Pageant People

by Shirley Bahlmann
Some of the other interesting people I met at Mormon Miracle Pageant were Shirley (good name!) with a halo of blonde hair, laughing blue eyes, and round pink cheeks. Her spirit shone through as she told me about a most amazing experience of accompanying her father when he died, then returning alone to mortality.
There was the always-smiling lady who needed a place to park her motor home because her husband had bad knees and couldn't walk from the city park. We found a good Samaritan in Peggy Layton, who let the couple park at her wellness clinic near the center of town.
When white-haired Dolph Jolley and his elderly wife made their way to the check-out with a copy of my "Friends From Beyond the Veil" tucked under an arm, I had to point out the section of evil spirit stories, even though most of the book is benign. I just couldn't bear the thought of them having joint cardiac arrests if the dark tales were too much for them. They thanked me for the warning and bought the book anyway.
Then there was the toddler in the costume tent, a little girl with tousled blonde hair, dressed in a robe of ancient design. She couldn't keep her round blue eyes off the actor who played the part of the Savior. "Come on," she lisped, grabbing hold of my fingers in a super glue grip. "Go over there." She pointed to the bearded man in white.
"You want to go see him?" I asked.
The little angel nodded and looked up at me with blue eyes full of love. "I want him to come to my house."
Her innocent desire melted my heart, and I smiled down at her. No doubt, He was already there.