Sacred Gift — Karen Hulene Bartell

Everyone is gifted, but some never open their package. Spirits are everywhere for those privileged to see. Angela Maria Brannon, the adopted baby from Sacred Choices, has a sacred gift. Her connection with the Aztec goddess Tonantzin and Our Lady of Guadalupe empowers her to see ghosts. At first, people think her having ‘imaginary friends' is cute, but at school she's branded ‘different' and learns to conceal her special skill. On her eighteenth birthday, Angela opens herself to communication with the afterlife. Using her sacred gift, Angela spurs those around her to recognize their potential by resolving deep-rooted pain. Traveling San Antonio's River Walk and Mission Trail she encounters eerie apparitions and wraiths. Kissed by the divine and grazed by the ungodly, Angela is proof there's “more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of.”