I spent many evenings in 2010 walking in a small park in South Florida for a couple of hours. On the fourth week of walking, I noticed a man seated at a picnic table but I paid him no mind. Day after day, this man continued coming and choosing a different table to sit at.
This man looked homeless because he had a couple of old dirty bags on the table. He had shoulder-length dirty dark blonde oily hair and he wore tattered greasy clothing. I was somewhat leery of him but that was not going to stop me from walking. Since he was always at the park before me, when I passed him, I bowed my head on the first round.
Well, one day as I was walking with my head looking up at the sky, I fell into saying silently a specific prayer to angels and I distinctly heard him say: “I’m an angel too.” That stopped me in my track. I looked at him with puzzlement. He smiled and did not say another word. I continued walking thinking it was all in my mind.
On another occasion, as I was thinking about the weekend dancing I was going to enjoy and hoping that my favorite partner would be there, I heard again distinctly from him: “I am a dancer too.” I just smiled and continued walking because I could not imagine him doing salsa, merengue and bachata the sensuous way we did.
But then, one evening as I passed next to him, he told me to look up in the sky and I did: the arc of a rainbow was directly above my head. That took me by surprise and I said: “Thank you.” He bowed his head and simply smiled. We were starting to bond. I was no longer afraid of him and I rather saw him as someone who could read thoughts and could manifest things.
The next few nights were uneventful although he did some interesting things such as playing his radio in my birth language, saying a particular prayer of mine, word for word as I was passing by, or even manifesting a fairy just as I was thinking how a fairy would look like.
But one night, something eventful took place. I passed by him on the first round and we said hello to each other. On the second lap, a long black car with all tinted windows passed very slowly right next to me. I could not see who were in there even though I stared. My heart started racing; it just felt wrong. The car made the circle and came back around just as slowly the second time. It slowed down by me. I watched the homeless man stand up as he watched the car. On the third time, I heard him say loudly: “Oh hell no.” He now was standing in the middle of the walking path. The car then drove fast by me and him and exited out of the park.
The next night, my angel was no longer there. That night I received the injunction to choose another park, while at the same time a park name was being whispered to me. I searched it online and found out that this park although farther from me, was huge with multiple large lakes and patrolled. It was a much safer environment. From that night on, I walked there without ever seeing my friend again.
***Protection comes in different ways. It does not matter who or what this man was but I believe he saved me from an unfortunate incident. Life is full of surprises. I often ponder on this experience and I realize that if I had been rude to this supposedly homeless man, I probably would have been the loser. In the end, he was my guardian angel. Lesson well learned. Never underestimate anyone or anything.