The Angels Who Leave Their Wings With You
Some people enter our lives and change us forever. Sometimes we don't fully understand what they gave us until years later.
People often ask me how I came up with the name Angel of Hearts. The answer isn't particularly complicated. But the story behind it has taken me a lifetime to understand. I have always believed in guardian angels. Not necessarily the kind depicted in paintings, with flowing robes and enormous white wings. My angels were real people. They had personalities, imperfections, opinions, and, in one particular case, a wonderfully wicked sense of humor. They were the people who made me feel safe, accepted, protected, and loved.
My father was my first angel. He was a quiet man of extraordinary character. At eighteen, he married my mother, worked nights in a factory, put himself through college, graduated with honors, and helped raise four children born within four years. He went on to become a respected engineer at IBM. He wasn't a man of grand speeches or elaborate displays of emotion. He simply showed up, always. When I was sixteen, a driver ran a red light and struck my car head-on. My car spun out of control and came to rest facing the wrong direction on a four-lane road. My friends and I were unhurt, but badly shaken. My father arrived, dealt with the police and the tow truck, and then handed me the keys to his car. He told me to drive home. He knew that if I surrendered to the fear in that moment, I might never find the courage to drive again. He didn't tell me to be brave. He gave me the opportunity to be brave. That was my father. He protected me, but he also taught me how to stand on my own. He taught me that even in the face of hardship, you just keep going.
Then there was my maternal grandmother. We called her Weird Marie. And believe me, she earned that name. She was funny, unpredictable, fiercely independent, and blessed with a wonderfully wry sense of humor. She could make me laugh when there wasn't much in my world worth laughing about. More importantly, she was my refuge. When life became difficult, she was the person I wanted to be with. She defended me, accepted me, and loved me without conditions. She didn't leave me a fortune or a collection of expensive possessions. She left me memories, laughter, independence, and the knowledge that I deserved to be loved exactly as I was. Today, I still love telling stories about her, still laughing at her antics, and still carrying that fierce independence she taught her. That's quite a legacy for a woman called Weird Marie.
And then there was Dawson. He came into my life when I was a young mother, bringing a kind of love that was generous, joyful, and completely unexpected. He saw possibilities in me that I had not yet learned to see in myself. He embraced not only me but my young daughter, too. His life ended far too soon. But the love he gave me did not end with his death. Dawson gave me something I have carried for more than forty years: the knowledge of what it feels like to be loved wholeheartedly. He made me fee heard, understood, trusted.
Three very different people. A quiet father. A wonderfully eccentric grandmother. A young man with an enormous heart. What did they have in common? They made me feel that I mattered. They gave me acceptance, validation, the certainty that someone was in my corner. And eventually, without fully realizing it, I built a business around those very same principles.
When I founded Angel of Hearts Weddings and Events in 2003, I wanted my clients to feel as though they had an angel on their shoulder. Someone who would look after them. Someone who would listen, anticipate problems, protect their interests, and help them feel confident enough to enjoy the most important moments of their lives. Yes, event planning requires organization, experience, judgment, and attention to detail. But to me, it has always required something more, CARE.. The kind of care that tells another person, You matter. You are heard. You are not facing this alone. I am here and I hear you. I see you.
As I've grown older, I've come to understand that the greatest gifts we receive from the people who love us aren't always things we can hold in our hands. Sometimes they're the strength to face another frightening day. The independence to keep moving forward. The ability to laugh when life becomes absurd. Or the quiet assurance that we are worthy of love. My angels are no longer here to stand beside me. But the things they gave me are still very much alive. And perhaps that is what guardian angels really do. They leave us with something that continues to protect us long after they're gone. That is what Angel of Hearts Weddings and Events was born to do.
Some people leave footprints on our lives. My angels left their wings.
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