“Tears were streaming down my face as I moved the pillow toward Maxwell’s face “

Mary Sampson was a South African woman who was charged with taking care of a severely handicapped boy named Maxwell.

Maxwell had been horribly injured in a tractor accident when he was nine years old and he could barely function without assistance from his loyal caretaker, Mary.

Mary wrote in her journal:  “I was very depressed because Maxwell’s parents were running out of money and they simply couldn’t afford to take care of Maxwell for much longer.  The boy needed constant attention, and it was the saddest thing I had ever witnessed.

“One morning, Maxwell, without saying a word, motioned with his eyes toward a pillow that was resting beside his head.  He silently said ‘do it.’  I looked at him and said, no, I can’t.

“I never felt so terrible in my life.

“I sat beside Maxwell for a while wondering what was best for him.  I finally came to the conclusion that perhaps it was best for the boy to put him out of his misery.  I don’t know what got into me, but when I noticed Maxwell had fallen asleep, I slowly picked up the pillow.

“I stood there for what seemed to be an eternity not knowing what to do.  Tears were streaming down my face as I moved the pillow toward Maxwell’s face.  Then I almost jumped out of my clothes when the phone rang.

“It was Maxwell’s mother who said she had a feeling that something was terribly wrong.  I dropped the pillow and was sobbing as I explained that I didn’t know what was going to become of Maxwell.  We both cried together that day.

“Maxwell died peacefully in his sleep two years later.”

“I received the scolding of my life.”

When I was at work the other day, I smelled smoke.

I walked around the office peeking inside trash baskets, opening closet doors, and examined the small lunchroom.  Although I found nothing, I was sure I smelled smoke.

I received a call two hours later and learned that my son’s school had a small fire in the cafeteria.  Fortunately, no one was hurt and the damage was minimal.

A few years ago, I had a premonition that a good friend of mine had a miscarriage.  She was pregnant and was having a difficult time.  The doctor had prescribed complete bed rest, and she was ordered to stay in bed for the rest of the pregnancy.

Not wanting to call and alarm her, I simply stopped by to see how she was doing.  Her son opened the door and told me his mother had been rushed to the hospital.  I learned that she hadn’t had a miscarriage but did indeed have a scare.

One more thing:  When I was a child, I blurted out to Peggy, one of my mother’s closest friends, that she was sick and should go to see a doctor.  My mother was furious with me and I received the scolding of my life.  She explained that nothing was wrong with her friend and asked why in the world I would say something like that.

Two weeks later, Peggy was in the hospital when her appendicitis burst.

N. Pendergrass
San Jose, CA

“Her face was ‘exactly’ as I had seen it in my dream.”

I’ve been divorced for over twelve years now, and neither I nor my ex-husband Anthony had remarried.

We’ve stayed in touch infrequently because both our kids are grown and there’s no reason for us to communicate.  Although it was an amicable divorce, as with most partings there are still lingering hard feelings.

The other day, my son was telling me about a letter he had received from his father.  I suddenly blurted out that he must have remarried.  My son said no, that wasn’t in the letter and to his knowledge he wasn’t even seeing anyone.

I didn’t know why that notion had suddenly popped into my head, as after all these years I had never mentioned the idea of marriage before.  Then a day later, my son received a call from his dad saying that he indeed got married and didn’t know how to break the news.

Later that night I dreamed of Anthony standing next to his bride.  And I could see her face very clearly as well as the exact clothes she was wearing.

The next week, my son received another letter from Anthony, and in it was a photo of his wedding.  Just as in my dream, there they were, standing next to each other in the identical pose.  Although her dress wasn’t anything like it was in my dream, her face was “exactly” as I had envisioned it.

T.  Rotelli
Bologna, Italy

“My dead uncle appeared and said I should wake up at 3:30.”

Several years ago I had the most unsettling dream.

My dead uncle appeared and said I should wake up at 3:30.  He kept repeating it over and over:  wake up at 3:30, wake up at 3:30.  The strangest thing about that night was the fact that when I did awake, it was exactly 3:30.

I didn’t think much about that episode until two years later when my grandfather died.  The time on his death certificate was 3:30AM.

Recently, I had another unusual experience.  I was driving to work in the morning when suddenly my neck stiffened up.  I could barely turn my head to see the cars beside me, and I was afraid I might cause an accident.

When I arrived in the parking lot, all of a sudden my neck was OK.  It was as if nothing had happened to it.  Very, very strange.

Later that evening, I received a call from a long time friend of mine.  She said she had sad news to tell me.  That a mutual friend of ours had passed away from a long illness that very morning.  When I asked if she happened to know the time, she said she was there when it happened:  about eight o’clock…the exact time my neck stiffened up.

P. Andresson
Zurich, Switzerland

“For the first time since I’ve known him, he cried.”

I was sitting at the breakfast table having my morning cup of coffee and reading the paper when my husband walked in.  He had a strange look on his face and when he sat down and said nothing, not even a hello, I asked him if anything was wrong.

He said he had a dream that an old flame from the past had suddenly appeared at the front door.  He said the dream was so real that he could describe her outfit right down to the last detail.  And he said she had something important to tell him but although her lips were moving he couldn’t make out the words.

I asked who she was and he went on to explain their relationship.  I was a bit taken aback because Jeff and I never keep any secrets from one another.  At least I didn’t think so.  And seemingly out of the blue he was telling me about someone who had apparently played an important role in his life.

I asked him why he appeared so troubled.  After all, we had been married for over twenty years now, and the past is the past.  But he said something happened that he had to explain.

Jeff went on to tell me about a child she had that she gave up for adoption.  And he looked up at me and said the child was his.

I walked around the table and hugged him.  I asked him if he had ever seen his child, and he just shook his head.  For the first time since I’ve known Jeff, he cried.

We spoke about it for the next week or so, and then the unexpected occurred.  We received a letter from a young man named Charlton.  Incredibly, he explained how he was trying to find his birth father and was now convinced Jeff was the man.

Jeff has had dreams before that have alerted him to things to come but never anything quite like this.

J. Spencer
Casper, Wyoming

“She Was an Old Friend From My Past”

While on the set for Gone With The Wind, an assistant approached Clark Gable with an unusual request.

“I told Mr. Gable that someone wanted to see him.  She said she was an old friend from the past and that it was urgent that he stop what he’s doing and see her immediately.

At first the famous actor scoffed and brushed the suggestion aside.  “He didn’t even bother to give me an answer,” said Irv, “so I went back to the entrance and relayed the message to the woman.

“But she wouldn’t take no for an answer.  She pulled out a pen and a small pad of paper and began writing a long note.  It took her about ten minutes to write it, but finally she tore the pages from the pad and handed them to me.  She said, ‘I think he might want to see me now.  This’ll do it.’

“So, I slowly walked back on the set and tapped Mr. Gable on the shoulder.  He kind of gave me his gruff look, and without saying anything he spotted the papers I was holding and snatched them out of my hand.

“I could see his expression change as he read the woman’s comments.  He had only read the first page when he looked up and asked where she was.  Then he excused himself from the set and quickly walked away.

“About fifteen minutes later he walked back, took me by the arm and pulled me aside.  ‘She was an old friend from the past.’  He started to walk away but thought the better of it.  He said, ‘She was someone I loved a long time ago.  And I’d appreciate it if you’d keep it to yourself.  Or at least until I’m long gone, if you know what I mean.’

“On the next to last day of the shoot, Mr. Gable walked over to me and said, ‘Remember that lady who gave you the note?’  I nodded.  He said, ‘She was a good woman and fell on tough times.  I helped her out and everything’s going to be OK.'”

“The strange thing is the night before I had a dream where I kept running after Mr. Gable trying to hand him a piece of paper.”

I.  Hochanser
NY, NY