When I was eight years old, I secretly went into a swimming pool at a summer camp and hid in the bathhouse.  I was on the run because of the Nazi persecution during the Hitler era; and I feared that the men who were supposed to be protecting me were turning on me as well.  You can understand that I was extremely scared.

One morning, I was sitting on the gate of the swimming area, really feeling the scare, when suddenly I realized an angel was taking a seat beside me.  I knew he was an angel because he was present and not present at the same time. He had what you might call a half-presence.

For a long time, we just sat in silence, side by side.  Finally the angel said, “Look, you may not understand why all this is going on. You may have fear and doubt.  However, whenever doubt strikes you in life, check the power.  Just go to a swimming pool and watch them wave you in.” 

I was eight. I didn’t understand what the angel’s promise meant or how it would help me.  I felt so powerless that getting a free pass to any swimming pool forever didn’t mean much.  All the angel got out of me was a shrug and a jerk as I kept kicking the gate.  Finally he just faded away, and soon I wasn’t sure that an angel really had come to be with me or whether I had a waking dream.

(Read the rest of this story to discover the amazing ending.)