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    Ordinary Angels: Stories of Daily Life in El Paso del Norte
    Ordinary Angels: Stories of Daily Life in El Paso del Norte
    Ordinary Angels: Stories of Daily Life in El Paso del Norte
    Ebook149 pages1 hour

    Ordinary Angels: Stories of Daily Life in El Paso del Norte

    By Minerva Baumann

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    About this ebook

    We all have a little angel in us. It’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. This collection reveals the “Ordinary Angels” of El Paso, Texas, in real-life stories of help, healing, and comfort.

    This book is a collection of articles Minerva Baumann wrote for the El Paso Times between 2009 and 2011. These articles are full of interesting people, touching moments - some common, others extraordinary - and is sure to bring a smile to your face.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherL.L. Press
    Release dateJan 15, 2019
    ISBN9780999843291

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      Book preview

      Ordinary Angels - Minerva Baumann

      Foreword

      I was born and raised in El Paso and have loved this city since I was a child.f The people live simply and give much. It is a welcoming place where ordinary angels go about their daily lives. Most are unaware they are influencing or inspiring others they may meet. I wrote these Sunday columns, first published in the El Paso Times, over a period of two and a half years between 2009-2011. They were part of a series conceived by then-editor Chris Lopez. I’ve updated and compiled them in hopes you may enjoy these stories and discover the ordinary angels in your own life.

      Ordinary Angels

      I stumbled across it for the first time in 2005. I was trying to find a particular dress shop in downtown El Paso. The sidewalk was crowded, someone jostled me and I happened to look up.

      In a little furniture store on Overland Street, I found angels.

      The gray-haired woman with a kind smile and her husband with the loving blue eyes welcomed me into their shop. Furniture was upstairs, but the first floor was filled with angels of all kinds and much more. There were pewter angels, wooden angels and ceramic angels – as well as the human ones.

      Miracles live in the angel shop, a place born out of sorrow. The couple’s 17-year-old son Michael had died in a traffic accident. The only thing that could heal his mother’s inconsolable grief was turning half of their furniture store into a place where angels live and give comfort and hope.

      She named it for Michael.

      The day I found the shop, I knew I was meant to be there. My friend had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed an angel to watch over her.

      During the long, difficult months after her open-cranium surgery, chemotherapy, two broken ankles and a broken arm, various gifts from the angel store would find their way into her home and heart.

      In spite of her pain, and having to relearn how to speak, my friend was quietly determined to regain a normal life.

      Angels via Michael helped to soothe her spirit.

      While shopping for gifts, I told the couple about my friend’s illness and the store’s owners shared more about their own difficult journey.

      The husband watched his wife with love as she told his story. I learned her husband had survived two heart transplants. He smiled broadly when she got to the part where shoppers would ask her what gifts her husband had given her over the years.

      She said simply, He gave me another day.

      Recently, I invited my friend, now in remission from her brain tumor, to go with me to visit the angel shop, explaining this place was the source of the angels I had given to her while she was ill.

      As my friend and I walked through the door chatting, the owner recognized my voice and amazingly remembered my name. I introduced her to my friend and for nearly an hour they exchanged stories.

      My friend suffers from permanent aphasia but is thankful for her health and grateful to her husband who took such good care of her.

      Michael’s mother called my friend a miracle and said she was blessed to survive her ordeal. During their conversation, they laughed, shared a few tears, finally hugged each other and promised to meet again.

      Yes, angels do exist. They may work in the cubicle next to you or live in your neighborhood. You might find them in a friendly little store in downtown El Paso…thanks to Michael and his mother’s love.

      Wherever compassion, kindness and generosity exist, you’ll find angels.

      You won’t see their wings. You recognize them with your heart.

      As we wrapped up our purchases and left the angel shop, my friend handed me a gift box wrapped with a purple and gold ribbon.

      Inside I found an angel - to watch over me.

      Photo of Angel - Given to me.

      Watch for the Signs

      I followed God’s Will the other day.

      It was an Alaska license plate on the rear of a white SUV that read, GDS WIL. At first the Jeep was in front of me, then it changed lanes. I tried to catch up but couldn’t manage to pull beside it. I wanted a glimpse of the driver but the Jeep exited the interstate remaining a mystery.

      The words rolled around in my head as I drove to work.

      Walking toward my office later that morning, I saw a woman about my age coming toward me going in the opposite direction. I was out of sorts, but I looked up and smiled.

      You have the most beautiful smile, she said and grinned as she passed me.

      I smiled often the rest of the day.

      On my way home later that evening, the commuter traffic on I-10 congealed into a slow-moving mass. A white Honda was sniffing my bumper. I had slowed down, leaving a couple of car lengths of space ahead of me to prepare for sudden stops. The Honda saw it and, like a gnat, buzzed around me and cut in front, nearly clipping my front bumper.

      I lost my smile.

      Reckless driving is pretty common in rush hour traffic. What I didn’t expect to see was the driver who cut in front of me roll down his window and stick out his left arm. It wasn’t a finger he showed me but instead stuck out his thumb. It was pointing to the right.

      Just then I noticed my fuel light was blinking. I was nearly out of gas and happened to be at the exit I needed to get fuel at my favorite gas station. I signaled right, got off I-10 and made it to the pump just in time.

      If that Honda hadn’t cut me off, I might have been stranded on the freeway. It was unorthodox and certainly not what you’d expect a Good Samaritan to do but that guy actually did me a favor.

      I found my smile.

      Are events that synchronize to bless our lives just happy accidents or God’s Will? But why would God’s Will allow the kind of pain, destruction and death we see around the world?

      Maybe only harsh challenges allow us to rise to our best as humans. We have seen in natural disasters - often called Acts of God - people who go beyond their strength to achieve feats they never imagined they could do.

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