Читать книгу An Angel Called My Name: Incredible true stories from the other side - Theresa Cheung, Theresa Cheung - Страница 14

My sadness was drowning me. I felt that my life was useless. My wife had died suddenly. I could not accept that she had gone. Why did she have to go now when we had retired early to enjoy life?

A week after my wife died our dog, Poppy, stopped eating. She got so weak I had to have her put to sleep. Two losses within a month! I lost a stone. I wasn’t eating. Food didn’t interest me. Life didn’t interest me.

My brother and sister-in-law called round every day to invite me for coffee or to go shopping. Friends phoned and letters and cards dropped through the letterbox but wherever I went it was always the same – I was alone. A year passed like this and then the ‘signs’ started.

One night my sister came for dinner. She suggested visiting the dogs’ home the following day to choose a new dog. She told me that taking care of the dog and getting lots of fresh air walking it would do me the world of good. I told her in no uncertain terms that I wasn’t ready for a dog. I wasn’t ready for anything. I asked her to leave. No sooner had she shut the door behind her than the light bulb blew in the hall. I didn’t think anything of it but then I went into the kitchen and another light bulb blew. I looked at my watch. It was just after 7 pm so I decided to get some new bulbs in the morning.

I slumped on the sofa to while away the hours watching television. I must have nodded off briefly because I woke with a start. The TV wasn’t on. I tried fiddling with it but it wouldn’t work. Then all of a sudden I heard a noise coming from upstairs. I rushed up into my bedroom and saw that my wife’s jewellery box was open. The little ballerina inside was twirling around to its Swan Lake tune. I had given it to my wife as a first anniversary present. It had stopped playing many years ago, although my wife had tried it many times.

I went back downstairs and as I stood in the hall, I felt a cool breeze go by me. Then I was hit by the strong aroma of coffee I used to smell every morning when my wife was up making breakfast and toast. I knew then that my wife had come to help me. On the floor was the note my sister had left with the phone number of the dogs’ home. My wife wanted me to love something again.

Elated, I rang my sister saying I had changed my mind and I did think a dog was a good idea. She was delighted but sounded a little disorientated. I asked her what was wrong and she asked me if I knew what time it was. I glanced at the clock on my mantelpiece and it said 7 pm. My sister told me that my clocks must be wrong because it was actually 11 pm. I looked at my wrist watch and it also said 7 pm, exactly the time my sister left that evening.

The next morning I did go to the dogs’ home and I chose a beautiful little puppy. Taking care of and training a new dog was exactly the tonic I needed. I know my wife is still with me, especially in the mornings when I wake up and smell the aroma of coffee coming from the kitchen downstairs, even though I actually drink tea instead of coffee. My wife was the coffee pot every morning, not me. My new dog recognizes the smell. He will often get up on all fours and begin sniffing around in the kitchen, raising his head up and sniffing the air. I’m so glad he can smell it too.

I’m aware that so far the stories in this chapter have been rather serious but it is important to point out that angels have a whimsical sense of humour. I often feel them smiling or laughing with me – especially when daft things happen, like the time I bought a brand new trendy leather jacket and trousers to impress an editor I was going to work with. When I turned up at her office the doorman told me that I should leave my delivery around the back! Angels don’t always take themselves seriously and sometimes they try to encourage us to do the same by communicating their love through humour, as Sarah’s delightful story shows.