Premonition or Coincidence?

I try not to think about the paranormal too often. A terrifying incident with a ouija board when I was ten made me forever wary of such things. I refused to touch it but sat in a room while my two friends played. I watched as the pointer moved around while they sat with their hands in their laps, asking questions about me. The board, among other things, spelled out that I'd be murdered when I was 21. Imagine that hanging over your head for the next 11 years.

Last Halloween, I wrote about some of the other things I've experienced that have scared the wits out of me. I'd rather have a life without ghosts, psychic powers, ouija boards, tarot cards, the sixth sense or seeing dead people.

I try to avoid dwelling too much on these things because I know it's far too easy to get wrapped up in superstitious mysticism. I don't want to spend forever speculating on past lives or deciphering the hidden meanings of psychic visions, and end up not fully dealing with the realities of this life.

That said, I know children can often seem to have psychic abilities. I would definitely say my seven year-old son is one of those children who seems to be very "in touch". He's very sensitive and is often described by those who meet him as an "old soul". Out of the blue he'll tell me things about relatives who have passed away, relatives he's never met or only met when he was a small child. Relatives I never talk to him about.

As he was eating his breakfast this morning he asked me, "Mommy, who's Johnnie?"

I got the prickly feeling I always get when he says these sort of things to me, but I calmly told him, "That's the name of your great grandmother." He's never met her because she passed ten years ago. I don't have any pictures of her up in the house, and I never refer to her by her first name.

He was just as calm as he matter-of-factly replied, "Oh. Well she told me I need to be careful crossing the street today."

I asked him where he saw her and he said, "In a dream." Then he cocked his head to the side and said, "She's really beautiful."

I told him he should always be careful crossing the street and that next time he sees her that he should say one of the prayers he knows. And then, because he says this sort of thing all the time, I changed the subject so we could get out the door.

Thirty minutes later we dashed out the door and hustled down the hill. We jogged since he's always worried about being late and he likes to race me in the mornings. Two blocks from school, we stood waiting at an intersection for the walk signal. I quizzed him on his spelling words until the light turned and the walk sign appeared.

I never cross an intersection right when the light changes. I always wait a couple seconds for all the drivers that insist on running red lights. But the coast seemed clear and so my son stepped off the curb and I did as well, a nanosecond behind him. He began spelling "because" for me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a black SUV hurtling through the intersection towards us. The driver had blatantly run the light. Cars honked and screeched their brakes to avoid hitting it. Horrified, I managed to reach out and jerk my son backwards just in time. The SUV zoomed past and I glimpsed a woman blissfully yapping on her cell phone, oblivious to the fact that she'd almost hit my son.

Reassured that he was alright, we continued across the street and ran the rest of the way to the school so that he wouldn't be late. As I kissed him goodbye he says to me, "I guess I have to remember to listen to your grandma when I cross the street." And then he turned and ran into the school.

Until that moment I'd managed to forget what he'd told me.

Like I said, I try not be someone who overly occupies myself with the paranormal. Yet sometimes, just sometimes, something like this happens. I don't know what to make of it, but it gives me the chills.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Whoah, I am so glad you both didn't get hit. So many parents keep jaywalking with their kids in tow, at least around here, and the kids aren't learning to watch out. I certainly believe there is a lot that can't be explained and maybe he has some kind of connection.
Anonymous said…
I definitely believe in telepathy and psychic powers, I've seen them and heard about them often - particularly this thing of knowing about people and events you've never been consciously told about. I think our minds have massive unused abilities that our materialistic society represses, and psychic gifts are one of them.

As for the woman talking on her mobile and running the light, she should have her licence removed for life. She's insane.
Toni Campbell said…
Stories like that make me feel comforted, knowing that there are others that we can't see who are looking out for us.
What gives me the chills is the fact that there are people here on earth who are so out of touch with the rest of humanity (never mind those in another realm) that they can drive at top speed through our neighborhoods without a second thought!
Liz Dwyer said…
Sharifa,
I'm glad we didn't get hit too. At rush hour folks zoom through our neighborhood at top speeds, oblivious to all the kids walking to school.

So far my son has dreamed of or "talked to" my grandmother, my brother, and my great uncle. My mom thinks it's evil spirits after him. I don't know about that. I just tell him not to try to talk to anything.

Nick,
I think our minds have capacities we don't tap as well. But I tend to think it's best to leave it alone since there are so many unknowns involved.

I wish I'd been able to catch the driver's license plate number. Unfortunately, I didn't.

Toni,
That's very true. Just as we can pray for those who have passed on, I do believe they can help us as well.

I want to do some investigating about how to get a 25 MPH school zone sign put up but even with that, those that are careless will still speed through.
Jen said…
I was one of those "old souls" too. It was both a blessing and a curse and lifted entirely by the time I was sixteen or so. Despite this, like you, I sort of don't know what to make of these things.

It does seem, though, that someone was carefully looking out for your son, so surely that can't be bad spirits?

I'm just relieved you're both okay, and yeah, I agree with Nick on the license.
Liz Dwyer said…
Jen,
I don't think it's bad spirits. There's something in my gut that just tells me it's not. And he's rarely scared by these things. There's only one instance where he's actually been scared by something, by a voice he said he heard, and he told me right away that he was afraid. I wonder if he will grow out of it.
jillybean said…
Angels are always watching over us. It's beautiful that your son is able to communicate with those who love you and him. What a blessing...
Liz Dwyer said…
Jillybean,
I think it is truly a blessing. I always pray for those who have passed away and I have no doubt they watch over us as well.
Anonymous said…
Creepy. You told the story so well that the hair is standing up on the back of my neck. Good thing you grabbed him. I do believe that this kind of experience can be real. My uncle who passed over a year ago came to me in a dream recently. He was a paraplegic and I never knew him when he walked. He was walking and smiling in my dream and it was a beautiful sight.

Psychics say that the deceased come to people in their dreams and that it takes a certain person to see it for what it is.

Can you ask him the NY Lottery numbers for tonight's drawing? (Just kidding, unless by chance he knows them.)
Jameil said…
woooooooooooooooooooooooooow.
Lisa Johnson said…
I'm glad that you are both okay. I do believe in the paranormal and that we sometimes "know" things without any logical reason. I have dozens of examples that have happened to me and my family and people I know. I guess I won't say anymore, so I don't freak you out. But I have no doubt that it was your grandmother looking out for the two of you. To me that's a good thing and nothing to be afraid of. Life is hard and we need all the help we can get.
the joy said…
Wow. Good thing you take him seriously. My mom used to do stuff like that and my grandma would call her a jinx. Wasn't the best reinforcement... Just keep having a relationship with him where yall communicate.
Unknown said…
Messengers from beyond! I think it is kind of comforting that our families can reach us when innocense is listening ~ it is only when we stop listening that we lose our voices. I would encourage him to keep listening!

I was very close to my Grandma. When she passed, I dreamed of her sitting in her fav. rocking chair with a beautiful, carmel drop with black hair and the bluest eyes...she just sat there rocking him and beaming...6 yrs later after giving birth to my son, imagine my complete and utter amazement when they put a beautiful carmel drop with the bluest eyes on my belly! My mom nearly passed out!

Your son has a gift, for however long, it is some sort of blessing and I hope it continues to keep you all safe!
I believe in psychic abilities and it sounds as if your son has well-developed ones.

We all have many abilities that remain dormant in most of us, which I think is a shame because exercising them could make our lives richer. The line between what we consider living and dead is thinner than we are taught to believe.

I'm very glad you and he were not hit, and it should be s source of comfort that your family is being looked after by kindly, loving spirits.
Liz Dwyer said…
Keith,
It makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up too. I was talking to a friend earlier today about how if you dream of someone who has passed it really is your soul connecting with theirs. And LOL about the lottery. If only!

Jameil,
Yep. My thoughts exactly.

Anali,
I'm so curious what experiences you've had with your family. I think you've got a good way of looking at it because life can get incredibly hard. Having the aide and assistance of those who have passed on is surely a blessing.

The Joy,
I definitely take him seriously because he is such an honest and sincere boy, and of course, because I love him! I never want him to feel like he is doing something bad or is somehow evil because he's clearly not. He has such a pure heart and I admire him for it.

Houseonahill.org,
You make me think about how folks say that adults for get to dream, imagine and forget their innocence. Many of us also probably lose that ability to connect with those who have passed on. And that story about your baby is really something. Wow.

Heart,
I definitely believe we have abilities that aren't meant for this world. Like, we can't use our legs to run when we're inside our moms, but we need them when we come out. So some of the things that happen, maybe they're preparation for our lives after death.
Miriam said…
That is chilling! I'm glad he is non- chalant about it, as you are rather than freaked out, etc.

It seemed like it was protective rather than a "bad spirit". I think he'd know depending on how he felt if something was bad, etc.
Anonymous said…
Eerie! When it comes to the paranormal, it doesn't take much to scare me. I hate that aspect of me because I become imprisoned by paranoia for a month or two.

I'm so glad you and your son were not hurt.
Liz Dwyer said…
Miriam
I am rather freaked out, aren't I? But I'm careful to not let him see it because I don't want to freak him out since he's the one dreaming about dead people and he isn't scared one bit.

Fashionista,
I'm glad we weren't hurt either. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him. That's what I get paranoid about!

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