Play ball cried an angel

She was old and she was lonely. Mary had lost most of her family a few years ago. She wasn't one to make friends very easy and with no relatives living close by she was almost a recluse. The only time I ever saw her was when she came into the small corner store my family had left to me years ago.

I would see her lost and lonely look everytime she came into the store. I had tried to be her friend, but it seemed to me that she had forgotten how to make friends. Mary did however seem to have a special liking for children. The little boys in the neighborhood seemed especially fond of her, and she of them.

I would often see her sitting on the bench in the small ballpark the children had made on the empty lot. She had to pass the children on her way from her small house. One end of the street was a dead-end, so she passed them daily on her lonely walks and trips to the store.

I knew from the other neighbors that Mary had lost her husband and two small sons many years ago. A baseball game her husband had taken the boys too had ended in terrible tragedy for all of them. She never got over the loss of her family.

It was one of the few days that she had come into the store and started to talk to me. Maybe because the store was empty that she felt the need to talk. I listened with a heavy heart as she began to tell me about her loneliness. She yearned to see her husband and sons again. She was never free from her aching heart. I listened and tried to give comfort, but how do you comfort a heart that has been broken for so many years.The store had begun to get very busy, and Mary quickly left with just a nod of her head.

She had gone home and went into her bedroom. She turned on the small gas heater, blew out the small flame, closed the door and layed down on the bed. She believed she would soon be with her loving family. She had quickly began to drift into sleep. The last thing she remembered was seeing a beautiful angel at her window. She had wondered if she came to take her to her husband and sons. ..She hoped God wouldn't be angry with her for what she was doing..

Mary saw her husband and sons standing in the brilliant light of Angel Wings. The wings spread wide to engulf the three of them. The sons were no longer children, but she immediately knew they were her sons. They were radiant with love and happiness. What a wonderful feeling swept over her seeing this, and knowing they were so very happy.

The bitter chill of the room brought Mary back. The gas that was filling the room was fast escaping through the broken window. A baseball was laying on the floor next to her bed.... The bed that might have been her death bed.... She jumped from the bed and gave a prayerful thanks to her Guardian Angel that she knew was at her window calling her back to finish her precious life on earth.

There was no way a small boy could have slammed that ball that distance without her Guardian Angel's Intervention. She knew this for certain.

Mary now enjoys, and loves life to it's fullest. After relating the story to me, she lighted up my small store with her smile, and zest for life. She knows she will one day see her family again, When the LORD CALLS HER HOME....."No God isn't angry with you" I assured her...."He's Loving and Forgiving."

Submitted by: Name Withheld
Background by: Nancy