“I told the pastor that I didn’t expect anyone to come to the boonies for me.”“Nonsense.”I grinned,positioning snacks and drinks by his bed.Beneath his gruff exterior,Bill was sweet as candy.His heart medication had to be taken every day,and living on a modest income without any surviving family members,he needed as much help as possible.“Well,look what your stubbornness brought you.”he said,pointing to the snow-covered road outside the window.His fingers clasped my hand.“Stay here,Karen.I want you safe.”I kissed the top of his head but decided to brave the road conditions.It would be worse later,I reasoned.“I’ll be okay.”I told him,remembering my sweet daughter’s words before I left.Thoughts of Abigail made me more determined to get home.I missed her already.I got into my Volkswagen and gradually tried making it down the steep hill.Remembering old instructions about driving in the snow,I kept the compact car in second gear.The wind increased,creating waves of blinding white.
As I squinted through the windshield,holding my breath,I screamed and jerked the wheel,narrowly missing the deer that stood frozen by my headlights. The Volkswagen hit the embankment,plummeted off the side of the road,and skidded to the bottom of a ravine below.When the rolling motion finally stopped,I opened my eyes and realized that I had been unconscious for some time.Night had arrived—and with it the forecasted accumulation of snow.Panicking,I tried opening the door,but it wouldn’t budge against the resisting snow.Sliding over to the passenger’s door,I realized that the door had been jammed shut by a tree.I turned the key to start the engine,but the battery was dead.
My hopes of rolling down the power windows to crawl out vanished.Without heat and adequate clothing,I curled up on the back seat and waited for help.The frigid air enveloped me.Shivering,I chastised myself for not preparing for a circumstance like this.My toes and fingers were already numb.An eternity seemed to pass,and as I listened to the wind and snow hitting against the car,I prayed for my family,who would be sick with worry by now.Abigail would probably be drawing pictures for me when I arrived home.Since she’d been old enough to hold a crayon,she’d drawn pictures to brighten the days of her loved ones.To calm my growing concern about my safety,I closed my eyes and concentrated on pleasant thoughts.
Drifting into sleep,I saw Abigail.Abigail in the warm sunlight,laughing as she held out a beautiful white dove to me.The dove’s graceful,serene presence and the love shining in my daughter’s eyes filled me with peace.The night grew colder,and as I floated in and out of consciousness,I fixed my mind on the image of Abigail and her dove.Together,they kept me company throughout the night.Hours later,as the first rays of daybreak appeared,I heard tapping on my window.Relieved to see an emergency rescue team,my stiff lips tried to smile as they hoisted me onto a stretcher and into an ambulance.At the hospital,I was treated for mild frostbite and a head wound before being told I’d have to stay overnight for observation.Anxious to see my family,I propped myself up on the bed pillows and waited impatiently.Before long,the door opened and my mother burst into the room.
“We were so worried about you!”she cried,rushing over to hug me.“I knew you were in trouble!Mothers sense these kinds of things.”Her maternal instincts surfaced as she appraised the food tray nearby.“Your tea is cold!I’ll be right back.”Seizing the opportunity to have me all to herself,Abigail climbed onto the bed and buried her face in my neck.I scooped her closer.“I’ve missed you so much.”I murmured softly,brushing a silky strand of hair from her face.“And what have you been doing while I’ve been away?”“Oh,I forgot!”she exclaimed,jumping out of my arms to grab a large tube of construction paper nearby.“I drew this for you last night when we didn’t know where you were.
I thought you might have been scared,and I wanted you to feel better.”As if it were a treasure map,I unrolled it and oohed and aahed over the images.“Well,that’s our car.”I said,pointing to the red square.“And that’s me.”I laughed,touching my fingertips to a stick person with long hair.“But what am I holding?”Abigail’s eyes brightened as she pushed her fingertip to the small object on the paper.“That’s God’s spirit.”she said excitedly.“I drew it as a dove like I saw in Sunday school.”She pressed her soft lips against my cheek and added,“I didn’t want you to be alone,Mama,and so I gave you the best friend I could think of.”“Oh,darling,”I exclaimed,recalling the white dove that had given me comfort in the darkest of nights.“Your dove was with me.”Taking her hand,I marveled at the heavenly bond between mothers and daughters.“And what are you two looking at?”my mother interrupted,placing a steaming cup of tea on the nightstand.She started to move away,but I grabbed her hand and brought it between Abigail’s and mine.It was a remarkable feeling,this incredible connection of three generations.“We’re looking at the love that flows between us.”I whispered,kissing the top of my daughter’s head as I met my mother’s understanding eyes.Returning my gaze to Abigail’s picture,I studied the beautiful bird that had,on such a dismal night,connected my daughter’s heart with mine.Years later,that extraordinary event in our mother-daughter relationship became known as the“miracle”.The miracle of Abigail’s dove.