Carolyn Whiley
Is the Best Little Sister
I Could Have

“God works in mysterious ways.”

 

That is what Carolyn Whiley, head cashier in room service at the Mark Hopkins Hotel, said to me years ago after I told her that Barbara had passed away.

 

“Can I meet with you?” I asked Carolyn, whom I did not believe I had ever met before in this lifetime.

 

Of course, I may indeed have met Carolyn before.

 

It is more than possible that Carolyn and I, like Barbara and I, and like so many of the other angels in my life, have met before in this lifetime and in previous ones.

 

I do believe in reincarnation and that the soul is eternal.  

 

And so when I met Carolyn face to face for what I believe was the first time, my angelic sister shone with light and truth.  I believe that what Barbara said of our first meeting was true of Carolyn, too.

 

Carolyn may have “recognized” me, the very word that Barbara used to describe our first encounter in this lifetime.

 

And that is because Carolyn is not only my sister; she, like Barbara, is an angel of God.

 

Carolyn and I met in the lobby of the Mark Hopkins, where we talked about Barbara, who knew Carolyn and who had talked to her on many occasions over the years at the hotel.

 

Carolyn said to me, “Don’t you realize how lucky you are, that you got to be with an older woman, with all that love, with all that wisdom?”

 

I told Carolyn that yes, of course, I knew how lucky I was.

 

What I did not know was that Carolyn and her family would end up rescuing me, under the Lord.  

 

Carolyn refers to herself as my little sister and characterizes me as her big brother.

 

In fact, it is Carolyn, who is the mature one, the older one, the one on whom I have depended in this lifetime.

 

Carolyn would bring me to her home in late 2021 when I was in danger of being harmed, and she would introduce me to a team of angels in her house, Shannon, her brilliant sister, a Renaissance woman; Joe, her brother, gifted in the Bible and pugilism among other areas; Mama, Lucille, the matriarch of the family, and the highest of the angels; Bryan, Carolyn’s wonderful son, one of the kindest and warmest people I know; and our menagerie of cuties, Grace, our longtime cat, a rascal; little Jacob, our little puppy, who is also a little rascal; and Pepper, like Grace, another wonderful, rascally cat.

 

It would be too extreme to say that Carolyn is my savior.  She is my little sister or big sister, who has done so much for me, in introducing me to the way, the truth and the life, the teachings and practices of Jesus.

 

I have changed over the past few years, and for the better.  

 

I know that I am a sinner.  But I have atoned, and I continue to atone, to repent and thank Jesus, thank God, every day.

 

Jesus is my personal Savior, and I am grateful to Carolyn and her family for bringing Jesus, for bringing God, the Almighty, the heavenly Father, into my life.

 

I am grateful to God for everything, whether I am listening to Gospel music or Bob Dylan, whether I am washing pots or reading, talking to friends or playing touch football or going bowling, as Carolyn and Shannon and Bryan and Bryan’s friend, Shayla, and I did on my birthday last year.

 

I am nothing without love, I am nothing without God.

 

God is love, as Barbara always said.

 

And God IS, as Carolyn and Mama, Lucille, always say.

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I thank Carolyn for everything that she has done for me, under the Lord.

 

And for as long as I live, I will do my best to honor the way, the truth and the life.

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You have all the feathers of glory of the greatest angels, and you wing through the ether to the top.

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God bless you, sweet Carolyn, in Jesus' name.

 

Amen.