The make shift Chiropractic office on the reservation was packed beyond belief. There were over 1,000 people at a huge rivalry basketball game between the two local high school teams, Poplar and Wolf Point, as hundreds of people continued to stream in and receive their adjustments. Some of the people had never experienced Chiropractic adjustments before and were apprehensive to the point of being scared. You would see many of these scared people peering into the clinic as they were being persuaded to receive adjustments by their friends.
Along comes a woman who was being steered into the room by another woman. I could see out of the corner of my eye that there was a problem brewing. It looked like this woman was trying to get away. When I went out of the clinic to the hallway, the woman who was doing the steering blurted out “This is the woman I was telling you about.” She has opened up her home to 14 boys who fell through the cracks of the foster/social services net and were homeless. I suddenly found myself face to face with an angel.
This courageous woman’s name is Rose. She easily blended in with all of the people around her. Nothing pointed out that there was an angel in our midst. She had tears in her eyes and appeared to be embarrassed to be pointed out to me. Calling attention to herself was not her style. She had heard about me and LHNC and was told we were going to provide her with lots of gifts, toys, coats, hats, gloves, boots, money and food to help her.
All she could talk about was the work that LHNC does for the children on the Fort Peck Reservation. All I could talk about was the amazing love she demonstrated to these kids by opening up her house. I suggested that she be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and she just kept crying tears of joy. I told her 'it's people like you that do much of the work that needs to be done on a day to day basis.' She wanted no recognition, no attention; she was so humble, so selfless. She was a jewel to behold to the world.
When I hugged her, the tears in her eyes were all over my flannel shirt. Due to the color of my shirt, the tears displayed a contrast and it looked like someone spilled water on my shirt. Something mysterious happened as the tears didn’t dry up. I kept looking at the ‘stain’ and after a few hours it dried somewhat, but there was still a distinct discoloration to my shirt: the tears of an angel.
In the most adverse circumstances of humanity, we see shining examples of people who, despite their circumstances, aid and comfort others. In times of darkness these angels seem to mysteriously appear. People will even put themselves in harm's way, up to and including death, such as the hiding of Anne Frank or the Underground Railroad helping slaves in the US.
When you hug an angel, time seems to stop or at least slow down. Your whole perception changes and you begin to see less impossible and more possible. This woman opened up her house and her heart to these children. Could there be a Nobel Peace Prize coming to Fort Peck? Stay tuned!