Dad Saved by an Angel
By Sue Greenwald
Before my father passed away in 2020, he told me a story that I’d never heard before. Dad had been born during the depression, and had a hard life. His family often went without food or a place to stay, and at times, traveled around the country to find work or to live with other family members. Dad told me about a time he and my grandmother lived in Florida for a few months so she could work. I think it was the Ft. Meyers area. He said that he often would cut through a giant parking lot which was a betting place. Evidently it was huge and always busy, and as a kid, he’d run though it to get to where he was going and save time.
On this occasion, he was a boy of about 10 or so, and he was tall although slightly built. A boy that was slightly older, Milton, accompanied my father on this day. Milton was brand new to the area that my father lived in. For some reason, before they left, Milton cut a piece of a garden hose and slipped it up his sleeve. That alone is an odd thing for the average boy to do! They went and did whatever they did, and on their way back home, a car with 2 men approached them and tried to entice them inside. The men started out by being nice and trying to bribe the boys.
It was getting dark, and the boys were already late getting home. The boys ran off cross country, and the car followed and circled around. The boys kept running away and avoiding the car, which was constantly circling around them. They got to the betting place, which was closed that night for some reason. All the lights were off throughout the parking lot. The men in the car caught up to the boys, and threatened them, wanting to get them in the car. This time they were angrier, and more insistent. Of course, they were “bad guys” and the boys felt their ill intent. The boys ran through the parking lot, and the men drove up to them again.
The driver grabbed Milton by the shirt and threatened him, trying to get him into the car. Milton whipped out the hose and smacked the driver hard a couple times until he was free. The driver was out of his mind angry at this point! By this time, it was totally dark. The boys ran blindly, and they heard the car revving up to go full throttle. The driver was literally going to run them down! The car screeched toward them, going top speed. Milton put my father behind a phone pole and told him to stay there no matter what. The car literally ran head first into the pole, going fast. There was a giant crash, glass shattered, but no further activity from the car.
The police somehow showed up shortly thereafter, and told the boys to get home, which they quickly did. My impression is that the men in the car were killed in that accident, and I think the police may have either been monitoring the car, or just doing their nightly rounds. My father said he never saw Milton again after that incident, and I immediately felt that he was an angel sent to save my father. While listening to this story, I thought it was interesting that Milton appeared the day of the incident, and then disappeared right afterwards! Milton’s quick thinking and actions saved my fathers life, and I’m most grateful Milton!
My father had a vivid experience as a boy that stayed with him his whole life. I don’t recall his age, but he lived in the Northeast at the time. One night, he heard footsteps on the roof. He was awakened, and listened in fear. He then saw a demonic face looking through his window. And yes, any face looking in your window would be scary! After gathering his courage, he looked out. He saw the demonic being walking away, and the whole earth was scorched and burned. I think he said that it looked back at him with malice. He felt the evil and of course, lots of fear. The next morning, he looked out again, and the land had been restored to the way it was, nothing was burned or destroyed. Even in his 80s, he still believed in what he saw, and was still afraid of it.
My father was very intelligent, and had he been born into better circumstances or at a different time, he may have had the opportunity to do something BIG with his life. I think he was a bit of a badass before he became a family man, as he told me about a time he was in the military, and a soldier, one of the men on his base, tried to kill him. My dad reacted quickly and averted being stabbed. He was very interested in science and because of that, our family loved science fiction and unexplained mysteries. He encouraged me to read, and since he had books about extraterrestrials, the pyramids, easter island heads, and other mysteries on earth, that’s what I read. It’s because of his encouragement that I became curious on a broader level to know more about our work and the Universe. As I wrote in his eulogy, he loved trying out time saving experiments around the house, something that my Mom did not embrace. Totally miss you, Dad!