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My Visit to the Psychic (Part Two)

If you’re reading this and you haven’t read My Visit to the Psychic (Part One) stop and back up. None of this will make sense unless you read the post before this one.

Sister P allowed me to write down the names of four people who had died that I would like to speak to through her. I took the tiniest scrap of paper from the back of my notebook and wrote in barely legible letters in a font that would put a size 8 to shame. But I didn’t just write in tiny print. I wrote the names transliterated into Hebrew (so, not their Hebrew names which would naturally be spelled with Hebrew letters, but their names in English shoved into Hebrew letters. Sort of a hard concept to convey to non-Jews, but go with me on this). Why? Because I’m not a natural believer. And if she had come out with the names, I would have simply thought that she had some device set up that allowed her to see over my shoulder. But I could assume that if I wrote out nonsense – in a foreign language, no less – and she came up with these names…

Well.

I folded up the paper as small as possible and handed the spit-ball-esque paper to Sister P.  She rubbed it between her fingers while she spoke and she wove my conversations with those four people through details from my past.

I was born too quickly. My mother is probably nodding if she’s reading this. I was born so quickly that my father didn’t have time to park the car. My mother came into the hospital and dilated to 10 cm within a matter of a few minutes. By the time my father got up to labour and delivery, he was told that he had missed the entire birth. Oh, and congratulations – you have a baby girl.

Sister P explained: I was born that quickly because I didn’t actually need to be here. I had made a completion in my last life and I had been released from the life cycle. I chose to return to earth and was born that quickly to slip into the world under what she called a “god sign.” She explained that I chose to return not for my own personal gain, but to help others. She said others would benefit because I had chosen to return to earth (aren’t y’all breathing a huge sigh of relief right now that I’m here?).

My uncle came forward to speak to me; the first person on my list. Sister P spoke for him. He wanted to apologize. He was sorry that he left so quickly without saying goodbye. He knew that I always had trouble with goodbyes and he was worried that it was because of the way he had died so suddenly. My uncle died of a heart attack when I was nine and he was the first person that I lost suddenly; without warning. I still have trouble with goodbyes at thirty-three*.

She told me about a relationship that I had during college. She told me I had dated the man for two years and our relationship was so intense that when she looked at our relationship as she peered into my past, she couldn’t tell what was him and what was me. His life had bled so completely into my own.

She told me there was a night after I got off the phone when I was crying so hard that I knelt down on the ground and started hitting the floor with the palm of my hand. And I did do this, alone in the apartment, my junior year. I never told anyone about it – including this boyfriend – until I told my sister this story after I left Sister P’s.

My cousin came forward to speak holding the left side of her head. She called herself not by the name I wrote down in transliterated Hebrew on the slip of paper, but the name that I called her. She told me that what had been in her head was now gone and I should stop mourning her because she was at peace. She died when I was in middle school from a brain tumour.

Sister P ran through a host of past problems and situations, ticking them off as proof, promising me that she had something extremely important to tell me about my future and she wanted me to believe her and take it to heart. She touched on a lost friendship, the end of my relationship with this aforementioned boyfriend, a difficult time in my family when I was 13. She told me that I needed to let go of what was happening in the moment, leave it behind in Massachusetts and move. She apologized for what I was going through in Massachusetts (as I’ve already said, I was in the center of Hell), but it was necessary for this whole return-to-earth business. “Believe it or not, you need to be going through this now so you can help people later.”

And though I don’t feel like I can speak openly about what happened in Massachusetts, I think what Sister P said is completely true. I don’t think you would have me connecting with you if not for that experience that brought something that started in college full-circle. But until I looked over my notes from Sister P tonight to write this post, I never put that together.

Not to be cryptic or anything.

My pushy Hungarian great-grandmother showed up for a visit and kept interrupting Sister P, just as she would have done in real life. She kept marveling at me and saying, “but she is just a little girl!” It is a phrase I always associate with her, the Hungarian lilt to her words: “leeeeetle geeeeerl.” My grandfather, always quiet and gentle in real life, stood next to her, saying nothing. Sister P asked if he had died recently. “This year,” I answered. He hadn’t learned how to communicate yet with the living, she explained.

This is the message that Sister P needed me to know. She said that I wasn’t put here for marriage. But I would have one and I would know he was my intended husband because he would mention that he had lived overseas when I met him. Prior to dating Josh, I dated a boy from Israel and I always wondered if he was the one. To be honest, I really didn’t want him to be the one. I wasn’t in love with him. But he had, of course, lived overseas. Still, it wasn’t something that was mentioned on the first date so I always wondered about it.

During our first date, Josh told me all about the year he spent living in Israel after college and his travels through Ireland. I went home and called my lady-when-waiting and my mother and told them both, “I met the man I’m going to marry.” And I did.

She told me to write this down. I would only have one child. It would happen when I was 30 and it would be a difficult birth as well as a difficult pregnancy. She said the complications would begin around 4 months, but if I followed my doctor’s orders, I would deliver a healthy baby. If I fought against my doctor’s orders, the baby wouldn’t live. She told me I would need to stop working towards the end.

When we were doing treatments the first time, I never believed I would be a mother, though the words I wrote down from Sister P brought me a modicum of peace at times. According to Sister P, I would have one child. She had been right about Josh and she had been right about not trying to live in Washington, D.C. proper (a long story of apartment waiting lists). Why couldn’t she be right about motherhood?

When I became pregnant with the twins, her words sent me into a panic. One child. I couldn’t even focus on the rest of the prophecy. All I could see were the words “one child.” It didn’t even occur to me that it was coming true when the hyperemesis kicked in (a difficult pregnancy is right) or when my doctor told me to stop working and I fought him, saying that I needed to finish off the school year. Their birth, as you now know, was difficult. They were IUGR and were born prematurely at 33 weeks. I didn’t do any of the emotional prep work Sister P told me to do. I was an emotional wreck after their birth. I was 30-years-old as promised.

But we broke the prophecy, right? Because she said there would be one child. Or did she say “one pregnancy” and I wrote down “one child”? It’s obviously important and it’s not one of those things I can check on after the fact. At the same time, it’s not really important. It’s all in what you want to believe.

She told me that I would want more children and I wouldn’t get them. I would have many children pass through my life but they wouldn’t be mine. They would be other women’s children, but I would affect their lives from afar.

*******

I have never been back to a psychic.  This was my one and only time.  I have no interest in going to a different psychic or trying to return to Sister P.  It was just something that fit into my life in that one moment in time.  And I believe it with my whole heart.  And I’m always skeptical of her words too, especially her one final prophecy that I don’t know yet if will come true.

* And that still seems to be true at 38.

24 comments

1 Kathy { 10.30.12 at 9:17 am }

Stopping after reading this:

“Sister P explained: I was born that quickly because I didn’t actually need to be here. I had made a completion in my last life and I had been released from the life cycle. I chose to return to earth and was born that quickly to slip into the world under what she called a “god sign.” She explained that I chose to return not for my own personal gain, but to help others. She said others would benefit because I had chosen to return to earth (aren’t y’all breathing a huge sigh of relief right now that I’m here?).”

to tell you I got chills and tears reading this. Not having read the rest of your post yet, I would totally agree with this. Everything I know about you is that you are very comfortable with yourself (or seem to be) and love to help others with the knowledge that you have and have worked to gain. So I wanted to comment before reading more to share that. xoxo

2 Kathy { 10.30.12 at 9:19 am }

More chills after reading about you being alone and hitting the floor with the palm of your hand and her mentioning that.

3 Kathy { 10.30.12 at 9:21 am }

“My grandfather, always quiet and gentle in real life, stood next to her, saying nothing. Sister P asked if he had died recently. “This year,” I answered. He hadn’t learned how to communicate yet with the living, she explained.”

WOW! DOUBLE WOW!

4 Kathy { 10.30.12 at 9:23 am }

“It’s obviously important and it’s not one of those things I can check on after the fact. At the same time, it’s not really important. It’s all in what you want to believe.”

So true…

5 Kathy { 10.30.12 at 9:25 am }

Just finished reading and am almost sure that I read this in the past. Will you link here to the original post or send me the link (please) so I can see if commented then? I am curious what I would have written back then. I am so curious what the final prophecy was. I am also impressed that you haven’t been back to ask for more. That would be hard for me if a psychic had told me as much as she told you that seemed spot on. That said, I have such mixed feelings about having that kind of info (whether or not it is real/true). Thank you so much for sharing. As you know this strikes a chord in my life right now. xoxo

6 serenity { 10.30.12 at 9:55 am }

I met with a psychic in 2004, just after Charlie and I got married. The woman told me that we wouldn’t have kids for a while, but I’d have two boys: twins that might not come together.

For the longest time, this gave me hope for two children. Both conceived via the process of IVF, I can see how someone would call them “twins.” She said a lot more, but some of it hasn’t come true yet.

With the children thing, I wonder if maybe I got her message wrong, too. And I do think of seeing another psychic, to see if anything’s changed. But I don’t know if I have it in me to do so, either.

xoxo

7 Gail { 10.30.12 at 10:20 am }

I saw a psychic once, right as we were beginning the process of trying to have children. We were struggling with money at the time as well and I was worried. The psychic gave me a few pieces of coconut shell and then asked me to throw them on the table like dice. She read my fortune that way based on how they landed. She told me that I would have children, but now wasn’t the time. She then gave me the coconut shell pieces and told me to scatter them at the crossroads and that would be the time for me to get pregnant. I asked what the crossroads were and she told me that I’d know when they happened. Well, a year later, we were out of debt and I took some of the coconut shell out of our freezer and put it on the intersection (crossroads) outside of our house. Nothing happened. A few years later, we moved 600 miles and the rest of the coconut shell was thrown away as we were cleaning the freezer. Needless to say, it’s now been 7 years and I still have not had kids. I don’t think I’ll go to another psychic again.

8 Kiran@masalachica { 10.30.12 at 10:20 am }

I have never met with a psychic. Not so much out of doubt but because of fear – I didn’t want it to impact my actions nor did I want to learn something about myself I wasn’t prepared to face. That’s an incredible story that gives me goose bumps when I think of it.

And I think now? Well I’m kind of revisiting the whole idea about seeing one. I have some questions I would like to resolve – I just don’t know if I am going to like the answers.

Thanks for sharing.
Kiran

9 a { 10.30.12 at 10:30 am }

That’s a pretty amazing story. I would be compelled to go back to her if so much of what she said actually happened. Not sure I want to know what her final prophecy was…

10 loribeth { 10.30.12 at 10:54 am }

I only ever saw a psychic once — I got sent to cover a psychic fair when I was in journalism school (!). I don’t remember a lot about what she told me, but I do remember she kept trying to describe the man in my life, & he wasn’t anything like my boyfriend… I kept telling her no, no & no and finally she said, in exasperation, “Then who is this that I’m seeing with you?” and also that whoever I was with, I wasn’t going to be with him much longer. That was almost 30 years ago & we’ve been married 27 years. ; ) I don’t discount psychics entirely — I do believe some people have a gift — but she wasn’t one of them. ; )

I do know that every time someone ever read my palm or dangled a needle over my palm or whatever to tell me how many kids I was going to have (including this psychic), it was always, consistently, two boys & a girl. I guess I did get my girl, even though she was stillborn 🙁 and for awhile, I was hopeful the boys might show up (maybe even as twins), but they never did. 🙁

11 tigger62077 { 10.30.12 at 11:14 am }

It’s interesting to see how this is playing out! I would agree that you were put here to help others. I can see you choosing to do just that, as it fits with your personality. And yes, sometimes we DO have to go through Hell and back in order to help others.

I would love to know what the final prophecy was. Or do I?

12 Elana Kahn { 10.30.12 at 12:29 pm }

That is an amazing story. I’ve always wanted to see a “real” psychic. I’ve seen other people who say things that are either general or totally off. But to see someone who actually knows what they’re talking about would be incredible.

13 Mud Hut Mama { 10.30.12 at 1:13 pm }

Wow! Between this post and Keiko’s post I am starting to believe in psychics! I’ve had my cards read here and there for fun but never felt like it was more than entertainment. I don’t know if I’d want to see a psychic that actually knew what they were talking about but this post (and your experience) is amazing. I really feel for you though – that statement about wanting more children and not having them has to be weighing on you. Is that the last prophecy that you don’t know whether or not will come true?

14 Tiara { 10.30.12 at 1:31 pm }

I truly believe you came back here to help others, I can’t see how anyone can doubt that.

Psychics facinate me, especially experiences like yours. I have become addicted to Long Island Medium because she seems so genuine. I desperately want a chance to communicate with my Dad just 1 last time & if anyone could do it, she seems to be the one.

15 Sharon { 10.30.12 at 2:35 pm }

Your post gave me chills. What an interesting experience!

I saw a psychic once in college. Some of her predictions for me came true, at least in part: she told me I would marry a tall, blond man (which I pooh-poohed at the time, having dated only brunettes), and my husband is blond but only 5’9″. Also, she told me I would have four children and that two would be sons, so she was half right: I have two sons, but they are my only two children (and likely to continue so).

She did accurately predict a few things that happened shortly after the reading, including my difficulties with my post-college job search, and she was spot-on in her assessments of my personality.

16 manymanymoons { 10.30.12 at 3:09 pm }

Good Lord your post had me holding my breathe. Had I read the first of the two posts prior to today and had to wait for the second half to be posted I may or may not have considered tracking you down in real life. Whew…aren’t we glad it didn’t come to that. 🙂 Such a cool story.

17 jjiraffe { 10.30.12 at 3:52 pm }

Wow: what a story! Masterfully told as well.

I saw a psychic once (we hired her for a Halloween party) and she said she saw one birth, but no more. Her prediction that neither Darcy nor I would survive the other still freaks me out. I don’t like us to fly together because of it.

18 Lori Lavender Luz { 10.30.12 at 6:20 pm }

I loved reading this the second time around, and I’m nodding at the part in which you’ve already completed a cycle. That this is extra credit for you.

19 Stupid Stork { 10.30.12 at 7:41 pm }

While I think that most people who claim to be psychic are probably either overly-excited well intentioned people with some intuition, or totally full of crap, I also think that there are people – few and far between – who just KNOW things and are the real deal. And I think that you come into their life to hear what you have to hear at a specific moment. (I happen to have had one tell me my future husband’s last name – which is such a freaking ridiculous and uncommon last name – and she was right).

20 Astral { 10.30.12 at 9:06 pm }

Wow! I think I may have held my breath for your entire post. I do believe in psychics. I, too, would like to go to a psychic. Curious I guess. It would be interesting to hear now what he or she would say. I do believe that our lives are written in the great big book upstairs and that some people have a gift to give us a peak.
Your story is amazing! Thank you for sharing Mel 🙂

21 Jo { 10.30.12 at 10:30 pm }

That last paragraph? The one about wanting more children and not getting them? Absolutely knocked the breath out of me and made me start bawling. Because that’s what I fear….and why I won’t ever go see a psychic. Because I couldn’t handle being told that….even as I tell myself that every day. I don’t know how much I believe in psychics, but I do know the thought would always linger. And I do believe in self-fulfilling prophecies. And so, no psychics for me, and hope for you that Sister P. was dead wrong.

22 KeAnne { 10.31.12 at 1:01 pm }

What an amazing experience! I had chills reading it.

23 luna { 11.01.12 at 1:56 am }

so powerful. and “extra credit.” I love that one, lori.
I’d be compelled to believe if she could communicate with loved ones that had passed on, so specifically too. the one about your cousin really got me.

I’ve never seen a psychic, per se, but our family has used an astrologer with the most keen insight I have ever encountered. really interesting stuff.
I agree though, it’s hard to feel as though some fate is already sealed when we have free will and other intervening factors. sort of a quandary, how much we choose to believe.

24 Someone, a woman. Said, "she won't remember. she's just a little girl." sound familiar. Very sketchy night. I think I kinda remember - really don't want too. Who said it. How do I find sister p. no coincidence I found u. om mani padme hum { 11.12.12 at 8:59 am }

I remember standing next to my mother in the middle of the night/early morning. I was about 4/5. Something very wrong had gone down in the house. Someone, a woman, said to my mother as I was standing there, ” she’s just a little girl – she won’t remember.”. Well I remember the comment like nobody’s business. The details of the evening were/are sketchy – but I have them in pieces. The question I ask myself is do I want to know. What’s “sp’s” contact info? Please… Email me.

I think It was my grandmother or my nanny. My other mothers at the time. My mother was just shell shocked in her 30’s. My grandmother’s name was Fagel – Bird – I have been thinking about a dove tattoo. Carrying the olive branch. I need to b released from the sins of my past. Walk the walk. She once said to me when u r older u will understand !?! She was the first person who I saw pass by – in her apt. On the way to the other side. She was very distinct. I was on the phone. She was in a coma in a hospital in the burbs. She stood in the doorway – no mistake. It was death. Little old lady in old school black mourning garb. I hung up the phone. It rang immediately. My uncle called & said she passed. We have to go back. My mother had the same gift. Dreams/phone calls. She only spoke of it once. Her father. I am named for him. Josefa

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