Does stuff like this happen to anyone else....?
File this one under "random weirdness," or perhaps even "creepy stories."
A few weeks ago, around Mothers` Day, I was talking to someone I know from the kids` school, someone with whom I am friendly and genuinely like, but whom I don`t know very well. I was making small talk with this person, and was about to ask them what they were doing for their mother for Mothers` Day, when.....I don`t quite know how to describe it, but I was suddenly seized with the knowledge that this person`s mother was dead.
It was a really awful, intense feeling. My words sort of stuck in my throat, and I felt awkward, as if I had asked my question out loud and upset the person. But of course I didn`t ask it, and instead I immediately asked something else.
A few weeks later, for an entirely unrelated, random reason, I happened to learn this person`s father`s first name. With the awful feeling still lingering in the back of my mind, I decided to do a Google search and through that, I found this person`s mother`s name, and then searched it see if I could find any obituary for her. I knew what part of the country their family is from, and their last name is unusual, so I figured something would come up.
But nothing at all came up for her. I was profoundly relieved, and thought, great, she`s still alive, so my awful feeling didn`t mean anything at all. In fact, I felt foolish for spending time searching for something silly like that. What the hell was wrong with me, anyway? Didn`t I have better things to do, than follow up on my meaningless premonitions about people I barely know?
Well, I just found out last weekend that this person actually did lose their mother a few years ago. A mutual friend happened to mention this fact, and as soon as she said it, I got my awful feeling back and thought, "I knew it!"
So how did I know it? (And why don`t I know things like winning lottery numbers?!?)
I told Hub this story, and he was unimpressed.
"The person`s mother was either going to be alive or dead, so you had a 50-50 chance of being right either way," he scoffed. Yes, that`s true enough -- but it doesn`t explain why I got my awful feeling in the first place, nor the intensity of it. I should also note that this person is still in their 20`s, so from a strictly actuarial point of view, their mother was statistically likely to still be alive.
As I was typing this post, the awful, creepy feeling came back, so I think I`m going to end with something vaguely paranormal but very nice that happened to me on Mothers` Day this year.
I always miss my maternal grandmother on Mothers` Day. She lived with our family, and I was much closer to her than I was to either of my parents. She died when I was pregnant with Daughter (who is named after her), and even though it`s been more than 10 years, I still miss her every day.
The furniture in Daughter`s room is my grandmother`s old bedroom set. On Mother`s Day, Daughter came up to me and handed me a card, and said, "This just fell out of one of my drawers."
It was a Mother`s Day card I had sent my grandmother from Japan one year. It said, "Happy Mothers` Day, Gramma! I MISS YOU!"
She had saved my card -- and it must have gotten stuck in the back of one of the drawers. That`s kind of incredible, when I think about it, because after my grandmother died my mother emptied all the drawers and got rid of all the stuff in them. And then all of the drawers were removed every time the furniture was moved to another house, which happened at least three times. When I received the furniture, I thoroughly dusted inside before I put the drawers back in. So how did the card get stuck back there? And how did it just happen to fall out on Mothers` Day?
Does stuff like this happen to other people, too, or am I the only freak?
A few weeks ago, around Mothers` Day, I was talking to someone I know from the kids` school, someone with whom I am friendly and genuinely like, but whom I don`t know very well. I was making small talk with this person, and was about to ask them what they were doing for their mother for Mothers` Day, when.....I don`t quite know how to describe it, but I was suddenly seized with the knowledge that this person`s mother was dead.
It was a really awful, intense feeling. My words sort of stuck in my throat, and I felt awkward, as if I had asked my question out loud and upset the person. But of course I didn`t ask it, and instead I immediately asked something else.
A few weeks later, for an entirely unrelated, random reason, I happened to learn this person`s father`s first name. With the awful feeling still lingering in the back of my mind, I decided to do a Google search and through that, I found this person`s mother`s name, and then searched it see if I could find any obituary for her. I knew what part of the country their family is from, and their last name is unusual, so I figured something would come up.
But nothing at all came up for her. I was profoundly relieved, and thought, great, she`s still alive, so my awful feeling didn`t mean anything at all. In fact, I felt foolish for spending time searching for something silly like that. What the hell was wrong with me, anyway? Didn`t I have better things to do, than follow up on my meaningless premonitions about people I barely know?
Well, I just found out last weekend that this person actually did lose their mother a few years ago. A mutual friend happened to mention this fact, and as soon as she said it, I got my awful feeling back and thought, "I knew it!"
So how did I know it? (And why don`t I know things like winning lottery numbers?!?)
I told Hub this story, and he was unimpressed.
"The person`s mother was either going to be alive or dead, so you had a 50-50 chance of being right either way," he scoffed. Yes, that`s true enough -- but it doesn`t explain why I got my awful feeling in the first place, nor the intensity of it. I should also note that this person is still in their 20`s, so from a strictly actuarial point of view, their mother was statistically likely to still be alive.
As I was typing this post, the awful, creepy feeling came back, so I think I`m going to end with something vaguely paranormal but very nice that happened to me on Mothers` Day this year.
I always miss my maternal grandmother on Mothers` Day. She lived with our family, and I was much closer to her than I was to either of my parents. She died when I was pregnant with Daughter (who is named after her), and even though it`s been more than 10 years, I still miss her every day.
The furniture in Daughter`s room is my grandmother`s old bedroom set. On Mother`s Day, Daughter came up to me and handed me a card, and said, "This just fell out of one of my drawers."
It was a Mother`s Day card I had sent my grandmother from Japan one year. It said, "Happy Mothers` Day, Gramma! I MISS YOU!"
She had saved my card -- and it must have gotten stuck in the back of one of the drawers. That`s kind of incredible, when I think about it, because after my grandmother died my mother emptied all the drawers and got rid of all the stuff in them. And then all of the drawers were removed every time the furniture was moved to another house, which happened at least three times. When I received the furniture, I thoroughly dusted inside before I put the drawers back in. So how did the card get stuck back there? And how did it just happen to fall out on Mothers` Day?
Does stuff like this happen to other people, too, or am I the only freak?
posted by L. at 9:58 AM
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