City of Angels

Today’s guest-blogger is Angels on Earth editorial assistant Kelly P. Gallagher.

After I learned that I had been hired at Angels on Earth, I was thrilled. But how would I find my way around New York?

As a lifelong upstate resident, the city seemed like a bustling swarm of strangers. I pored over maps and train schedules, planning my new commute down to the minute. I just had to remember to catch the Port Jervis train.

I spent my first day at the office learning the ropes and reading about real angel encounters. Then, in the evening, I realized that the clock on my computer was 10 minutes slow. My plan had been thrown completely out of whack! When I arrived at the station, I dashed onto the train without a moment to spare. I felt a wave of relief, but that pleasant feeling was quickly replaced with terror.

“Excuse me,” I asked another passenger. “Is this the Port Jervis train?”

“Port what?” she replied.

It couldn’t be. I was on the wrong train. Tears began to pour down my cheeks. After a day of reading stories about angels, I couldn’t help but wonder where my guardian angel was.

I got off the train at the next stop and found myself on a cement platform with a small cluster of people. “I got on the wrong train,” I said. “Can anyone help me?”

No one said a word. Why should they bother, I thought. This is my fault.

Then I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw an elegantly dressed woman with kind brown eyes.

“Where do you need to go?” she asked.

I told her my final destination. “You want to buy a ticket to Secaucus,” she said, pointing out the appropriate options on the ticket machine screen. “And change there to a Metro North train.”   She traced her finger along the fine print of the timetable.

“You’re a real angel,” I said. And I meant it.

Earth angels really are everywhere, even in the midst of a busy city. Maybe New York wasn’t going to be so scary, after all.