Touched by an Angel

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Episode 509: “The Wind Beneath My Wings”

Episode 509: “The Wind Beneath My Wings”
Original Air Date: November 8, 1998
Written by: Rosanne Welch
Directed by: Stuart Margolin
Produced by:

Martha Williamson
Jon Andersen
R.J. Visciglia, Jr.

Guest Cast:
Emma Marion Ross
Dolores Veronica Hamel
Old Mr. Miller Oscar Rowland

When Andrew arrives in the court of Judge Dorrie Chapin to notify her that she is the governor’s first choice to fill a vacant Supreme Court seat, Dorrie and her ever-dependable mother, Emma, are overjoyed. Having met Tess while sitting in the gallery of her daughter’s courtroom, Emma invites Tess and Dorrie’s new assistant, Monica over for dinner to celebrate. Later that afternoon, Emma is the subject of show and tell in the classroom of Dorrie’s daughter, Jenny, and tells of her days as one of the only female pilots, the Lady Tigerettes, during World War II.

When Emma and Jenny get lost on the way home after leaving Jenny’s school, it is apparent that Emma is beginning to show the first signs of aging. The angels attempt to tell Dorrie that her mother is simply getting older but Dorrie is unwilling to accept that her steadfast mother is faltering. Dorrie tries to rationalize the situation, suggesting that her mother will be fine with lifestyle changes and vitamins until Emma falls asleep in the courtroom, waking to not recognize her own daughter. Tess again appeals to Dorrie, telling her that her mother still has important work to do. Dorrie then goes to her mother’s house to find her affairs in shambles; bills are unpaid, important prescriptions are unfilled and the insurance has lapsed. When Emma catches Dorrie snooping through her things, the issue comes out into the open and Emma reiterates what the angels had said earlier, she is getting older and simply can’t keep up anymore.

Still confused as to how she will cope without the support of her mother, Dorrie hears a custody case involving the welfare of an elderly man, Mr. Miller. After hearing his children argue over whether or not to put him in a nursing home, Mr. Miller appeals to them both to live their own lives and to visit him often. Dorrie then breaks down in her chambers as Andrew arrives to tell her that the governor needs to know if she will accept her appointment to the supreme court. Dorrie initially refuses the appointment, fearing that she simply cannot go on without her mother’s support. Emma is also resigned to give up all of her duties rather than just limiting her schedule.

The angels then reveal to both Emma and Dorrie, telling them to give up their fears of being alone, of growing old, of losing each other, because God will never leave either of them. Monica tells Emma that God has another task for her; together with the other surviving Flying Tigerettes, she is commissioned to share her wartime experiences so as to ensure against future wars. As Emma departs on her nationwide Tigerettes bus tour, Dorrie enters the Supreme Court where she will now serve proudly as a State Supreme Court Justice.

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