Interview/Overview/Context:

Interviewer: “I remember you mentioning a crazy story from when you were young. You were in the car with your mom.”

Informant: “Yes! I think I was about seven or eight. We were in Florida, where a lot of our relatives live.”

Interviewer: “So you were in the car, where were you driving?”

Informant: “We were coming home from a family party, actually. It was really late and we were driving back to our hotel. We were so tired at that point. I fell asleep on the ride home, and the crazy part is that my mom swears she fell asleep, too. When she woke up, I was still asleep in the car, and our car was parked at our hotel.”

Interviewer: “Woah, that’s so freaky. What does your mom think about it?”

Informant: “My mom always says that it was a guardian angel that brought us home. We were with so much family that night, I think it was my grandma looking over us. I don’t know, I find it very comforting.”

Thoughts

I’ve heard of a lot about belief in “guardian angel” presences. Throughout my childhood, people would say that their deceased relatives watched over them and protected them, and when something crazy would happen, they would cite their savior as their guardian angel. Oftentimes, these people were religious. As a non-religious person, I wonder how many other non-religious people also believe in guardian angels.