Tammy Sikorcin of Marengo said something supernatural saved her and her infant daughter as she spun out in bad weather during rush-hour traffic in Chicago.
"I did a complete turn-around," said Sikorcin, who was driving on Grand Avenue. "Just at that moment I turned around, there happened to be no traffic. There's always traffic on that road."
Sikorcin said her daughter's side of the vehicle would have been smashed.
"There was some type of force that day," she said.
To residents of all ages and spiritual backgrounds in the region and across the country, guardian angels are real. According to a recent Gallup Poll, 78 percent of Americans said they believe that guardian angels exist.
Joan Wester Anderson of Prospect Heights wrote a series of seven books on the topic and recently wrote "In the Arms of Angels," in which she tells others' tales of angelic encounters. She said she gets about 20 letters a week from people across the U.S. who believe that guardian angels saved their lives.
"The word 'angel' in Hebrew and Greek means 'messenger,'" Anderson said. "That really has been their function, is to act as a liaison between Heaven and Earth."
John Kulpin owner of Angel Kisses, a Christian book and keepsake store called in St. Charles, said he has heard countless stories from customers who say they have had encounters with their guardian angel.
"It's just a feeling that you have," he said, "that somehow, some way, somebody was there.
Kulpin was working behind the counter of Angel Kisses in St. Charles when a boy's outburst caught his attention.
"He said, 'Look! Look over there! Look at the angels!'" Said Kulpin, who along with the boy's father saw nothing where the boy pointed. "He said, 'The one on this side is pink and the one on that side is blue!'"
Confused, the boy's father nodded at the child and continued shopping.
Moments later, Kulpin said, an elderly woman entered the store.
"She looked over at the family and said, 'Oh my God, look at that!'" Kulpin said. "'There's a pink angel next to the child and there's a blue angel on the other side.'"
Other residents believe that deceased relatives protect them. Lisa Miles of Lake in the Hills lost her father in 1993 but still feels his presence.
"I've always felt that he's watching over me and my kids," Miles said. "It's just weird stuff. I'll be thinking of a song we both liked. All of a sudden that song will come on."
Not everyone believes that near-misses or coincidences verify the existence of angels. For each time that a person credits a guardian angel for helping them dodge disaster, critics say, another person is not so lucky.
Anderson said guardian angels do not abandon people in times of death and disease.
"The angel was right there," she said. "We see this tragedy through our earthly eyes. A lot of times, tragedy is part of a plan to build something better out of it."
The desire for something better drives many who believe in guardian angels.
"Otherwise, what is there?" Miles said. "What's left?"
Source: http://www.nwherald.com/MainSection/290830732408645.php
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