Today I got a flat tire on the freeway with my three-year-old in the back seat. Thankfully, my mom was with us, and we called AAA and patiently waited an hour for a nice man to come and put the spare on in mere minutes.

Yes, we could have changed the tire. But, like I said, we pulled over on the freeway. And the flat was on the driver’s side. And my three-year-old was with us.

I put on my hazard lights and opened the trunk for a little extra visibility. We carefully got out of the car, loaded the little man into the stroller, and made our way over to the shady grass several yards from the fast passing cars.

As we watched those cars zipping by, he happily ate his snacks, pointed at airplanes, and talked about ants.

I looked up to see one of those planes as he said. “Mommy, look what I hear!” And I laughed. Then, in the tree above us, I spotted a dot of red. A cardinal, sitting over us, watching as those cars rushed by.

In that moment of stress and annoyance, danger and delay, my angel, his brother in Heaven, stopped by to check on his mama, brother, and grammy.

My angel, always with me, always watching, always keeping me safe.

Minutes later a police officer stopped, and waited, until the tow truck arrived.