Like most people, when I awake in the morning, I remember little of my dreams of the night before; much less recall them in detail a week later. Usually I'll dream something weird and then can't remember it, but this time every detail of that night was as vivid as if it were happening again, only in black and white. At this point I've come to the conclusion that it wasn't a dream at all, it was real!

A couple of weeks ago, between fishing trips and weekend barbeques, I spent six days in the hospital with a heart that refused to beat normally for any sustained length of time. Because of this, my stress level was pretty high and when I was able to sleep, I had peculiar dreams.

I've always believed there were angels on earth, but I never expected to see one standing at the foot of my bed in my hospital room. At the time I knew I had to be dreaming, but the sounds of computer keys clacking at the nurses station just down the hall and the bell from the elevator, made me realize that I was in real time. There really was someone else in my room!

From the moment I opened my eyes, awakening from a brief nap, I knew this lady wasn't part of the medical staff. This lady was dressed in white like most of the nurses I've seen in old movies late at night. In this hospital however, the nurses wore purple, pink, yellow, blue and green uniforms, with a few crazy floral patterns thrown in.

My angel was wearing a white sweater, white pants and white shoes. She was a blonde with very light hair. Though I didn't see any wings, with the light from the bathroom shining dimly behind her, she appeared to have a halo above her head. Everything I was seeing was in black and white. There was an aura about her that made me know I was in the presence of something beyond my understanding.

She was only there a few minutes and I don't remember her ever speaking a word. She smiled at me conspiratorially as if we were sharing a deep secret, then her silence began speaking volumes as she told me what to expect while I was in the hospital. It wasn't the best news I could get, but I wasn't alarmed when she said I would have another episode with my heart during my stay.

For the first time since I arrived, I had no feeling of apprehension at all. It was almost like a dream in that I have no idea when she left. It was as if she was there one moment and in a heartbeat, she was gone. I have no explanation even though I know I wasn't dreaming.

Intrigued by what I'd seen, I started asking other nurses during the days and nights that followed if they knew anything about the person dressed in white. No one seemed to know what I was talking about. In fact, the person who had taken my medical statistics during the early morning hours of my first day in the hospital swore that there wasn't anyone else in the room.

By the third day of my stay, the hospital staff that was caring for me had decided I was nuts. I've had that diagnosis before so it didn't bother me. Several nurses and staff members even asked me if I had seen the mysterious nurse again. I hadn't had the nerve to tell them that I thought an angel had visited me, but I think some of them guessed I was hallucinating. I even saw one of the day nurses rolling her eyes and circling her finger around head as she left the room.

My angel never made another appearance, but I know what I saw and I saw an angel! Did it help me through the attack I had while there? I don't know but I like to think it did.

I've always believed there was someone looking over me; after all I'm still alive and have most of my sense of humor in tact. The Bible contains a verse in Hebrews 13:2 that I take very seriously "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it."