Oh DEER!

Oh Deer

There must be a legion of guardian angels watching over me. And that’s not just my opinion – stand in line!  Though I grew up in Michigan and found driving around pre-struck deer to be common, it had never happened to me . . . until now.

It felt like we were in a virtual arcade ride. Picture us cruising along in the dark when a deer suddenly appears at my right fender. It is a large doe. My friend Marge is in the passenger seat crying out to God for protection. I slam on the brakes, but of course there is no time to stop what we both know is going to happen. 

It did happen, but we didn’t feel it. Instead we both felt a sudden and immediate calming, like a loving parent’s gentle presence.  The deer hit the right side of the car. It also bounced up and over the top of the hood – her big brown eyes staring into mine as though she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. I was just struggling to maneuver the car off the left side of the road, where we’d landed, still headed in the same direction. A big black pickup truck swung around and pulled up facing us.  The friendly headlights met those of my car, miraculously still shining, and I climbed out to greet the Good Samaritan.

“Wow,” he said, “I saw that”.  He pointed to the deer in the ditch.  Promising to haul the animal carcass to a meat plant that processed the large road-kill and delivered it to a woman’s shelter, he examined my car.  “I don’t believe it,” he said, astonished. 

            “Don’t believe what?” I wondered. 

“Headlights on, no smoke, nothing leaking, and the car is still running,” he enumerated. “Any injuries from the air bags?” he asked, as he looked us over. Naively I shrugged my shoulders.

            “I feel ok.  How are you, Marge?” I queried.

 “Didn’t feel a thing,” she agreed and confirmed that neither air bag deployed.  Mystified, the Samaritan shook his head and suggested I call the insurance company while he made a call of his own.

            “The insurance lady repeatedly asked us to confirm that we were not thrown forward or sideways on impact.  After describing every moment in detail several times, she seemed to believe us, and said, “I hope you realize this is not normal.  It’s like someone or something was in the car with you.”  Before I hung up and turned back to the kind fellow, she’d repeated the ‘not normal’ assurance a number of times.

            The car was still drivable and the young man who stopped followed us the last three miles to our destination.  He shared how a friend of his had died just a week prior, in a similar accident. Soberly we shared our story with family – how Marge cried out for God’s help and protection and we both felt like we were sitting on a sofa watching the outside on television. Though we heard, and saw the deer hitting the car three times, we felt nothing.  My brother recalled an incident when I was 16 and turned too fast on a gravel road, tipping the car onto a sandy berm and then back down to the road. I remembered. I also realized what was different. That time we felt the car bump the dirt pile and then jolt back to the ground. It was several minutes before I and my passengers were able to stop shaking and get out of the cara.   This was totally different.  The only thing we felt was a very calm peace. My sister-in-law glanced at my brother and back at us, shaking her head, her eyes resting on her display of angels nearby. 

            “I think there were three of you in that car,” she concluded.

            She was not alone.  The Good Samaritan who didn’t want to leave his name said it was as though a giant hand gently slid our car from the right of the road to the left, while the deer bounced over it. The insurance, the repair man, the car rental agency staff, the police, all were shocked at the damage of the car and the seeming impossibility for us to not feel the impact or have any after effects. Over the next few days they asked for our stories over and over again, confirming that we were not drinking and still felt no soreness or stiffness. 

            I’ve bumped a few small things since then, and each time I’ve noted how my body is rocked forward and back with the movement of the car. It’s perfectly natural and expected—everything an angel visit isn’t.

Have you had an angel visit?