An Angel in My Corner

On the day of Aubrey's blessing, I literally took a hundred pictures of her. She was sparkling in her little white gown that was sewn by my sister and worn by each of my daughters.  My dad vacuumed around me as I stood high up on a chair to get a better angle of her on her special day.

My 3-year-old Matthew wanted to hold her for a picture and it was finally his turn.  I set her on his lap in the rocking chair and stood back to take the picture.  I checked my screen to make sure I got a good one and when I looked back up, my tiny, two-week-old baby was hanging upside down with her head inches from the ground.

I swooped forward to scoop her up before any further damage could occur and then I banished the incident from my mind.  I didn't even tell my parents because I was too embarrassed to admit I'd been so careless.

It wasn't until the next day when I took Matthew on a walk that I asked him about what happened.  "Matthew, do you remember yesterday when Aubrey fell off the rocking chair?"  He remembered.  "You mean when she was hanging upside down, like this?" He tipped his head upside-down to demonstrate.  I nodded.  "Were you holding her dress so she wouldn't fall?" I asked him.  There must be some explanation as to why she didn't fall all the way to the ground.  He shrugged and said no, he wasn't holding her dress.  Looking back, I would have been surprised if he had..... It is slippery material and he hadn't developed quick enough reflexes to grab it in time.

As I replayed the moment in my mind, all I could see was a baby hovering, just an inch or so from the wooden runner of the rocking chair.  I wondered if her dress was maybe tucked underneath Matthew's legs, anchoring her to the chair, but in the picture of her sitting on his lap I could see it was not.  In my haste to save her, I didn't notice anything unusual, but now I know some special angel was watching out for her that day, holding her for just those few seconds and keeping her perfect little head safe from harm.

Try as I might, I can't think of any other explanation, and I'm not sure I'd want to.  With this many children to raise, I could definitely use an angel or two in my corner.