“I had this awful premonition that something was wrong”

It was the sixteenth of October and I was getting ready to celebrate my 29nd birthday with my fiancée, Lawrence.

We had been dating for over a year, and he had asked me to marry him the previous weekend.  I was surprised because he had expressed so many times that marriage was not for him.  My parents were ecstatic and they were dropping hints that it was now or never for me, that if I didn’t accept his proposal, I might never get another opportunity.

What confidence they had in me.  And what a wonderful time it was for me; or, rather, what a wonderful time it should have been for me.  Let me explain.

There was something about Lawrence that never seemed to be “exactly” right.  I mean, he had a wonderful personality, an excellent physique, good looking in a rough sort of way, and a very sharp sense of humor.  What’s wrong with that?

Well, there was always something a bit secretive about him.  It was as if he was holding something back, but I could never put my finger on it.  So here I was awaiting Lawrence to come over on my birthday, and I had this awful premonition that something was wrong, that today of all days, I was going to learn something about my fiancée that could possibly ruin it all.

And for the life of me I couldn’t figure out why I felt this way.  Lawrence had never given any indication at all that something was wrong.  But as I was about to learn, unfortunately my premonition was right on target.

Lawrence walked in and I could see in his face something was askew.  I had never seen that look before and asked if he was OK.  He nodded he was fine, but he looked very, very serious.  My folks were in the room, and I asked if he wanted to go somewhere and have some privacy.

We went in the den.  I held his hand and told him I had this feeling from the moment I had awakened that something was terribly wrong with our relationship.  He simply looked at me and asked how I knew.  I just said I did and to please tell me with your words.  You see, at that moment I wasn’t at all sure what he was going to tell me, and I was kind of bluffing that I knew precisely what was wrong, when, in fact, I didn’t have a clue.

But he took the bait, sat on the edge of the loveseat and looked at me for a very, very long time before speaking.  Finally, he blurted out,  “I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you.  I’m leaving for New York in the morning.”

It was at that moment that I read his mind.  “It’s Marsha,” I said.  He nodded and asked how I knew since he had never mentioned her before.  “Honestly,” I replied, “I didn’t know until this very moment and I think I plucked her name out of your head.”

Well, our relationship ended right there.  I was devastated as were my folks.  So I’m out in the “singles world” again and surviving.  I don’t like it and would rather be settled down with a husband and kids, but at least I didn’t marry someone who was waiting for his old love to ask him to return.  Which is exactly what happened.

T. Wellison
London, England

Coincidence, fate, or magic?

I’m writing to you because I want to give hope to anyone out there that is searching for love and romance.

I am a forty-three year old man who has been fairly successful in business.  I have several friends whom I treasure and a brother who has been happily married for years.

I, on the other hand, never married and really never thought of myself as a father.  I was quite content leading a rather carefree and responsibility-free life.

But about six months ago, I awoke one morning, looked in the mirror at my receding hairline and suddenly found myself depressed with the prospect of living the rest of my life alone.

What a sad awakening.

For the next several weeks, my mind was obsessed with visions of a wife and children.  My friends would call me and invite me to their homes for dinner, and a few of my single friends would invite me out for the evening, but my heart was heavy with sadness and regret.

A close friend of mine, a doctor, recommended I needed to get away.  He handed me a pamphlet listing cruises to Mexico, the Caribbean, even Alaska.  And before I knew it, I was boarding this giant ship that looked to me like a floating hotel.  It was several stories high and I felt like an ant walking up the ramp.

After three days, I was going crazy.  All I could see were couples holding hands or dads carrying their kids.  If anything, my depression was growing more intense.  I was not impressed with my friend’s recommendation.  After all he was a medical doctor, not a shrink.

Then on the fourth day, I was sitting in the lounge nursing a Diet Coke.  I had given up drinking a year earlier.  Years of carousing had taken its toll.  I was in my usual funk when I noticed an attractive woman seated with two other women.  I couldn’t help but stare at her, and then something happened that I will never forget.

She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and I saw her lips kind of curl upward.  It was the most innocent and beautiful smile I had ever seen.  It was then that I regained that spark.  I drummed up the courage to walk over to them, introduced myself, and soon I found myself looking into the eyes of someone I knew I would know a long, long time.

Her name is Charlene and the next day she told me that she had a premonition the previous morning that she would meet the man she had been searching for.  We are making plans so we can be that couple I referred to earlier, and I can be that man holding his kids.

Darren Markowitz
Cleveland, Ohio

“I pick up on the thoughts of my brother who lives three thousand miles away.”

When I was nine years old, I was seriously injured on my bike when a car sideswiped me.

Unconscious for several days, I awoke in the hospital and couldn’t remember a thing.  Fortunately, the only long-lasting physical problem is I walk with a slight limp.  But I believe something happened to me during those days of unconsciousness because ever since I’ve had a sort of sixth sense.

Although I can’t predict everything that is going to happen, I do have special insights into certain things.  For example, when the airplane went down in the Hudson River in New York, I had a premonition in a dream the night before.  I could see people streaming from the plane onto life rafts and could see that the shoreline was nearby.  I could also see the skyscrapers in the distance.

Long before President Obama decided to run for office, I envisioned a young thin black man addressing a pool of reporters while standing behind a podium affixed with the presidential seal.  And behind him were seated his wife and two young children, both girls.

Sometimes I pick up on the thoughts of my brother who lives three thousand miles away on the other side of the continent.  I’ll call him up afterwards and tell him what he was thinking.  This never fails to startle him.

We are only two years apart, but it is as if we had been born identical twins.  We look alike, think alike and are in the same profession, dentistry.  However, he doesn’t have the premonitions or ESP that I have.

Donnie Schoof
White Plains, NY

“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

“My heart dropped right out of my body.”

I was rushing back home.

After making a lame excuse to my boss, I had left work early because I had a premonition that I was needed, that my presence was necessary.

I didn’t know why I had acted upon it.  I’ve had pessimistic thoughts before and rarely have they reached fruition.  But today the premonition resonated in my soul.  I could feel it all the way to my toes.

And with a pregnant wife and a son who was not quite three years old, I couldn’t take the chance that I wasn’t needed.

I pulled up into the driveway and burst out of the car only to have Mindy come running up to me.  She said a terrible thing had occurred, and my heart dropped right out of my body.

To my relief (and I will forever feel guilty about it), our dog Sandy had been run over by a car only minutes before.

Fortunately, Sandy suffered mostly superficial injuries, and after a couple of days at the vets, she returned with a limp but not much more.  She was lucky.

Mindy asked why I had suddenly come screeching up to the house unannounced, and why I wasn’t at work.  I explained my premonition, and it was then she said she had a similar feeling as well.

This wasn’t a surprise as Mindy and I are soul mates and we have often had similar thoughts rushing through our heads at the same time.

D. Eckerston
Hartford, CO

“He replied that he could feel her gasping for breath.”

In everyone’s life comes good and bad.  I want to relay an incident in which both things happened simultaneously.

It was the end of November, and the weather was starting to turn.  My kids and I were nestled in front of the fireplace and it was one of those warm, comfortable moments.

My husband Harv was working late at the office and he had called earlier to tell me he was bringing home a surprise for the children.  We were all excited because the kids were doing well in school and this was their reward.  Harv was great with the kids, building up their self-esteem while keeping them grounded.  I loved him so.

Well, a little while later, Harv walked in the door.  And although the kids rushed up to him and literally grabbed the two packages he held out for them, I knew something was amiss.

After the kids tore off the wrappings and hugged their dad for the nice video games, he took my hand and led me into the bedroom.  When he sat on the edge of the bed and held his head in his hands, I knew something was terribly wrong.

He said he was afraid to call his mother, that he knew something bad was going to come of it.  I sat beside him and asked him why, and he replied that he could feel her gasping for breath.

I immediately picked up the phone and called her.  She answered and I felt so relieved.  And when I asked her if she felt OK, she said she was fine but that in the afternoon she had driven a close friend to the hospital.

I asked what was wrong with her and was told the poor woman was hyperventilating and couldn’t catch her breath.

Fortunately, the woman recovered and nothing serious happened.  But my husband’s premonition was pretty close to being on target.  Fortunately, nothing bad came of it.

R. Thornsley
Des Moines, Iowa