Angels on Black Ice

When Ruth Grossman told this story right to my face, I was incredulous. How often does someone tell you a story about personally encountering angels? I asked her to write it down. I present her true story here in her own words with minor edits:

It was midwinter in Buffalo, NY. For anyone who has ever been in Buffalo at this time of year, you can still see a vivid picture in cold grays and icy whites.

Living at Houghton College’s Extension Campus, I knew some basic Buffalo winter facts. One of these was that you can’t leave a car to sit out in the cold wind for a whole week and then expect to start it up.

My friend, Gary, was traveling with the college music group. In exchange for keeping his little blue Toyota in running order, I could avoid a chilling wait at the bus stop. So for a week I enjoyed scraping ice off the windshield, instead of fishing ice out of my boots and shaking it off my wet socks. When Gary returned, I wanted to be able to start that car up!

Another Buffalo winter fact is black ice. While traveling route 90 E to the airport to pick up Gary, I found myself in three lanes of bumper to bumper traffic. Knowing the danger of black ice, all cars were traveling a slow 55 mph.

I was in the far left lane when the black ice found my tires. Instantly, the rear of the car moved ahead of the front tires and within seconds I’d spun three times counter clockwise. The Toyota stopped dead. The driver’s side door was facing into the median’s dirty, crusty snow bank, and I was now an easy target for even the slowest of cars. I knew that my chances for survival were slim. I braced for impact and breathed a prayer. Then a most unusual question formed in my fearful mind: Where was the traffic?

There were no oncoming cars. Only two four-door sedans. With their flashers on one of the sedans parked in front of me and one behind me. As if rehearsed, two men stepped out of cars. They were dressed in similar dark green parkas with gray fur trimmed hoods pulled over bearded faces.

I rolled down my window and followed directions to turn my wheels. In seconds they had me pushed out and pointed east. “Go! Don’t stop!”, they said. I turned to wave and shout, “Thank you!” but found myself speechless. No one was there! No cars. No men. A quick double-take revealed three lanes of oncoming traffic moving up on me. Very quickly. The traffic was definitely back!
Where had the men gone? I don’t know. I DO know where they came from and Who sent them. When I stand before Him, I hope I won’t be speechless as I was that day. I want to say, as I’ve repeatedly said in my heart, “Thank you!”

One more Buffalo winter fact: Angels don’t mind the cold.

My note: Ruth has given me permission to share this story. I’ve read over a thousand such stories from credible folks; and about 5 people have told me similar stories. To quote the authors of “Beach Wisdom,” “Remain amazed.”