Guardian Angels

I don’t remember when it started, but my family has had this tradition for a very L-O-N-G time…

When we are leaving for a vacation by car—or when a family member is leaving to head back home—we pick a perfect rosebud and place it on the dashboard of the car for good luck and safety on the road.

All around the country…wherever little branches of our family are…this is what we do.

In the early morning of the day we left for our trip to my parents’ house in June, I picked one such rose—slightly opened, and extremely fragrant—to see us safely on our way (along with a heavy dose of  prayer, of course!)

We’ll leave the rose on the dashboard for a while…

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{The sweet angelic image for my card can be found on Crafty Secrets’ “Little Blessings” Creative Scraps.  The beautiful printed paper is from their new “Creating with Vintage Patterns” CD}

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Just a few days after our arrival in Utah, we headed south for northern Arizona—a big family reunion to attend…

We stopped along the way for a break near the little town of Beaver.  Nothing very remarkable about Beaver, except for the fact that in that little place is a spot I’ve always wanted to visit…

My fourth great-grandmother, Louisa lived a great part of her later life in this little town…it was here that her granddaughter (pictured above with her), my 2nd great-grandmother, Ida, would come to spend time with her…

…and it was here that she passed away and is buried.

{Louisa Barnes Pratt, 1850’s}

Louisa is very special to me.  She inspires me.  The words she left for me in her journal come into my mind when I need them most.  She has helped me get through some pretty tough times…and I expect she always will…

She was a woman with a great sense of humor…a woman of great faith…a woman of great courage…a woman of great wisdom…and I love her.

To me, she has always been one of my guardian angels.  No wings…no harp…just a loving guardian of those she has reason to be concerned for…her family.

 

Being the only cemetery in the town, we knew we would find her here…

As soon as we parked the car, I picked a direction and headed out into the grassy plots…and walked right to her grave.

This is not her original headstone…we were to find later that weekend that the original had been badly broken and had been replaced some time ago…

We sat on the ground around her…told her we loved her….I told our girls some of my favorite stories about her…and then it was time to go……………..

As the others walked away, I needed just another minute or two with Louisa by myself…

Shoes removed, I wanted to feel just a little bit  closer to this amazing woman…

 

As I headed back toward the car, I regretted not having any flowers to leave on this too-long neglected grave…

…and then I remembered….

I ran to the car, took the perfectly dried rose from our home off of the dashboard, and ran back to Louisa…

…a humble offering, to be sure…but one from home.  One given with love.

During the rest of our trip, I often looked at the place where our travel rose always rested, now left bare...

I like to think that I traded the rose for something much better…our very own, very watchful, very loving guardian angel…

Julie

LiveJournal Tags: Guardian Angels,Crafty Secrets,Louisa Barnes Pratt