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Ooh, thanks for that story.

I too, have a "light" story. My grandmother was born in 1896. She was a fancy, proper, and beautiful woman with a vain streak.

In 1992 at the age of 94, she passed. The timing was difficult for me. I had been receiving education and preparing to take a State compulsory examination. The test was only offered once a month and it was imperative that I take the test and pass it that month. The funeral luckily was scheduled on Friday and the test on Saturday, but I was required to complete all of the educational required hours scheduled through Thursday evening in order to take the test, and I had a 5 hour drive to get to the the funeral. Everything needed to fall exactly into place.

I washed my funeral dress on Wednesday night as I studied, thinking I could throw it in the dryer on Thursday morning, come home Thursday night, pack quickly and get on the road. Thursday morning when I awoke, I put my dress in the dryer and turned it on and left for school.

The power went out. There was no power at all in the city. The power at the school was run by generator so class continued, but I was aware of my dress sitting in a soggy lump at the bottom of my dryer. Hours went by and still no power. Eventually the school decided to cut the day short and let every go home early.

I got home, threw my still damp and wrinkled dress in a bag, thinking it would dry and I could iron it the next day in my hometown at my mothers house before the funeral...it would be okay. The drive was treacherous with a horrible blizzard almost stopping my progress, but after eight hours I made it to my mother's home well after midnight.

The next morning I looked at my dress (now dry). It was a total wrinkled mess. I plugged in the iron with just one hour until I had to be at the church for the viewing. As I was putting on my make-up the power went out! The power goes out in Utah about once a year. It stays out for about 2 minutes on the average...so I expected it would come right back on, but this was ridiculous. It had been out all day in another part of the State 250 miles away the previous day and now it was out only in this small town. It seemed somehow "out to get me."

My sisters were laughing at my predicament. No one was my size...I couldn't borrow clothing. There wasn't a clothing store within 50 miles...I was just going to have to wear my wrinkled dress. My oldest sister commented on how this was just like grandma, making sure that I didn't show-up at the funeral looking prettier than her and we all got a good laugh as we drove to the church. Just as we arrived, the power came back on!

I drove back to Salt Lake City that day after the funeral. I had to sign-in for my test before 7:00 a.m. the next morning. The next morning I awoke early. The testing location was on the far side of town, the commute would be 30 minutes in good weather, but the weather was bad with sleet and rain. I was flustered...the most important test of my life, my beloved grandmother and the emotional funeral, all the knowledge in my head was swirling and my face was flushed.

I went outside to sit on my porch in silence and see if I could get my head together. As I sat there in the silence, all the street lights on my street went dark. Now this was eerie...there was something going on with the power that caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise. I felt a foreboding, but I thought of my grandmother....maybe she was trying to tell me something.

Now I was not a Christian at this point in my life, I had left behind the religion of my youth, but at this moment I felt the desire to pray. I prayed that I would make the commute on time, that I would arrive safely, that my mind would be clear and that I would remember the things I had been taught. A feeling of peacefulness enveloped me and I got into my 1970 Chevelle Malibu to drive to the testing location.

"Put on your seatbelt," was the message that came to me. I never wore my seatbelt. I only had a lapbelt anyway and it always wrinkled my clothes, but that day I knew I must put it on.

Well, you can guess the rest of the story. About a mile from the testing location, my car was slammed from the rear by a car skidding on a red light. The car behind it slammed into it.

I feel that my grandmother came to me in her way to tell me to put on my seatbelt. The men in the other two cars were badly injured, but when I heard the screeching of brakes behind me I let my foot off the brake and started rolling through the intersection (even though the light was still red). That action and the seatbelt had saved me from severe injury.

I made it to the test late, but my police escort made sure the State official let me in, since I had a valid excuse...and I passed the test, but to this day, when the lights flicker or I go by street lights that turn off as I approach, I always wonder what my grandmother is trying to tell me.