“I think it proves there are spirits looking after us.”

I’m a believer in spiritual forces that help us, at least some of time.

I’ve had several experiences during my lifetime to know that certain happenings weren’t merely coincidences.  One example is the time when I was shopping with my mother in a downtown department store.

I was eight years old and my mother and I were separated when I had apparently wandered off without her noticing.  As she tells the story, she panicked and frantically started looking for me.

She had this horrible thought that someone had taken me by the hand and was leading me out the store.  And she had a clear vision of exactly what he looked like.

Well her vision was mostly on the mark because a man was holding my hand and he looked exactly as she had envisioned – but he was a security guard and he was staying with me until I was reunited with my mom.  When she saw the two of us, she was about to scream until she realized he was protecting me.

Another time my younger brother, James, was being picked on by a bully in the schoolyard.  At the time, I was playing on the other side of the building and suddenly my arm started to ache.  Somehow I knew he needed me.  When I ran over to see what was happening, James was crying and holding his arm where the other kid kept hitting him – in the same part of the arm that was hurting me.

I think most people have had similar experiences, and I think it proves there are spirits looking after us.

Janice Conwell
St. Petersberg, FL

“People simply shouldn’t mess with me.”

I believe with all my heart that I have a guardian spirit that has been with me since childhood.

It first began when I was in the first grade.  A bratty little kid was sitting behind me, pestering me, touching my hair, splattering crumbs on my desk, and I was afraid and intimidated.

I remember covering my eyes and praying.  I would hope that something bad would happen to him so he would leave me alone.  And I recall turning around and telling him that.  But he would give me that sly grin and just shake his head.  I remember being furious with him and telling him that he would be sorry.

About a week later, he was absent from school.  At first I didn’t think much of it, but after he was gone for several days, I learned that his appendix almost burst and he was rushed to the hospital.  After that, I noticed his attitude had changed and he would look at me with a leery eye.  He never bothered me again.

In high school a similar incident occurred when Eric, an old boyfriend, kept calling me at all hours and just wouldn’t let me alone.  Once again, I warned him that something bad would happen if he didn’t cut it out.  Maybe two or three weeks later, Eric’s father took a job in a different city, and the family would be forced to leave in mid semester.  Eric was devastated and told me I was the cause of it, that I had cursed him.

Well, he may have been correct.

It doesn’t happen every time, but I can tell you that if I care enough and concentrate hard enough, something will happen sooner than later, and people simply shouldn’t mess with me.

Fortunately, my guardian spirit works in a positive way as well.  I am happily married with a beautiful baby girl, and I have another one on the way.  I’m not saying my life has been a bed of roses because I’ve certainly suffered my share of setbacks.  But my prayers have been answered so many times, in so many unique ways that I am totally convinced there are spirits that guide and affect our lives.

And one last thing, and the reason I’m writing this:  Yesterday, I woke up with the thought that Erin, an old friend, would call.  Within seconds the phone rang and it was she.  And there was absolutely no way that could have been a coincidence because we hadn’t spoken in two or three years.

V. Rettersford
Providence, RI

“I believe greater forces were at work”

This is a story about how I got even with a person who really had it in for me.

Let’s call her Jane so I won’t get sued if she reads this.  Jane is in her early thirties, a bitter woman if ever there was one, and she had a tone in her voice from the first day I met her.

We work for the same insurance company, although we don’t work in the same office.  But we’re often in meetings together because of the nature of our work, and she always tries to undermine me no matter what I say or do.

Now I’m an easygoing person and not one to have confrontations, but a week ago, Jane went too far.  While I was making a presentation, she virtually yelled at me and said I didn’t know what I was talking about.

At first there was stunned silence.  Even our manager didn’t know what to say.  I looked at him and realized he wasn’t going to step in and defend me despite the fact that he has reassured me that I’m doing an excellent job.  He has told me numerous times to ignore her.  So I felt abandoned and knew I had to take matters into my own hands.

I turned my attention from him to Jane.  I gave her the most severe stare I could drum up, and we locked eyes for what seemed to be an eternity.  Neither she nor I said a word; we just stared and stared and stared.

And then – as if God himself reached down and did it – her wig fell down over half her face.  She let out a muffled scream, and for a moment everyone was stunned.  But then one person let out a giggle, then another, then the room burst into laughter.

Jane looked around in horror as she tried to adjust her wig back on her head.  Then she leaped from her seat and ran out of the room.

Now normally I don’t relish the misfortune of others.  And I certainly don’t laugh when someone is embarrassed.  But when Jane got her just desert, I believe greater forces were at work.  But most important, since Jane’s humbling experience, her “tone” has disappeared and we are no longer enemies.

Marlene Streeter
Houston, TX

“Our eyes met and I felt a tad dizzy”

My story may be of interest to anyone out there that believes in fate or just plain love at first sight.

I’m not a young woman; in fact, I’m in my late forties and have never been married.  Although I long ago gave up on the idea of having children, I still have romanticized how wonderful it would be to spend the rest of my life with a wonderful man who loved me.

Well, it happened.  His name is Austin, and we met in the most bizarre way possible.  I enjoy going to garage sales, flea markets, antique shows – anywhere I can find a bargain.  I love to put on a large hat, dress a little eccentric and find myself looking at the people more than the merchandise.

It was on a Sunday a little over four months ago when I was winding my way through an art fair in my neighborhood. I was talking to one of the merchants when I suddenly swirled around for no particular reason…and I found myself staring right into the eyes of a man about twenty feet away.  It seemed as if our eyes were locked into one another.

At first I felt a tad dizzy because although we’ve all had an experience like that, the intensity of our stare caught me quite by surprise.  After a few seconds (which seemed like an eternity), I turned back around.  And to be honest, I was too timid to turn back.

But then I heard a voice asking me if was enjoying the show.  When I turned back I realized it was “he.”  I was kind of dumbfounded for a moment (maybe that’s why I’ve been single all these years), but when I regained my composure, we absolutely clicked from that moment on.

His name is Nick and we’ve been practically inseparable since that afternoon.  In retrospect, I don’t think it was a coincidence that we met.  Nick said that he had spotted me several minutes before but didn’t know how to approach me.  He said he couldn’t take his eyes off me and felt the only thing he could do was catch my eye.

Since I wasn’t even facing him, I have to believe there was some force or spirit that was determined to get us together.

Edith Mettler
Newport Beach, CA

“I never thought I’d fall in love again”

For those of you who have experienced heartbreak and never thought you’d be whole again, my story may be an inspiration to you.

Call it intuition or coincidence or even a metaphysical happening, but when I was at my lowest point (and, yes, I even considered ending my life), something occurred that was almost too incredible to be believed.

It happened about eight months ago.  Brad, whom I loved and adored, and whom I had been dating for the last three years, sent me an email telling me he had fallen in love with another woman.  Yes, an email!

And he didn’t want to speak with me.  He wrote that I was not the person he wanted to live with the rest of his life and that he had met the woman of his dreams.  Needless to say, I was devastated.

I was a walking zombie for the next month.  I lost fifteen pounds (not a bad thing) because I was too depressed to eat.  Then the unexpected happened.

Saul, an executive, whom I had known at the last company that I worked for, called me out of the blue.  He had never shown an interest in me before, and even though I had found him to be quite attractive, I didn’t think he even knew I was alive.

He asked if I was still with Brad, and when I said I wasn’t, Saul wanted to know if I would go sailing with him.  Well, although I have a tendency to get sea sick, I jumped at the opportunity.

To cut to the quick, we hit it off, even though I was quite nauseous on that first date (which he thought was humorous), and we’ve been going together ever since.

So, you may ask, where did the intuition, coincidence or the metaphysical happening come into play?  Saul told me that even though we hadn’t been in touch since I had left his firm several months earlier, he woke up in the middle of the night with a premonition Brad and I broke up.  When he told me the precise date of his premonition, my knees almost went out from under me.  That was the night I received that fateful email from Brad.

Estelle Freemont
Reseda, CA

“Stewart did appear as predicted, and we went together for four years.”

I moved to Sacramento, California when I was eight years old.  My father, a salesman for a large pharmaceutical company, had been offered a job in management and my folks couldn’t refuse the offer.

At first, my older sister Jan and I were upset because we had to leave all our friends back in New Jersey, but we quickly settled into our new lives.  The most startling change of all was meeting Mr. Marksay, our next-door neighbor.  To this day, and I am now in my early thirties, this man was the most remarkable person I have ever met.

You see, Mr. Marksay could peer into the future.  I mean it.  When we were little, he’d sit us down and tell us what he saw.  In the beginning we thought he was just telling us fairy tales.  But one day Jan said that he was actually telling us what was about to occur.

He didn’t do it often but when he did tell us something was going to happen, it almost always did.  For example, one time he told Jan that she’d meet someone new that day that had just transferred to school, and this person would become her best friend.  It happened.

Another time when I was in my teens, I mentioned to Mr. Marksay that I had a boyfriend.  At first he laughed then he told me it would only last another week, but a new boyfriend whom I already new would fill the gap, and we would be together a long time.  Well, Stewart did appear as predicted and we went together for four years.

When Mr. Marksay got sick and didn’t have long to live, Jan and I were away at college.  One evening I received a call from Jan and she said she knew he had passed away.  She said she had a terrible sinking feeling that night and the next day our parents told us that Mr. Marksay had passed away.  The very moment Jan had that awful feeling.

Minny Thailer
Newport Beach, CA