Mickey's Granddaughter: A True Story

The following story is true. It was told to me on December 29, 2008 by Mickey's granddaughter.

Mickey's granddaughter is in her 20s. She looks a lot like a young Cameron Diaz, circa 1994's "The Mask." She currently works four jobs, and spends what little time she has left at the gym. Today, she was at her job as a massage therapist, giving me a great deep-tissue massage.

She's lucky to be alive at all today, much less standing on her feet for an hour at a time to give massages. Because just two weeks ago, Mickey's granddaughter was in a horrible accident.

She was driving through the mountains here in Northern California along a treacherous road that I myself have driven. It was raining and hailing. Mickey's granddaughter hit a patch of ice, and went over an embankment. She thought she was about to die.

She knew that her family would be devastated. You see, on Thanksgiving Day this year, Grandma Mickey herself had died. The family was still grieving.

Witnesses later estimated that Mickey's granddaughter's car traveled about 500 feet total, first becoming airborne before landing and finally coming to a stop when it crashed into some boulders.

She struggled and got the door open just enough to squeeze out of the car. She then scaled the side of the embankment, digging her fingers into the mud and climbing. When she arrived at the top without a scratch, she found one frantic couple who had witnessed her go over the side, as well as a growing number of other people who were stopping to help. Some of the women cried and hugged her. She noted that some of the men were looking at her strangely, almost as if she'd just risen from the dead.

Looking back down the embankment at the crushed piece of metal that had been her car, she could hardly believe it herself. "It's a miracle," some of them said. "You have a guardian angel," was the comment she heard repeated most often. Even the unnecessary paramedics that eventually arrived said so. "Someone is watching over you. You have a guardian angel."

Someone had a thermos of coffee in their car. As she stood in the freezing rain, shivering, someone handed Mickey's granddaughter a coffee cup. She looked at it, and couldn't believe her eyes.

It had a name on it.....

Mickey.