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April 21, 2020
John “Scotty” Thomas
San Francisco
About 35 years ago we befriended a neighbor, Paulyne Cronin, and we socialized with her over the years. When she was 92 years old, she went to a retirement home in Petaluma. We would visit her about every month and take her out for lunch. One time, the subject of her age came up and she said to us, “The reason I have lived so long is because I have angels looking after me.” I am sure I must have made a face because she said, “Scotty, I am not talking about the ones with wings but about the ones like you and Helen.” I never forgot those words and I think she said a mouthful.
Now we come to the present. About three weeks ago, my wife and I were sitting at the computer doing our best to order some groceries from Safeway. We tried for about an hour with no luck and our tempers were beginning to flare so we gave up. Minutes later my wife’s phone rang. It was a former student from Epiphany School calling from Georgia. Adrienne wanted to know how we were doing. Helen told her the problem with Safeway and she said that she wished that she was there to help. After they talked and hung up, about 10 minutes later her phone rang again. It was another student, Laura, who Adrienne had called from Georgia She told my wife that they were going shopping in 10 minutes and my wife told her what we needed. About two hours later our groceries arrived and my wife paid for them. After we put the groceries away, the phone rang again. This time it was our daughter Moira. She wanted to know about the Safeway order and when we told our sad story, she said that she would order from now on. She lives In La Crescenta.
Paulyne was right. Paulyne died at 107 years old. Father Greene, another of her angels, sent her on her way. After the funeral, one of the women who had cared for her in her final years handed us a package and told us that Paulyne wanted us to have this. It was two beautiful portraits of angels. Paulyne, our angel, is still taking care of us. Yes, this morning the groceries we needed arrived from Safeway.
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