Journey of angels

Making lemonade out of lemons is a skill I claim to have. Yet occasionally I do nothing and the universe simply conspires to make the best of an undesirable situation by sending angels into my life.

Sometimes they are stranger angels—and there is always an abundance of those.

But today I want to tell you about a few angels in human form who showed up to make getting yet another PET-CT scan done a wonderful adventure.

In my last post, I informed that the BC Cancer Agency scheduled me to have a PET-CT scan in another city involving a couple of hours of driving and an hour-plus ferry ride. On public transit, it could have been a long, arduous commute from Vancouver to Victoria and back. But it wasn’t.

On the Monday before the Thursday schedule, I met in person another passionate business coach I had met online some months earlier and with whom I had instantly hit it off. It’s uncanny how much history and personality characteristics we have in common.

There are people you meet that you get to know, and then there are people you meet that you already know.

Colleen Hoover

Towards the end of our stimulating afternoon of eating, walking, and sharing life stories, I mentioned having to go to Victoria and, by a stroke of good fortune for me (and synchronicity?), Paulette had planned to take the same ferry to go visit family and explore Vancouver Island. And this angel graciously offered to have me accompany her.

You see, Paulette is on a mega-90-day cross-continent road trip from Wisconsin, and in her Facebook group INSPIRE-ment Journey with Paulette, she will soon teach other solopreneurs to Ditch Your Desk and Travel. It’s her beta masterclass at no cost, so I invite you to jump in before it starts on December 10^th if you’ve ever considered building a business while traveling. I digress, but check it out!

Two days later, Paulette came at noon to pick me up in her comfortable car. We arrived at the port in the nick of time to get on the 1 pm sailing, two hours before we thought we would. The natural light with the sun streaming through clouds in that heavenly way gave us a spectacular ferry ride through the Southern Gulf Islands.

As we arrive in the city a couple of hours before our separate evening dates, we went to Victoria Harbour and poked around the iconic Empress Hotel. All good fun in marvelous company.

Be present in all things and thankful for all things.

Maya Angelou

My cousin Anna-Marie is another angel in human form. She not only hosted me for the night, but prepared for me a yummy dinner even though she couldn’t dine with me, having a previous engagement for the evening. She loaded me with a water bottle and power bars to eat after the scan.

The third angel is her younger sister, Bernadette, who walked 40 minutes to come to share a meal and soulful personal stories with me.

So very much to be grateful for!

The next morning, I was pondering how I’d get from my cousin’s place to the BC Cancer Agency when Paulette called to invite me for a quick nature walk. Oh yes, yes, yes! She drove us to Goldstream Provincial Park, and we forest bathed for about 40 minutes.

Then she drove me to the agency.

The PET-CT scan was, as expected, uneventful, just as it should be. Since I described the process after my scan this past January, I won’t repeat it now; it was substantially the same.

As in Manila, everyone here was polite, efficient, and professional. I particularly appreciated the warm blanket the nurse placed on me as I waited the 45 minutes for the low level radionuclides to circulate in my bloodstream. I was out of there within two hours.

Paulette came to fetch me and she drove me all the way to the port—and through the pissing rain, I’ll add—for me to get on the ferry back to Vancouver. In my books, that is pure love.

Love is a practical desire for the good of another. It is much easier to talk about than to carry into action because it requires such sensitivity and unselfishness.

Sister Wendy Beckett

The love of my life was there to pick me up when I disembarked from the ferry. It was dark and raining, a lousy time to be driving, yet there he was. When we got home, he prepared us a comfort food dinner.

So you see, the universe has my back. My cup of gratitude flows over. For what I’ve described here today and much, much more.

Now I wait to hear the results of all these diagnostic tests.

Have you ever experienced unexpected support or kindness during challenging times? Please share (in the comments) your own tales of everyday angels.

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