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...one pearl of great price...
“There she is!” I cry with relief. A tiny, one-inch long, angel of filigree gold is nestled between the front seats of my
Focus. She must have escaped my T-shirt as I fastened the seat belt across my jacket. A fetish, a superstition or a remembrance:
it doesn’t matter. The little angel with the gold halo has carried me through some difficult days of struggle.
Lost. Lost. I can become disoriented in our small woods if I forget to keep the farm buildings on my left. City freeways;
cobblestone alleyways in German Village; unexpected one-way signs at crossings; buildings, once landmarks, now razed and left-lane
markings, faded by heavy traffic, can all be confusing.
A stay at Dodd Hall, lost among the patients fighting depression and anxiety, some enduring severe treatments, some hanging
in there for the next round of medications, some at a distance from friends and colleagues and all separated from family members
by a glass-windowed, locked door. Lost so many ways; lost in the crowd, tossed about at sea, snuffed out by war.
To be lost emotionally is not a new concept. Many of the biblical stories confront the issue of lost; the lost coin, the lost
sheep, the lost prodigal son and the lost hope.
During one trying life period I said to my son, “You know, Joe, what I need is a guardian angel.” Voila! He sent her to me.
She’s worn on some piece of my clothing every day. I know that, as an icon, she is not the reason for my being found. Found
by those I hardly know in shops, in schools, in homes of Meals-On-Wheels recipients, in church and prayer groups, in the natural
changing of the seasons and in old friends who have staunchly stood by. Found by the shepherd; returned to the fold.
The road to being found is often a very long and lonely one; a waiting period, waiting for the healing powers to show us the
waiting helpers available to us. The wisdom that is found on the journey is the “one pearl of great price.” My tiny gold angel
rides with me each day just to remind me–I’m FOUND.
Ann M. Hymrod Vick ’68 | Education
Irwin, Ohio
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