Do You Believe In Guardian Angels?

Eric Yeung

Have you ever believed in the faith that certain things happen for a reason?  Events will occur for the reason of preventing something else from happening.  Perhaps, by faith of a guardian angel watching over us and having an influence on the decisions we make that could play a pivotal point in our lives.  It was never something I thought much of until a rainy Monday night back in November of 2000. 
 
On the weekend of November 10th, I had driven to Santa Barbara for the wedding of a friend.   I left after work the previous night.  The Saturday after the wedding, I would take a drive further South to meet some other friends who were flying into Orange County.  We would spend the entire weekend throughout Southern California in Anaheim, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Monterey Park, Ontario, and Pasadena.  Needless to say, little sleep was had that entire weekend.   With less than three hours worth of sleep, we departed for the Bay Area late Sunday evening after dinner with other friends.  After driving through the night with one stop at lovely Denny's, we arrived in the San Jose area after sunrise.   I drove straight into work and started the long work day after one short nap.  Unfortunately, I had too many face to face commitments that day, otherwise I would have made it a telecommute day from the comfort of my bed with a laptop beside me.  
 
At the end of my Monday in the office, I went to my Jeep Cherokee and discovered that the battery was drained.   It wasn't completely dead, but clearly it did not have enough juice for just the internal lights and instruments to stay on.   At that point of the day, I was extremely tired and the weather was pouring rain.  I decided I just didn't have the energy to jumpstart my car during a heavy rainstorm.  Fortunately, a good friend and co-worker, Kristen was kind enough to go out of her way and drive me home that evening.  The effort was certainly appreciated considering she would drive me home to San Francisco only to turn around and drive back to San Jose.  During the ride home on US 101, I was fighting to stay awake.   Anyone who has ever deprived themselves of sleep should be familiar with the feeling of trying to keep their eyes open and staying focused on what is in front of them.  I remember seeing things on the road that wasn't there believing objects were in the path of the car.  The mind sees strange things when there is a lack of sleep.   I remember being in mid-conversation with Kristen when I dozed off in the middle of saying something and in turn, I started talking in my sleep.  I oddly finished my sentence saying something to the extent of "don't stab me," as I dozed off into the sleep deprived state of mind.   Later that night, I couldn't help but think what if I had driven home myself that evening in the rain.  I would have likely been in the same condition and would not have been in a clear state of consciousness behind the wheel. 
 
The next morning, I drove to work with one of my other cars intending to jumpstart the Jeep.  When I opened the driver side door, all lights were on.  Without any problems, I was able to turn the ignition key and start the engine.   I did not have to jumpstart the Jeep.   I drove the car home and it didn't have any trouble restarting.   So why did the battery go out on me the night before?   I thought perhaps I bumped the headlight switch.   But it was on the off position.   Maybe I listened to the radio too long while taking my early morning nap before starting the work day.   But would 15 minutes of listening to the radio after driving the car for 6 hours kill a battery?   Surely, the alternator would have kept the battery charged.  Or could this have been the work of outside forces preventing me from getting behind the wheel? 
 
So again, I pose the question.  Do you believe in Guardian Angels?   I can't prove that it was the work of a higher power keeping me from getting behind the wheel that night.    All I know is I was most likely better off for not driving home that Monday evening.  Sometimes you should just surrender to the belief that things can keep happening to prevent something else from happening.