One of my favorite parts of It’s a Wonderful Life is the last scene, when everyone is gathered around the Christmas tree, celebrating the new year and the uniting together of the community for George and his family, when a bell rings. George’s daughter says “Teacher says every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings.” The tears in George’s eyes reflect the gratitude of a man who may not have been. He knows that Clarence had earned his wings, and that he was the reason. This scene always touched my heart and brought tears, like millions of others, to my eyes.
On my husband’s phone, he has a tiny bell that rings twice when he receives a message. When I hear it, I always say “An angel just got its wings.” It’s corny, but always gets a chuckle out of my husband, and I’d like to think it’s true.
He hadn’t been feeling well following a chemotherapy treatment for Crohn’s disease, and was having a rough few days. Medically, my husband had been through a lot over the last several years, and every time he receives the medicine to tame the Crohn’s, it makes him sick before it helps him feel better. My heart was breaking all over again as I watched him suffer.
After trying to get some sleep in a recliner one night, early the next morning he moved into the bedroom. I sat on the living room couch, and called on the archangel, Michael. Michael had been a frequent companion of mine when I was a child. Back then, all I’d have to do was think about him, to wish him there, and he’d appear. That day, I thought “Michael, please help him. If you can’t, find someone who will.”
Literally half a second later, my husband’s phone “ding, dinged”. My prayer was answered. Just like that.
When we feel like we can’t handle something ourselves, our angels are there to give us a hand. Sometimes all we need is a little willingness to believe, and the vulnerability to let go and ask for help.
I’m a work in progress when it comes to these things, as we all are.
Krista Gorman, PA-C
