My Brother's Guardian Angels

I opened a really nice note from Adrienne Oliver of North Chili, New York, this morning. She praised Nancy Lane’s illustration for a story called “Watching Over Wesley” in the March/April 2011 issue. According to his mother, “Wesley was the kind of child that made a parent grateful for guardian angels.”

All this brought back memories for Adrienne. Her son was just the same way—“all boy,” as they say. I had a brother like that. Ryan, the youngest of six of us. He was born the summer I was heading off to college. By the time Ryan was in college, I’d moved to New York City and started my first real job.

Once I was home visiting and Ryan wasn’t in by curfew. I hit the roof. Mama had to calm me down. “Didn’t you ever have a good reason for coming in late?” she asked like a mother who’d been through this before.

Well Ryan is now married and will soon be a father. He was the kind of brother that made a sister grateful for guardian angels, for sure. And when he holds his newborn son in his arms, you can bet he’ll understand what all this guardian angel fuss is about (if he doesn’t already).