Woman in need 'touched by an angel'

Beatles fans well remember one of the last songs the Fab Four recorded together closes with the line, “And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.”

That lyric came to mind easily as Sonja Box quietly shared her story and told me about the individual she refers to as “The Messenger.”

Box’s story begins with her 32-year-old son under hospice care earlier this year in Missoula. Box, who lives in Kalispell, met a woman about a year ago who had previously been a hospice caregiver for many years in Eureka. Box confided in her about her son and the woman said she would be honored to help her. She invited Box to call or come by anytime she needed to talk, compassionately prepared her for each step during her son’s final months and consoled her when he died in July.

In October, the woman fell critically ill and it was she who needed care. Now Box, a personal-care assistant, is caring for the woman whose invaluable guidance and wisdom carried her through the difficult journey of losing her son. She goes to her friend’s home every day to help with medication, meals and housecleaning. Box promised “to be there for her as she was for me.”

While her friend’s son came to visit his mother, Box planned a trip to Helena to spend Thanksgiving with family. As she was filling her tank on her older car the day before Thanksgiving, a middle-aged man approached her, wished her a happy Thanksgiving and handed her a blank envelope.

Hesitantly, she thanked him and drove to Walgreens with the unopened letter. Sitting in her car, she opened it. 

“Inside was a letter and two gifts, one financial and one spiritual,” Box said.

There was a significant amount of cash and a typed letter that began “Hi, the Lord Jesus Christ asked me to give you this financial gift. Out of all the people on earth, for whatever reason, He chose you. You may know why or you may have no clue. I don’t know, I’m just the messenger.”

Box was stunned. 

On a limited income since losing a job shortly after her son died, she does housecleaning on the side, but making rent isn’t always easy. The money was enough to make that month’s rent.

“It was amazing. I was in shock.” she said. “This stuff doesn’t happen to me.”

The messenger’s letter gently asks its recipient to consider accepting Jesus as her Lord and Savior while reassuring her that “He will always be with her.”

It closes with “Both gifts are yours if you accept them. Will you accept one without the other?”

Box’s friend told her: “No better person could such a thing happen to.” 

Her sister said her son must be watching out for her from above.

Perhaps by divine intervention, Box was placed at that gas station at the particular moment that day. She may never be sure why such a thing happened to her at this time in her life, a time when she finds herself now caring for her friend after an unexpected turn of events.

But she wants others to know that these things do happen. 

She wanted to let her messenger know that she isn’t taking his gifts lightly.

And she wants to tell him this: “Thank you so much, as I was touched by an angel that day.”

Community editor Carol Marino may be reached at 758-4440 or by email at community@dailyinterlake.com.