“His final prediction was his own death.”

My uncle Jerry was a world traveler.  A year before he died he told me of an incident in London that proved that truth is often stranger than fiction.

He was staying in a more or less rundown hotel when a man who looked like he hadn’t shaved or showered in days approached him, asking Jerry if he was an American.  My uncle was leery at first because there was something strange about the man, but as they began to talk, Jerry could see the man was highly educated.

The man, who didn’t reveal his name, said he had come to London because a “voice” had told him that he should immediately return to his birthplace.  That it was “his time.”

Upon hearing this, Jerry thought perhaps the man was schizophrenic.  Then the man pulled out a stack of one hundred dollar bills from his pocket and started peeling them off to him.

Jerry, who is as honest as they come, refused to accept the money and told the man he shouldn’t be giving his money away to strangers.  It was then that the man told Jerry the voice predicted he would be dead within the next twenty-four hours.  Jerry scoffed and said that although the man looked unkempt, he didn’t look sickly.

Later that night, Jerry heard a commotion in the hallway, and was taken aback to see the man being carried out of the hotel on a stretcher.  He was unconscious and looked white as a ghost.

When Jerry went to the hospital the next day, he was told the man had died the previous evening of apparently natural causes.  He also learned the man was an heir to a shoe fortune and was also known for his uncanny ability to predict the future.

In this instance his final prediction was his own death.

Monte Irvine
Scottsdale, AZ

“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

“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

“I felt a pair of eyes staring at me”

I’m a twenty-five year old woman, single and to be frank, I have a difficult time attracting men.  Well, eligible men, I should add.  Somehow the wrong type of guy seems to be “turned on” by me, but I’m sick and tired of getting “worked over” by these fellas if you know what I mean.  Not in a physical sense, but by them not being honest with their intentions.

However, the other day as I was taking a casual stroll around the Whole Foods Market, I felt a pair of eyes staring at me.  When I looked up, I saw this very nicely dressed man smiling at me.  At first I started walking away.  I guess that’s my normal instinct, to run when I’m not sure what to say or do.  But I forced myself to stop, turned around and smiled back.

Well, he turned out to be the nicest guy I’ve met in some time, and in the few short days we’ve known each other, we’ve talked on the phone for hours.  We’ve been out every evening since that eventful day at Whole Foods.

So what’s so strange about this potentially great relationship, and why am I writing the California Astrology Association to get my story published?

I dreamed about it the night before we met.  I admit the man in my dreams didn’t look at all like Arthur, but I did dream about a man standing beside a beautiful stack of oranges.  And so help me, that’s exactly when I spotted Arthur for the first time.

In fact, Arthur had already picked several and was standing there, smiling at me, holding the plastic bag of oranges.

Sarah Birnbaum
Kansas City, MO

“My impish nine year old had a bit of the soothsayer in him.”

It was the middle of February and I was daydreaming how nice it would be to spend a week or two in sunny California.

It was a particularly miserable winter in Chicago, and I yearned to get out of town.  My wife had called a few minutes earlier and alerted me to a problem our youngest boy was having in school.

Turns out he was in trouble with the same teacher again, and we wondered if he was alienating her or perhaps she somehow had it in for our boy.  After all, Dustin was a quiet kid who wouldn’t hurt a fly, and he was the last person we’d thought who would cause trouble.

When I returned home that night, Dustin and I had a “man to man” talk, and I was shocked by what he told me.  My impish nine year old had a bit of the soothsayer in him.  It seems he was constantly interrupting the teacher by shouting out the answer before she opened her mouth to ask the question.

I told my wife about this, and after having a good laugh, we thought it best to ask Dustin’s teacher if this was indeed true.  Well, it turns out that Mrs. Miller was at her wits end because she said our kid somehow was getting “into her head” and would interrupt her time and time again with something she was about to say.

Fortunately, Mrs. Miller had a good sense of humor, and she admitted she wished she had Dustin’s ability to read minds.  She said Dustin was a good boy and she’d figure out how to cope with his “talent.”

She also told me something about Dustin that I’ll never forget.  A few days earlier, he had shouted out “fire drill” only a second before the alarm rang.  Mrs. Miller said the school principal had alerted her that there would be a fire drill that day but hadn’t informed her of the exact time.  “Apparently,” she said, “I should have asked Dustin.  He would have told me.”

R. McGurthy
Tucson, AZ