my brother headed for Montgomery to meet his plane. He had time to get to the airport and was cruising along probably thinking about how great it would be to see his child.

Then it happened. Smoke started boiling from under the hood of his truck. He pulled off the road near Highland Home to check out what was going on.

That is when one of those “angels among us” appeared. Before he could pop open the hood, a car pulled up and an older woman got out.

“Are you on fire? she asked.

“I don’t know,” he said as he looked at the engine

.

It was making a hissing noise but he didn’t see any evidence of flames. The woman told him she knew a mechanic and took him to the garage.

Of course, my brother was beginning to panic because his son’s plane was going to arrive and someone needed to be there to meet it. He said he knew if one of the family left right then to come pick him up, there was still no way he would be on time.

Again, the angel from Highland Home stepped in.

She not only took him to her mechanic, but she also drove him to the airport, arriving about 10 minutes ahead of his son’s plane. She sat in her car and waited for him to collect him and then drove them both back to the mechanic’s garage. When my brother tried to give her money for gas, she refused to take it.

She shared with him that traveling along the road where his truck stopped was out of the ordinary for her at that time of day. Some unusual circumstance came up that placed her there at that particular time.

While that is kind of miraculous, to me the real miracle is that she made the decision to stop and offer help to a total stranger. She made the choice to be someone’s angel on a Tuesday morning.

With all the negative things in the news about what humans do to other humans, it is nice to hear a story like this, nice to know that good people are out there doing kind things for others.

Like the song says about those angels among us.

“They wear so many faces; show up in the strangest places.

To grace us with their mercy, in our time of need.”

Ask my brother and he will tell you that last Tuesday an angel wearing the face of Martha Wilson did exactly what the song says angels do.

“They come to you and me in our darkest hours.

To show us how to live, to teach us how to give.

To guide us with the light of love.”