Awakened by an Angel

I grew up without my father in the house. My parents separated when I was two years old, and my mother and I went to live in my grandparents' home. My father was never mentioned by anyone, and I was aware that questions were neither welcome nor appropriate, even though my father's sister, Kay, corresponded with my mother for years.

I had a happy childhood, surrounded by the love of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and never felt deprived by the lack of a father. Occasionally I would weave fantasies about discovering my Dad, or he discovering me.

At age 24, I married a wonderful man, and over the years, his Navy career took us (with our five children) to 13 duty stations in 20 years. In each new locale I would search the phone directory for my father's name, never finding it. Such is the power of desire, however well hidden it may be.

In 1972, while I was recuperating from surgery, a loving, perceptive friend often visited me. One day she mentioned that I frequently spoke of my mother and cousin Jackie, but never mentioned my father. "Is he dead?," she asked. My reply that I didn't know nearly brought her out of her chair. "How can you sit there and say you don't know? Don't you care?" I realized in that instant that I did care, very much.

As in the TV show, she was an angel sent by God who "touched" me.

I called directory assistance, giving the last name and address I had for Aunt Kay. I called the number that I was given; when she answered the phone and found out who was calling, she cried for joy. When I told her I wanted to get in touch with my dad, she said through her tears, "Honey, I've been praying for this day for 40 years!" She gave me dad's address, assuring me that he would be overjoyed to hear from me.

Her next words showed me that a miracle had occurred right there in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday morning. Aunt Kay had recently remarried, and in the new phone book she would no longer be listed under the name I had known. If I had waited two weeks longer, I would have lost my chance to meet my dad, my loving half-brother, and the dearest stepmother anyone could ever know.

Dad and I had ten years to share before his death. Because of a timely prod from an angel in disguise, a long estrangement was dissolved. I thank God for my forthright friend, and for the miraculous timing that resulted in a most happy reunion -- that brought peace and resolution to dad and me.