My daughter Stephanie-and the "angel"

                                                    Jared proposes to Steph



I have heard countless stories of people in meetings tell of incidents where someone said something they really needed to hear, gave them a ride they desperately needed, or helped in a many number of different ways. This happens regularly around AA, but this particular article is directed to the people who stay anonymous to the one who receives their help.

Their description typically goes like this- The person who helped me -  I had never seen them before and have never seen them again. I wonder sometimes  if they were an angel sent by God?

So, as you may have guessed, I had one of these exact things happen about 20 or so years ago at a meeting. Went like this:


I was telling "my story" in front of a large group at an open meeting. At some point in my story I talked about watching a movie the night before called "Father of the Bride". What I remember about the movie was that the father and mother of the bride were preparing for their daughter's wedding- and there was great joy and happiness throughout the entire event. That's all I can remember. Smiles, happy tears of joy, love, family, etc.

So in comes a thought as I'm watching this movie - "You know, Rick, without the program and God this story will never happen. If you go back, it will be a sad story- crying from sadness, of what it could have been like, resentment, disharmony with the people involved, just trying to make it through- most of you know the scene I'm describing."

So back to my talk at the meeting. I went on to say how much I loved my daughter, Stephanie, who was about 5 years old. I expressed the hope that when the time comes for her, our story will be like "Father of the Bride"- with  Steph,  Sue, Scott (my son)  and I all engaged and relishing the joy of her special celebration of marriage.

After the meeting a person (angel?) came up to me and said almost these exact words: "Rick, you just keep doing what your doing and that movie will come true for you."

Never saw him before; never again.

The last few days my wife,  Stephanie (now 25) and I  have had a great time starting the planning for her wedding to happen in August of 2014. On Saturday, May, 11, her fiancee (Jared) proposed to her outside Wrigley Field (I brought her to many Cubs games when she was growing up). Sue and I and his parents from Florida were there to be part of the occasion. We went to dinner together and then the kids were off to meet their friends and we went home. Happy, joyous, free, wholly grateful.

Sometime during the day Stephanie asked me if we could watch "Father of the Bride"  together next time she comes home.

What can I say as I end this phase of the story? Was he an angel? Is it God and the program of AA that is making all of this come true?

Do you have any of these angel stories you would like to share?