Touched By Angels

My Grandfather was an ex prisoner of war during WWII, where he endured the historical Battan Death March. During this time he was held prisoner for 31/2 yrs by the Japanese with little more than a handful of rice to eat. He was slowly being starved to death. When Japan finally surrendered and he made his way back to the States, he weighed only 88 pounds. This starvation caused him to lose the majority of his eyesight ( leaving him only with peripheral vision) and making him legally blind. You can imagine how downtrodden and hopeless one might feel after such and ordeal, yet God had his hand on my Grandfather. My Grandfather upon returning home to Oklahoma, was notified by the military that he was being sent to Avondale farms in Ct., which just happened to be where he would meet his future wife, ( my Grandmother ) who was teaching dance to help rehabilitate all the prisoners of war. After a short courtship they married and moved to California, where my Grandfather decided to pursue a law degree. Since my Grandfather was legally blind he didn't have the luxury of even driving a car , so my Grandmother dutifully braved the unpleasant Southern California highways and byways to get him to his classes during the day, and at night graciously read each law text to him. Eventually they moved back to my Grandfathers hometown of Norman, OK. where my grandfather earned his Law Degree from the University of Oklahoma....NO easy task for someone that had been beaten, battered, broken , and blinded as a young man. After earning his Law Degree, my grandfather held several positions on various judicial courts, raised three children, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. Of all his accomplishments it seemed the most important of these was his family, which he took great pride and joy in. So needless to say we were very close, my Grandfather became my rock of stability and wisdom, seeing me through my sometimes un-thoughtful teenage years and into young adulthood. It was a few years after my daughter was born that my grandfathers health began to fail him. I helplessly watched and vigorously prayed each time he was placed in the hospital. I clung to him with every prayer, selfishly asking God to give him a bit longer, which he graciously obliged. Each time my Grandfather was in the hospital over the course of approximately three years, I would vigilantly keep post in the wee hours of the night praying in faith for God to heal him. Even when family members and Doctors would profess little hope for his recovery, I would stand firm in faith that God would heal him, and confess only his healing, never anything negative. Time and time again I watched miraculously as the hospital staff would take him off the ventilator and claim that he was a fighter. But I knew deep down it was the miraculous healing power of God, and his healing spirit. In those wee hours of the deep night, consumed in my vigilant prayer it was as if I could "feel" the presence of the Lord and his ministering angels, and as it was written in Job...Joy cometh in the morning..each time his conditioned improved. Yet I had a selfish deep seeded plant within myself that became more evident as I watched my Grandfather grow weaker with each passing day. His quality of life was diminishing, even to the extent of his hearing becoming almost non-existent (which was an incredible hindrance given his long-standing reliance on this due to his previous vision loss). He was relegated to carrying oxygen with him, and his mobility was ever increasingly limited. It seems that my selfish clinging was catching up to me, as my Grandfather knew it was time for him to pass. This hit home vividly when I came to his home one morning and found him still lying in bed (which was unusual) I inquired as to what was wrong and he simply replied, " I am sick", and then proceeded to reminisce and exclaim.." Oh well, at least I have the memories of my great-granddaughter" as if to say he was thankful that God had allowed him to experience the wonders of having a family of his own and living long enough to see and experience all the wonders of children and the generations, right down to his own great-grandchild. A couple of months passed on since the day I found him in bed, his body kept wearing down,,,,but his spirit kept staying on for his family. Then the day came when my Grandfather began to cough up severe amounts of blood, and was rushed back to the hospital. I began my prayer vigil as I had done in the past, pleading for God to give him more time with me. But my Grandfather knew it was his time. It was so apparent looking back, unlike other times he was in the hospital, this time it was as if he was trying to say his peace to all his loved ones. And as I stayed in the ICU that night listening to every beat of the heart monitor, praying for more time, yet trying to make him more comfortable, I will never forget the words he said to me, which revealed his humor and love. He was moving around as if needing something and he was so weak he could barely get enough breath out to make a word, which was so very frustrating to him. Yet he struggled and got out the word "pest" or "best"...I couldn't quite make out the word....and he was frustrated,,,,yet he kept repeating the word. Still being unable to make out the word he was trying to so hard to relay,,,,He fervently struggled using all the breath he could to say "You're (best) or (pest) to me,,,,,bewildered I halfway smiled thinking he was thinking I was a pest for staying with him all night and jumping at his every whim...then later it hit me...and brought tears to my eyes when I realized he was saying his peace to me by telling me I was the best to him, that he knew that I loved him so much. Eventually days turned into weeks of my grandfather fighting to keep his body going, he knew that he was going to pass, and began saying he wanted to go home...I stood firm with faith and said you will go home, you have to fight to get well so you can go home....but he was too tired and his body was worn out, looking back it was literally withering away back to the dust from which it came. I was in denial and began distancing myself from him so it wouldn't hurt as bad when the time came. I always wanted someone to be at the hospital because I had this sense and knowing that he would pass away when no one was there because he was only staying for us ,his beloved family. It was a Sunday evening and I had not been to the hospital all weekend (due to spraining my ankle) I felt a sense of security however, knowing that my grandmother was with him daily...Yet on this particular day, she could not be there all day, I began to feel a sense of urgency in my spirit as if something was telling me that I needed to check on him...then something struck me and made me look up at my clock, which read 9:23 PM I then began to call my grandmother at her home which was unusual , ( I usually called the hospital) she answered abruptly, saying she had to go. It seemed the hospital was on the other line and she had to get down there because my Grandfather was not doing well. I immediately grabbed my daughter and rushed for the hospital. Racing to the elevator I met my uncle who also had been vigilantly at his side and we rode the elevator in an uncomfortable silence to the floor where my Grandfather was staying. As soon as the elevator doors opened the nurses stopped us and asked if we were there to see my grandfather, and then proceeded to inform us that he had already passed. My Grandmother arrived right at that time, and we somberly walked into his room to say our good-byes. I later learned that he had probably passed at the exact time I looked up at my clock, as if to say goodbye. I can't remember the exact day as time shortly after that became a blur , but I recall lying on my bed crying when I suddenly got this vision so very clear of my grandfather younger, healthier looking with a beaming smile saying "Don't be sad,,,,I can see now!!!! I CAN SEE!!!!" and I had this sense of overwhelming peace and warmth. A year had passed and on the anniversary of his death I went to his grave, and began sobbing saying I just wanted to hold his hand, and tell him how much I loved him and how thankful I was that he was always there for me. I then felt a warmth of love and the feeling of being hugged, which caused me to look up. I then saw all around me so plainly and so bright a million little beads of lights circling me and jetting around me. I just stood there in awe, unable to move. These little beads of lights about the size of a dime reminded me of a kind of energy, and stayed circling me around my head and shoulders for about five minutes and then slowly drifted away. I then felt an abundance of peace and love and knew that my Grandfather and the heavenly angels had heard me. I had been touched by an angel. Cassie

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