Guardian Angel?

My dad was 50 when he found his "thing". It seems rather serendipitous when I think about it. He had been working as a mechanic, owning his own shop that was next to a gas station. He had worked for other service stations as well as car dealers (Mazda and Pontiac) and finally had the money to buy his own shop. But being a mechanic was physically demanding and he knew he wouldn't be able to do this much longer. The gas station his shop was attached to had a locksmith shop attached to it, and somehow (I'm not sure of the details) the guy who owned it (also Lee, and Korean) sold it to my dad. My dad learned from this other Lee and also took training courses to become a certified, licensed locksmith, at the age of 50!!

Now most Americans are starting to plan for (or at least think about) retirement in their 50's, but my dad made no such plans. He loved what he did, and was great at it, and people recognized this and he had many loyal clients. He worked so hard and built his business and really took off with it. He was a skilled locksmith and really understood his craft. When they decided to move out to Colorado in 2016, I thought for sure he would finally retire (at the age of 78!) but nope. He bought a small van, filled it up with his tools and supplies, and established his business out here. It took a little while to get going, but the amount of work he had was perfect for a semi-retired grandpa. He loved getting to know his new neighborhood and meeting new people and learning about what brought them to Colorado. He has amazing 5 stars on Yelp, with so many kind reviews from everyone, saying the same things...super knowledgeable, friendly, great at what he does. Although I really wanted him to retire, I knew retirement was not what he needed. He needed to be out and about and meeting people. Not sitting at home wasting away. He worked because he truly loved what he did, not because he had to.

Yesterday, we went over to my mom's house to clear out my dad's work van and get ready to sell it. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Seeing and touching the tools that his very hands had JUST used; a sheet of paper with his handwriting; just picturing him in his van, working. Happy. It was really hard.

I went into the front cab of the van to clear out some of the stuff up there, and found this gold token or coin of some kind in the cup holder. When I picked it up, I noticed there was an angel on it. An angel! I'm not a spiritual or religious person (although going thru a loss like this really makes me question my spirituality more than ever), but I couldn't help but think that this guardian angel guided him home after his accident. He had no recollection of how he got home, but somehow he drove himself home without his glasses, and parked his van so perfectly like always in the garage. How?? How did he do that in his condition?? I don't know...but I've been thinking that he had a guardian angel watching over him to make sure my mom got to see and talk to him one more time before the end.

I took that angel coin and put it in my wallet. Maybe she'll watch over me too.


My dad's "mobile office"

My dad calculated master key systems by hand.

My dad's guardian angel...