AN AMAZING GALLERY WITH BRANDIE CHRISMAN

A few weeks ago I took a friend to another gallery given by Brandie Chrisman (see psychic # 2 from last April post).  Christine had been in town to care for her elderly mother who was in declining health and on hospice care.  Chris had also lost her brother suddenly only a month prior to coming to the gallery, so naturally she was hoping to hear from him.  Well, hear from him she did - and her father.  For her $25 she had a little over 20 minute reading.  And as usual Brandie was extremely accurate.

The gallery was held at the same Hampton Inn as before in a small conference room.  There were less than a dozen attending this time which increased the odds of getting a reading.  I had a feeling, however, that Christine's dad would come through as he did for me when I had a reading with the Kansas City medium (see post for medium #3 last October) and my intuition was spot on.

Brandie began the session by explaining how an intuitive medium works and then having us ask questions.  Unfortunately I did not have enough sense to turn my recorder on and I should have because her information was very interesting.  One question I asked her was if she could hear a spirit and she replied that she could not - everything she received was from her "feeling it".  I also asked her if she had ever tried remote viewing and she had not; in fact she didn't know what that was.  (For information on remote viewing go to www.mceagle.com - a website for Joe McMoneagle who worked for the government as a psychic spy.)  I have a feeling that Brandie would be excellent at remote viewing.  Christine asked her if she had ever "seeked knowledge" and I had no idea what she was talking about.  However, Brandie did and stated that she had tried it once and can't remember anything she said.  She said that her mother was present and a couple of other people.  Apparently she must go into a trance and channel someone or something.  I'd really like to know what she said! 

Fortunately I remembered to turn my recorder on for the reading!
As usual, Brandie was uncannily accurate.  After transcribing the reading I counted over 40 items that Brandie had mentioned about Christine's father and brother.  When Christine read the transcription she realized that there were a few things where she had responded no that she should have responded yes.  This underscores the importance of always recording any reading you go to!  During a reading you are trying to process one piece of information when you are given another piece of information to process and while you are trying to process everything it is not uncommon for one to have what John Edwards calls "psychic amnesia."  You really can go blank - I've done it.

Here is a condensed version of the reading with just the facts that Brandie gave to Christine:

She felt he had height to him - over six feet.
He had broad shoulders.
He had very long legs.
He was a father or grandfather on the father's side.
He wore jeans.
  [This is all correct except for the broad shoulders.  Brandie said
she felt him pulling her shoulders back which is why she felt he must have broad shoulders.  Later Christine thought maybe he was
trying to get across that he was no longer stooped and his back was straight again.]

He was a plain, simple kind of guy.
Works with his hands, he was a mechanic.
Brandie wants to place him outside when he worked with something mechanical.
[He was a mechanic for an airline and was a plain, simple man.  Not sure about working outside but since he worked on planes during WWII he probably did work on some of the planes outside.]  

His passing was heart related.
His death was sudden but the illness was not.
He didn't want to talk about it or get it looked at.
He did not want to inconvenience anyone - did not want to upset the momentum.
He had an issue with his lungs as well; a smokers cough; and his cough was bothersome.
He had a very mechanical aspect to him.
He had a natural knowledge and wisdom.
He would stand his ground.
[All true.]

Brandie said he was talking about his other girl and asked if it was Christine's sister, however, since Christine has no sister Brandie said it must be that she and her mom must have been his girls. [Correct]

He had a quite side.
He could communicate when it mattered.
He was a nail bitter.
He had a rigorous background - military.
Took his background in the military with him.
There was a sad side to him that was pretty deep.
Chris was not there when he passed.
His wife was very giving and he felt he did not fully vocalize his appreciation.
There were words left unsaid.
[All of this describes Christine's dad.  He learned how to work on planes in the military and after the war he worked at American Airlines until he retired. He did suffer from depression. Christine confirmed "the words left unsaid" were what she always wished she had said to her father before he went into surgery.]  

He really wanted Christine to succeed academically.
He was showing Christine as an academic.  (Chris answered NO to her being "an academic".  He always wanted desperately for her to be more academically inclined and would enroll her in anything extra outside of school he could find.)

He showed Brandie a hospital bracelet.  (Christine's mother was in the hospital at that time.)  Brandie also saw a watch and a ring.  (Christine thought that her mother's watch and ring had been lost at the hospital but fortunately they were found.)

Brandie said that Christine favors her father in demeanor and that
she sizes people up before she lets them in.
[A spot on description of Christine!]

Brandie then mentioned her brother and Christine told her that he had recently passed so Brandie connected to him next.  He began by showing her his last few days although Brandie said he did not want to talk about his cause of death.

She saw her brother as being less focused and not being able to gather his thoughts.
He had a great deal of confusion.
There must have been a blood clot, stroke or some sort of alzhiemers.
She could feel his overwhelming frustration and anxiety.
He physically could not talk.
People were caring for him.
[Everything is correct.  Her brother had open heart bypass surgery a few months prior to his death and he could not recover enough to take care of himself.  Eventually, one day he could not catch his breath and called 911 and when the paramedics got there he went into cardiac arrest and they resuscitated him for six minutes.  At the hospital they put him into an induced coma to help reduce swelling in his brain and put him on a ventilator.  A couple of days later when he was awakened and they tried to wean him off the ventilator he could not tolerate it because his lungs would keep filling up with fluid.  It was then determined that he had lung cancer and he was in no condition to have chemo.  In short, there was nothing left to do for him.  The doctors were not sure how much brain damage there had been from such a long resuscitation. However, he did recognize people and could respond that he understood some things. Sadly, he could not live without the ventilator and his doctors had to let him know there was nothing more they could do for him.  When his breathing tube was removed he passed very quickly.]

Also:
He was Christine's older brother.
When they were younger they got on each other's nerves but as adults they became closer.
He had a sense of humor.
He passed within a month or two.
He was in a nursing facility.
[All of this is correct]

Then Brandie gave Christine's Bob's message, which was that he was no longer in pain and he was up again.  [Christine and Bob's children had worked hard on encouraging Bob to get up and start walking after his surgery.  It was difficult for him to walk so he would rarely get out of his recliner when he was home.  He did not tolerate the post surgery pain well.  I was not surprised that he would want to tell Chris that he was up.]

Christine's father's message was that her brother is not alone "because it is very significant that they are together and they are not alone."
[The one question that Christine had wanted answered was were her father and brother together - that was very important to her. Fortunately she got her answer.]

Then Brandie said "They are wanting to talk to you about you must have been worried that you were the only one left and it must have been causing you some stress . . . they are talking about things needing to be proved to you . . . this is your proof."
[She had been mourning the fact that soon she would be the only one left of her family and she was looking for assurances that there really was something after we leave this life.  I believe she got what she came for!]

ATCHISON, KS GALLERY WITH TRACI BRAY - UPDATE

Toward the end of the gallery Traci had worked her way around the room and made her way to our table where she stopped and stood less than two feet from my friend Brenda.  Traci asked if anyone knew of someone named Brenda who had passed from breast cancer.  No one responded and the room remained silent.  Brenda and I looked at each other and I knew what she was thinking, which was the same thing I was thinking, which was "oh shit!".  Having no one acknowledge knowing anyone named Brenda who had passed, Traci moved on to the next soul wanting to come through. 

After the gallery concluded Brenda asked Traci if perhaps that message could be for her since she was named Brenda.  Traci's response at the time was that "it really didn't work that way" and she thought Brenda had nothing to worry about.  I wasn't so sure.
Brenda had already gone through uterine and bladder cancer and she unfortunately has a genetic condition called Lynch Syndrome which greatly increases her risk of getting cancer. Naturally I told her I thought she should go ahead and get her mammogram scheduled "just in case".

So - to make a long story short, Brenda did call for her mammogram and had to wait about six weeks before she could have it since it had not quite been a year since her last one.  After the test she received a letter from the breast center stating she needed to come in for a more detailed xray of her breast because something did show up. That test led to a needle biopsy which led to her discovering that she did indeed have breast cancer.  Thankfully it was in a very early stage and after out patient surgery and radiation she is doing very well.

We don't believe this was all just a coincidence.  Of course we will always be speculating who came through at that moment to give Brenda a warning.  Was it another woman named Brenda or could it have been a classmate from high school who had passed a few years earlier from breast cancer, or an ancestor?  But no matter who it was, we are very grateful for the message! 

I wrote to Traci about Brenda's cancer and she was amazed and I think a little shocked.  She plans to add this testimonial to her website.  This underscores the importance of always recording any reading you have.  Something that may seem of little significance at the time may reveal itself later to be much more important than you would have imagined.

TRACI BRAY PSYCHIC MEDIUM

While visiting an old friend in Kansas City, Missouri I took the opportunity to consult another medium.  There were more to choose from than Tulsa and after looking at various websites I decided on Traci Bray. www.tracibray.com  I met with her on Sunday morning at Union Station since her office was unavailable.  We sat at a bench in a secluded area and at that time of the morning there were few people around so it was fairly quiet.  It was a little distracting for me but apparently not at all for Traci.  Fortunately she always provides a recording of her sessions.  I had been distracted having fun with my friends over the weekend and I forgot to check the batteries in my recorder which turned out to be dead. 

The first person to come through she told me worked around airplanes as a mechanic, flight engineer or attendant.  The only person I could think of was the father of a dear friend of mine who had been a mechanic for American Airlines.  Traci asked me if this man started working on planes in the military because the plane took on an olive color. (He did)  She asked if the name Jack or John was around the father.  (My friend did not know who she could be referring to but her father did have a grandfather named Jack) Traci asked if my friend has a young child or grandchild because she was shown a toddler.  (She does)  Traci also stated that she bet he really, really loved popcorn and in fact that did have some special significance to my friend.  When she was young she and her father would make popcorn and play chicken - they would take turns peeking under the lid until the first kernel popped then after the popcorn was made they would watch TV together and eat it.

Then Traci surprised me by asking if there was anything I wanted to ask him.  I had no idea what to ask him and felt totally unprepared.  Of course after thinking about it I have a lot of questions now but I was almost totally blank during the reading.  Never would I have thought this individual would come through but after thinking about why he did I think I know.  His wife is 91 and is very frail and on hospice.  I believe this was his way of letting his daughter know that he is around and aware of everything.  Good grief, he even knows what I am up to!

She asked if I knew a Frank or Francis or a priest who had passed.  I did not.

Traci asked if my dad had anything to do with architecture?  I said no.  She asked if he loved to read because the name Carnegie kept coming up and she would see it with an old library, which is why she thought he was some sort of an engineer or architect.  I told her he was an engineer.  She asked if he had lovely penmanship because she was seeing lovely writing and felt his signature was very important to him.  In fact my father did have lovely handwriting for a man and his signature was beautiful - (especially when compared to my husband's writing!)  Then she was seeing the Brooklyn Bridge and wanted to know if there was a New York connection for him and I said no.  Asked if  I been to New York recently and in fact I had made my first trip to New York City in April of this year.  She wanted to know if I had been over the bridge or through the tunnel.  I had not gone over the bridge but had been through the tunnel.

Then Traci saw a gun and asked if anyone owned one or was in law enforcement?  (Naturally I totally forgot about my nephew who is a boarder patrol agent!)   Was anyone around my husband who died of a gunshot?  Any siblings with guns?  At the time I responded no, but upon reflection later I realized that my father did have a cousin who was killed in WWII of a gunshot wound.  His cousin was in the Navy and was some sort of an engineer and they were out working on a bridge, I believe, when he was shot in the head by a sniper. She asked if the month of October was significant for my father.  Yes, he was born in October.  Then she asked me if I had any questions for him.  The only thing I could think to ask was what was he doing over there.  Impossible to validate but entertaining to listen to nonetheless.

According to Traci when she asked him what he was doing over there he pointed to a picture of a red, shiny convertible that was in Union Station and told her that he drives there and goes fast. Just what I would expect him to be doing if he could.  Cars were my father's favorite thing in life next to his family.  There were always stacks of Motor Trend and other car magazines next to his chair.   But then she said he was living with his mom and she was younger than when she died.  Not what I would have expected him to be doing.  My grandmother was wearing an apron with flour on it so Traci thought she must have been a good cook.  About that I have no clue. Asked if my father liked to fish because he is  fishing over there.  I don't know how much he liked to fish.  I remember he took me fishing once and I know when he was younger he went deep sea fishing.  So, although he never talked about going fishing I assume it was something he enjoyed.

Traci asked if my father had a brother who passed - No.  Did my mother have a brother passed? Yes.  Because she saw my father with someone who is a brother or brother like and in the same age group.  I would expect this to be Charlie Henderson, who came through in my reading with Brandie.  She asked if there was anyone with the initial B or L? No  She kept hearing the name Lyndell.  I never heard that name before.

I was then asked if I had an old boyfriend who passed away?  Yes - actually I had two who died but for some reason I only remembered one during the reading. Traci asked me his name and I told her it was Artie.  She asked me if he had cancer because she saw that he had something that went pretty fast like the flesh eating bacteria.  I didn't find out about Artie's untimely demise until a few years after his death and his obituary did not state the cause of death.  It also could have been Bill - I learned about his death a few years after he passed..

 Next she asked who the photographer was and that could have been my father or my sister.  She asked if I had a son and I don't.  Then she asked what kids I did have and I told her two daughters.  Did either of them model?  No.  She wondered if either of them had any professional photographs taken recently? My oldest daughter had recently been married and had a professional photographer at her wedding.  Traci said that my dad (or sister) was there trying to help the photographer to take perfect pictures.

Traci saw the presidents who are on money and wanted to know if I knew of anyone with the name of one of those presidents.  My father-in-law was named George. There were about five other points she asked about him that did not fit at all until she asked if someone around him was in the medical profession and George does have a son who is a pharmacist.

Interestingly, she asked if my mother-in-law's name was the middle name of one of my daughters and I said no.  She asked if my mother's middle name was given to my oldest daughter and that is correct.  Legally my mother did not have a middle name but always wanted one so she picked Elizabeth and for most of my life I thought that was really her middle name.

Traci asked if my mother died in her sleep or was she comatose and that is correct.  She saw that her care had been terminated (correct) and my mother related that she thought we did the right thing.  Then Traci saw clothes pins.  Go figure.

I was asked again if I had any questions so I asked the same one - what is she doing over there. Traci wanted to know if my mother played the organ or any instrument with a valve.  Never.   Traci saw bunches of embrodery thread and that my mother was around fabrics and threads.  That was surprising and spot on because my mother was amazing at making clothes.  She could copy anything we saw in a store. She could also upolster furniture like a professional.

On to the next person, Traci asked if I knew anyone with the name of Jennie, Jamie or Joannie - a name that started with J and ended with the y sound.  I told her yes - Judy.  Traci asked me how she died and I responded that she had died after an elective surgery that required only one day in the hospital.   She asked me if Judy had indicated before she went to the hospital that she was worried about the outcome.  Judy had never worried about having surgery before in the past and the surgery she was going to have was very common.  However, weeks before she went to the hospital she was leaving instructions with her daughters in the event she did not make it through surgery.

Traci asked if Judy's husband traveled for work.  No -  Did Judy travel?  Oh yes, and when not traveling she was planning on where to go next.  Did she love seafood?  Judy adored shrimp. Do I have any questions for her?  Same one I always asked - what is she doing over there?  I was astonished when the first word out of Traci's mouth was "art" and sewing projects.  Judy was an artist.  Had Judy been into women's rights?  Heaven's no.  Any survivors around her named Bryon or Bryce?  No.

At this point Traci started asking about different people, none of whom were connected to me.  There was someone who loved racing fast cars; Gene, a funny guy with a mustache;  a gambler who got lucky a lot; someone with the last name of Klein; a Jack or a John.

Since we were now getting nowhere she asked me who I wanted to hear from so I asked her to see if she could connect with a woman I had known, Karen.  This connection turned out to be extremely accurate.  The first thing Traci said about Karen was that she was philantrophic and that she donated time and volunteered a lot. That was definitely Karen who was a social worker at a hospice and  she did donate countless hours.  Traci saw a kitchen aid mixer then a drill - not sure what that was supposed to mean.   But then she saw a stringed instrument and that was significant - Karen's husband played guitar in a band.  Traci saw sticky buns and wanted to know if Karen loved sweets.  Absolutely  Traci mentioned a few other things that I really did not know if they were correct or not.

Traci asked if she had died from an illness and I said yes.  Then I was absolutely shocked when Traci said "it was her brain, wasn't it."  Karen died from a brain tumor.  Then came another shock when Traci said "Karen says see you later alligator."  Karen used to say that a lot.

In this reading Traci was spot on about a lot of things but there were also a lot of things that she wasn't.  At a glance I would say she is at least over 60% accurate, but for now that is just an estimate, it could be higher. It was harder to estimate her accuracy because she asked many more questions then I was used to during a reading and came up with a lot of names that had no connection to me. She had a somewhat different method of reading as compared to Brandi and that takes an adjustment on my part to get used to.

UPDATE ON SECOND SESSION WITH BRANDIE CHRISMAN

After my second session with Brandie Chrisman I spoke with a niece and learned a couple of things which additionally validated Brandie's reading in regard to my late niece Kimberly.  Brandie has described a boy who had a disagreement with Kim shortly before she passed.  In a nutshell, Brandie said that in Kim's eyes he was a goodie-goodie, and was still feeling guilt about this disagreement and he needed to put this guilt down. Kim has been gone for over ten years.  Brandie had also said that she had an out of control feeling with Kim and she didn't know if that meant a car was out of control or if her life was out of control. 


Kim's sister told me she recently learned of a man who Kim had known and apparently this man (although married with a child now) had asked a mutual friend to pray for Kimberly.  This man had also wanted Kim to go to Florida with him and she would not go because she thought he was "too churchie."  He stated that he wondered what his life would have been like if Kim had gone with him.  I think someone being too "churchie" qualifies them as being a "goodie-goodie."  I also think that a man who is still asking someone to pray for Kim after she has been gone for over ten years is still harboring some intense feelings toward her.  I had assumed that the boy in question that Brandie had discussed was Kim's younger brother, but since learning of this other man I have changed my mind. 


When I asked my niece if she knew of any traumatic incident that could have been the cause of Kim's problems with drugs I was astounded to learn that Kim had been molested
by a babysitter when she was about ten.  Kim had surpressed  the memory for two or three years until she happened to flash back to the incident while watching TV with her sister.  Kim started crying and told her sister what had happened to her.  As it turns out, the boy, who was 15 at the time, went to school with Kim's older sister.  Kim was sent to counseling, but the offender was never confronted by her parents so there were never any consequences for him. Brandie had said that Kim needed this traumatic incident to be acknowledged and I can certainly understand why.


In regard to the "out of control" feeling that Brandie had - Kim had been in a truck that she lost control of while driving and she tore down some fencing.  This resulted in a ticket and a substantial fine.  The day the first payment of the fine was due was the day she ended her life. 

Another person who had come through at this reading was a great aunt who had raised two sons.  I had no clue who this was.  Brandie said she felt this woman was rather head strong.
After a little research I determined that this was my great aunt Margaret Elizabeth Nash, who had raised two sons and divorced her husband in 1932 at the age of 61.


Once again Brandie was unbelievably accurate.

PSYCHIC MEDIUM BRANDIE CHRISMAN

Brandie Chrisman is an engaging, attractive young woman in her twenties and a single mom with two young children. www.brandiechrisman.com  She lives in a beautiful home about a thirty minute drive from my house.  We settled in her living room in two chairs facing each other about four feet apart with new age music playing softly in the background.  My first impression was a little doubtful because she was so young, but after reviewing our recorded session and reading my grandfather's obituary  I am very impressed with her accuracy. Well, shocked is a more accurate description. There is no way she could know things about my family (going back over 80 years).  Even if she did a google search to find out information about me she would not have found the things she talked about. And besides, I used my maiden name when I made an appointment with her which I haven't used in over 30 years.  So if she looked for anything about me online she wouldn't find a thing.  Brandie talked about things that no one could just guess about my mother or father or grandfather. She is definitely one of the best psychic mediums in Oklahoma, if not the best.  I am far more impressed with her than either James Van Pragh or Sylvia Brown. Brandie also attended the Arthur Findlay College for mediumship in Essex, England.

From the information she gave that I could verify, it appears that she was over 90 percent accurate with my reading (and that's a conservative estimate). I counted 44 details she gave that were accurate.  Five details that I don't know. (Although I don't remember if my father taught me how to ride a bike I don't know who else would have.)  Only one detail that was incorrect - my grandfather had no military connection.  Brandie stated that if he didn't have a military connection it could mean that he was very regimented.  I have no idea if he was or not, but I would guess he would have to be because of how successful he was and perserving through the depression.

Some of things she told me I couldn't verify until later and I thank God I recorded the reading.  Brandie gives so much information and I was so occupied trying to process everything there is no way I could have remembered everything she said.  I wrote out the entire session and that gave me a better picture of just how much information she gave me and how accurately she understood my family dynamics.  I have heard a medium on television remark that spirits have a story to tell and that does seem to be the case - especially with my mother.

In the second reading I had with Brandie she was just as accurate (see my post of 5/30/11 and the update in the post of 7/15/11).  Last March I took a friend to one of Brandie's galleries where she was lucky enough to receive a reading.  After listening to the recording and writing everything she told my friend, we counted 40 items Brandie had correct and just three we weren't sure of.  Brandie is consistently accurate.  I have written about my reading with Brandie so anyone can see exactly what I learned from my reading with her and get an idea of how she works.

Brandie began by telling me to answer just yes, no or maybe, and that if she needs clarification she will ask me a question.  I totally forgot about my recorder until about ten minutes into the session.  Like my first reading with a medium (see my post of 4/4/11) she had the sense of two males and a female.  I determined later that it was my grandfather who initially presented himself.  At first I had no clue who it was because she mentioned a banking connection and then she had a very good visual of him, tall, thin and balding.  [That's grandpa when he was older.] She saw that he was making a big deal about being strong, he was presenting himself with big biceps and thought he had a military background.  Neither of my grandfathers had a military background (that I knew of) but my maternal great grandfather did.  [I later learned from my grandfather's obituary that he was on the board of a bank.]

Brandi never gave me any initials or names in this reading, just information, but that was enough!  My mother came through next (grandfather came back later).  Brandie had a sense of her being educated, not with an advanced degree but more "book knowledge," she could hold a conversation.  [My mother never went to college, but all her siblings did.]

But then Brandie started talking about my mother's childhood, which I later realized she nailed, everything she told me was true.  Brandie said that during my mother's childhood things were very hard for her and her family, and:

1)   they lived in poverty;
2)   mother's parents were hard working;
3)   mom was one of many  [Brandie thought 5 but there were seven kids];
4)   she felt lost in the shuffle;
5)   they all did a level of work to make life work for as long as she could remember;
6)   depression and dust bowl era was significant to my mother;
7)   stressed that the family really went through hard times;
8)   Brandie saw blue collar and farm land - you have to really get out there and use your hands;
9)   education was stopped abruptly at a certain point;
10) college was a dream - Then Brandie said it was like my mother was shaking a finger at her and saying "but don't mistake that for being not being educated,"

[When I returned home I pulled out my genealogy records and found a family story written by a cousin about the life of our grandparents. During her childhood my mother was living in Wichita Falls,Texas and the family had been doing very well thanks to grandfather's investment in a few oil wells. Grandfather had made a million then lost it all when the depression hit and the banks called in the loans, and according to my cousin "there was nothing to do but hunker down and tough it out.  To eat, grandfather was forced back to subsistence farming (a form of farming in which nearly all of the crops or livestock raised are used to maintain the farmer and his family, leaving little, if any, surplus for sale or trade."  He basically found a site in open prairie and moved in dilapidated oil-field houses that he stuck together for a home.  My mother's education abruptly stopped at that point and as a senior in high school I am not sure if she was able to graduate or not.   If she had not, she would never have told us!  All her siblings had been to college but being the youngest she never had the chance, so her education was abruptly stopped as Brandie said. The dust bowl era took its toll on them too and they survived on what grandmother could grow in her garden and a few hogs that they raised, and an occasional beef that one of the family could afford to butcher.]

Then Brandie goes into more personal areas for my mother.  She said that when mom was older it was very important to her to be very well "put together."  Brandie was taken back to the 50's era dress and gloves.  She said it was like prim and proper were very important to my mother. [A big yes on that!]  Brandie asked mom why she was bringing this up and determined that this was around the time she met my father and that was when she had felt the best in her life. [True, she had a good job and she found my dad.]

Amazingly, Brandie sensed that later my mother became very stressed and frazzeled, and had a sense of being overwhelmed. [Yes]  According to Brandie, my mother felt that things had to be a certain way to be right, but never quite were how she thought they should be. Brandie said I might not have known this about my mother, but my mother had a tendency to become frazzeled raising children. [Oh yes!]

[Wow, looking back now I realize Brandie is absolutely correct.  My mother came from a blue collar background and when she met my dad, (who had a Master's in Engineering from LSU and worked for an oil company) she must have felt very lucky to have made such a good catch!  She determined very early in their relationship that she would marry him.  Consequently, however, with my father's position came an elevation in social status that did cause her considerable concern for being proper and everything being just right.  I do remember my mother as being stressed a lot and I had more than my fair share of lectures about how to act or dress for "polite society."]  

Switching gears,  Brandie said my mother was now talking about my relationship with her, that there had been a distance between us, either a physical distance or at odds.  [Probably talking about the time I lived in Canada with my first husband. I don't recall being at odds any more than most teenagers/young adult.]  She went back to being frazzeled during my early childhood.  [I'm sure Brandie is correct about that because I was a surprise baby when my mother turned 40 and I remember her being "frazzeled" or nervous.  My mother would never play cards with me or board games because she claimed that it made her too nervous. At the time I didn't think that much about it because it was just what I thought was normal.]

What really shocked me was being told my mother acknowledged "things I wanted her to do that she didn't - like go to things, or do things and she didn't". [OMG]  Brandie said my mother apologized for not being more motivated and not measuring up.  My mother was at odds with herself.  It was stressed that there was a significant change in my mother due to fatigue from when she was younger.  My mother had an image of how life should be and she was sorry for not measuring up.  [Wow]

I was surprised when Brandie stated that my mother talked about having a lot of fatigue.  My mother told Brandie that everyone thought at the time it was depression, but it was not.  The fatigue was significant because it became worse which caused her to become unmotivated.  It continued to worsen until she let everything go and that she became ill before anyone else knew.  There is something significant about the immense fatigue.  [OMG]
[On the way home from my reading I realized how much that made sense because for years my siblings and I had thought our mother was depressed (or lazy).  Perhaps it was because she did seem so unmotivated - she had to have a housekeeper and after dinner our dishes went into the sink to "soak" so they would be easier for the housekeeper to clean.  Then it dawned on me; my mother snored horribly and I would bet a large amount of money that she had sleep apnea (like my sister).  The next day I recalled when I was a senior in high school and found my mother's prescriptions for both Dexadrine and Benzedrine - (which I admit I sampled so I could stay up and study for a test) and why on earth would she need bottles of both?  This was 1969 and I don't believe that doctors had even discovered sleep apnea yet. Sleep apnea can also cause strokes and my mother had her first one at 59.] 

Brandie said that the fatigue played into things not being the way my mother thought they should have been and she is sorry that she could not make it so.  She had some guilt that she could not provide the picture of what things should be like.  [I totally believe this is correct because it makes so much sense to me.]

Then who had to be my grandfather (my mother's dad) came through again as strong and again showing big biceps. Brandie stated that he was over emphasizing that he was not strong at the end of his life, but he feels strong now.  Brandie thought his death was chest related, maybe heart. [Had no clue until I came home and read his obit.] She felt he had a military back ground or he was very regimented; [Don't know.] and that he was a proud man - but not in a negative light, but that he holds himself with pride.  [My mother specifically told me this about my grandfather, that he was a proud man.]  

Brandie described him physically as having broad shoulders and tall [I don't know] and that he was blue collar; she saw him out on the land with the plaid shirt feel and an oil field connection. [The oil filed connection really surprised me - remember that during the depression he put together shacks from oil fields to make a home.  Before the depression he had invested in oil wells.]  Brandie stated that she felt that he had no college. [Correct, my grandfather left home at 13.]  She said that my grandfather indicated that he died when I was a small child { I was two]. 

Again Brandie was drawn to his lungs, she had a heavy lung feeling like a chronic lung issue, almost like a miner's lung.  She asked me if he smoked and I said he probably did. [When I read his obituary I discovered that he died of lung cancer, so Brandie nailed that one!]

My grandfather showed Brandie a farmhouse with a row of trees and indicated that there was something significant about those trees.  Brandie said they kind of looked like fruit trees and she was shown apple trees - which she said usually means a teaching connection.  [Two aunts were teachers and surprisingly my grandfather was on the school board.] Brandie saw apples being put in boxes that were then put in a truck. [?]  Brandie said he was again emphasizing a life of work and she thought he was trying to say that I had that same work ethic. [How sweet.]  There was something significant about his watch [?] and again Brandie felt a military connection.  [I have no idea if my grandfather was ever, even briefly in the military.  I have yet to find a WWI draft registration card for him because in the data base  on Ancestry.com there are hundreds of men with his name. My cousins have never mentioned anything about him being in the military either.  His father, however, was a captain in the civil war.]

My father came through next.  Brandie saw him as slender and tall, educated, soft spoken- not a yeller, very level headed, good at expressing love and older when he passed.  [All true.]  Brandie had an image of graduation and me and that my father was very proud because it was like a milestone had been passed.  [I was the first of his children to graduate from college, albeit a junior college.  Since it was clear that my other two siblings would never graduate from a college he was especially happy that at least one of his kids did.  I remember him telling me after graduation ceremonies that "I was the first kid to graduate from college."   Interesting that Brandie would see that.]

She said my father had a sense of humor, that he enjoyed telling jokes with his friends and he could do it his whole life.  She said he could make me laugh.  [True.  In fact there was a newspaper article about my dad and his three college friends when they all got together again for the last time in their lives because of their 60 year friendship.  When my father was asked what they liked to do together one of his comments was that they "liked to tell jokes, mainly filthy ones."

Brandie said my father handed her a picture of her grandfather and thought that meant that dad was a newspaper reader.  Brandie said her grandfather used to sit in his chair with his coffee and read the paper.  [Yes, my dad certainly read the paper and books every day in his chair by the window, but with bourbon, not coffee.]  She said there was a soft strength about him and that when he did talk you listened - he talked when there was meaning.  She felt I could go to him with anything and he was not judgmental. [Yes]  He liked to care for people. [Yes]  Then, surprisingly Brandie said that he played board games to bond with me.  [He would always play Parcheesi with me whenever I asked him to.]

Apparently my father enjoyed being outdoors, she thought the outside made him feel like meditating and he would go out to reflect. [I don't know about that, but I do know that he loved taking us to the mountains in Colorado - his favorite place in the world. At one point he had purchased a half acre lot in Estes Park, CO and intended to build a vacation home there.  Unfortunately my mother's first stroke a few years later caused him to rethink building in a small town where he was not confident in the medical facilities.]  


She said that when he gave me away at my wedding it was emotional for him and a significant memory for him.  [He was extremely happy with husband no. 2. and knew he would not have to worry about me.]


He also taught me to ride a bike, I am told. [I don't remember, but I don't know who else would have taught me, certainly not my mother.]  She said dad was a picture taker.  [Absolutely - that was a big hobby for him.]  Brandie told me that dad brought a lot of joy to my childhood. [Oh yes, especially when he bought me a horse!]


Brandie thought there was something significant about dad's wedding ring and I told her he didn't have one.  She said then it has to mean that he took commitment seriously, he would not make promises he could not keep and he tried to pass that down.  [Absolutely true.] 

Brandie saw that I had a brother and that dad was very loving toward him also. [True]  He was very proud of his success. [At that point I indicated to Brandie that my brother was not particularly successful but actually that was my reaction to my estrangement from him.  My brother is a hard worker and did provide reasonably well for his family so that actually is success.  I was thinking of success as having a great career and making a large amount of money.]  She said that dad was separating me and my brother and my dad indicated that "they get on each other's nerves." [OMG, how many times did I hear that phrase when i was growing up, that one sibling or the other got on someone's nerves - usually my mother's!]  Brandie saw that there was something going on with me and my brother that makes us be separate. [True, for the last 25 years.]  I was told to not shut the door on him.  [We have emailed each other over the past couple of years.]


Back to me and my dad, Brandie said we were the closest in the family and he enjoyed that [true] and that he enjoyed our conversations when I was older.  She saw that it was significant when I came to see him and check on him when he was alone.  [True, after mom died I went over every day].  He left me with gratitude because we always had each other with mom being sick and brother being brother.  [Mom was in the hospital for a month before she died and my brother was in Australia and didn't make it home until soon after her death.]


I am so amazed.  This was more than I expected.  I am still processing all of this.  My parents have been gone for 25 years and this reading took me back to memories I hadn't thought about in a very long time.  I don't know how on earth anyone could guess all of this.  Wow . . . . I never thought I would find a good medium this fast! 

You can read about my second session with Brandie in my post of 5/30/11 and an update on the second session in my post of 7/15/11.  Brandie was consistent with her amazing accuracy and grasp of my family dynamics.  In the update I have included information I learned after discussing the reading with a niece. 

BLOGTALK RADIO

After listening to a reading by Brandie Chrisman on Blogtalk radio I found her website and made an appointment for Monday.  She lives about 30 minutes from my house and she charges $50 for 30 minutes and $100 for an hour.  I filled out a form on her website and about an hour later received a call from her assistant who scheduled the appointment.  (Must be doing well if she can hire an assistant!).  As it turned out, the $100 was a bargain for the numerous validations I received from Brandie.  It was an incredible experience and I plan to go back to her. 

If you have never head of Blogtalk radio (www.blogtalkradio.com)  I recommend that you take a look and see what it has to offer.  Anyone can host their own radio show and there are a wide variety of topics to choose from, and quite a bit for those interested in paranormal or spiritual topics.  I stumbled upon it when I was searching online for the next medium I wanted to see.  One of the things that Bob Olsen (www.bestpsychicdirectory.com and www.bestpsychicmedium.com)  recommends that you look for in a psychic is that they will go public, like in psychic fairs or blog talk radio.  It shows that they have more confidence in their abilities.  Another medium I hope to see has her own show on Blogtalk radio and hopefully I will have time to listen to a couple of her shows.

PSYCHIC MEDIUM JUSTIN

Finally, for the first time in my life I had a reading with a psychic medium.  Naturally I had hoped and prayed for a dramatic, detailed and accurate reading with specific names, dates and certain events in my life.  Not surprisingly, I guess, that was not to be.  I didn't think it was a total waste of time, however, because I could relate to some of the things he told me he was seeing.  Whether or not the information from actually communicating with those who have passed on or his own insight and intuition I will never know for certain.  But it is fun to speculate!

Justin is a very personable, down to earth, 30 something man of Italian heritage.  He is very easy going and immediately put me at ease.  The reading was conducted at his home where I met his wife and outgoing five year old son.  We sat in the kitchen for the reading which added to the relaxed atmosphere.  Justin explained to me that he gets messages mainly by being shown pictures, like a psychic pictionary.  He meditates before the reading asking those who have passed over to use parts of his life, if they so desire, to help him relate to what message they are trying to communicate.  He has been giving readings for ten years now and doesn't really advertise except for his website.  At $40 a hour he is the most reasonably priced medium I have found.  He lives in a lovely home with a pool so obviously he is employed elsewhere.  If someone needs a reading but cannot afford it, he will do it for free. (I haven't found anyone else who will do that yet.)

Before channeling the spirits, Justin began by giving me an Angel card reading.  I had never heard of Angel cards, but apparently they are a positive alternative to Tarot cards - there is nothing negative in them.  The reading from the cards was basically general and fairly accurate but things that could be applied to most mothers, so it would be difficult to say that it was psychic rather than intuition.  The main purpose of the Angel card reading is to set the stage, more or less, and to help open up a positive channel.


As he began to channel, Justin said there were several spirits present; an older male and another male and one female.  Immediately he was shown the letter J - - the letter that my sister's name begins with and who I most wanted to hear from.  I asked if it was for a male or female and Justin didn't know, all he saw was the older male acknowledging the letter J.  (I was being careful not to give much information.)  Immediately he was shown a motorcycle - which totally confused me.  I asked if it related to the J name and told him I didn't know of anyone who had passed with a motorcycle. 

[I do have a cousin, who at age 73 bought his first motorcycle and is extremely proud of it; as evidenced by his photo taken with it by a professional photographer and posted on facebook as his profile photo.  I wondered later if perhaps it was my father coming through and acknowledging that I had visited this cousin after not seeing him for fifty years.  My sister with the J name and I had talked for years about visiting this cousin.  Finally, a couple of years after my sister's death I decided to drive the 600 miles and see him.  As far as I know he is still living, at least he was a couple of months ago . . . I guess I'd better check.]

The older male presence was pointing from himself then to his side which indicated that someone was named after him.  [That would be my brother.]  Justin asked if this male had cancer [yes] and mentioned a cancer scare [maybe my brother who had thyroid cancer].  The presence was showing a white cake, which is supposed to acknowledge a birthday or anniversary within a month [my wedding anniversary is in seven weeks].  Then, out of the blue, Justin is shown a Lexus.  I had no idea what that meant nor did I know anyone who had one.  He also is shown a plane going from "here to here" - back and forth.  [I do travel a lot.]

Justin is then shown a child that is moved around a lot, which made the child feel disconnected.  I told him that made sense.  He saw that I had worked with the child.  Then the presence switches gears and acknowledges the cook [could be my mother in law or son in law].  Again, Justin saw the the male presence was with a female and two other males.  Then Justin states that they make him feel like I've been the glue that holds the family together and no one acknowledges it.  One thing was clear to Justin, he saw me going from here to there problem solving and correcting and "stuffing it down." [Very accurate for me at times or the skeptic could say that was a typical mother.]


[I then told him the child that who is moved around a lot would be my youngest daughter who had a drug problem.  We had sent her east to a rehab in Tennessee, then home where she relapsed a few months later, after which we sent her west to a half way house in Arizona and she has moved several different times while there.   The plane Justin sees going back and forth is probably me going back and forth to  Phoenix  from Oklahoma over the last three years. (Thanks to Southwest Rapid Rewards.)  In fact, I had only been back from Phoenix a couple of weeks at the time of the reading and in ten days I am going to Washington D.C. with a couple of friends, so that is pretty much back and forth over the country.]

Randomly, Justin was shown a teddy bear and wanted to know if that was significant in any way.  I said no.  Then he mentioned the 16th, which he said could be an age or date. [At the time I thought it was my dad's birthday, but I was mistaken.  Instead I realized later that on April 16th I will be in New York City for the first time in my life with my two best friends for the first time in their lives.  A very special day for us indeed!]

Then finally the woman presence presents herself strong [like I had asked my sister to].  She appeared to be the cook [sounds more like my mother in law] and was a stern disciplinarian [definitely not my sister].   But, then Justin says she is referencing "eyes" and asked if she had a problem with her eyes.  I told him there was no problem with her eyes but that did make sense to me.

[I did not tell Justin until later that before coming to the reading I had asked my sister to come through with something specific and that she could refer to our last trip together when we went through several states - Illinois, Indiana and Iowa.  I told her the medium worked by seeing pictures and she could show him eyes for the letter I, if she couldn't get across the specific states.]


At this point Justin tells me that he cant make much of anything out.  He said "it's like they don't want to talk to me.  Like they are very private."  He had difficulty getting anything for the rest of the reading, but he did come up with a little more.

Some random things:  A Vietnam vet [maybe an old boyfriend who may or may not have survived Vietnam.]  Who is the M name and not connected to the vet and who has allergies really bad [I had no clue. My maiden names starts with M and my paternal grandfather had severe allergies, but Justin thought it was a first name.]

He is shown a house with a wooden fence and tree in front with a blue buick (older, big tank of a car) in a suburban neighborhood.  A tire swing.   [No clue.] 

Then he gets a bit more accurate:  I was asked who is the scrapper - the fiesty one who would fight, the R name is coming through.  I responded that my husband has a name that begins with R.  Justin asked if he had a short fuse with we first met and I mellowed him out.  [More or less, took many years.]  I told Justin that my husband wrestled in high school and retired undefeated and he thought that qualified as a scrapper.  [I didn't tell him that my husband won a gold medal in the Mexican Olympics in 1968.  Who knew Mexico had Olympics?]

Other random images were:

 A little dog, a brown lab. [My brother in law recently lost a Jack Russell Terrier and four or five years ago lost a chocolate lab.]

The 12th (day or month) - I told him my birthday and my sister's birthday were in December (as were my mother's and her mother, and a niece). 

He saw the teddy bear again and I asked what color it was and he responded that it was just an ordinary brown teddy bear. 

He was shown a pair of wings - not a bird - just the wings that popped out of a tattoo.  [My youngest has wing jewelry and clothes with wings on them and wants a bird tattoo.  I better ask her if she ever got it.]

A Menorah and Christmas tree were shown together.  [My husband is catholic and his best friend is Jewish.  Lately they have been meeting for dinner once a week after work.]

Who passed in a car accident or impact - some sort of trauma.  [No clue.]


He is shown the color purple. [Means nothing to me.]

He sees Cat Kora (?) from Iron Chef.  [I like the food network but never watch Iron Chef.] 


Last of all, he asked me "who is Phil?"  I told him I didn't know anyone named Phil.  


As Justin walked me to my car he apologized for not being able to give me a more accurate reading.  He said he had this problem just a few other times, when the other side did not particularly want to communicate with him.  I assured him that there were some things that I thought were specific and I had enjoyed the reading anyway.  He asked me to let him know if I remember something that would make more sense out of some other things in the reading and I agreed to let him know.


The most accurate parts of the reading for me would be his vision of the child being moved from here to there.  Justin told me later that the reason he got that was because he was shown a scene from his life; when he was five and living in New York,  he was taken out of school by a social worker and taken to a foster home.  He was being taken away from his mother because of her drug problem.  It makes sense to me that this would be something that my father -or any other relative - would bring up.

Then the letters J and R definatly had meaning.  But were they good guesses from his subconscious or was he actually receiving visions of letters from my deceased loved ones?  Seeing a plane going from here to there was sort of specific as was the 16th.  Connecting the letter R with the scrappy one was pretty good . . .

And then there was the reference to the eyes, which to me were specific, although to a skeptic it might not be.


I am a believer and a skeptic . . .

FINDING A PSYCHIC MEDIUM

For years I have wanted to consult a psychic medium. I've watched countless episodes of John Edward's Cross Country and Psychic Detectives, read a few books, and still I am not entirely convinced there are people who can actually communicate with the dead.  I doubt because it seems too good to be true and the only way to know for sure is to have a reading from someone claiming to be a psychic medium that gives me information that he or she could not possibly know, like the weird name of my grandmother.  (No one could ever guess that one.) 

Last year I attended a show of a well know psychic medium, Lisa Williams.  I had been impressed with her show on Lifetime, unfortunately I was not as impressed when I saw her in person.  How did I know whether or not the people she read for in the audience were working for her?  And, unlike her television shows, she did not come up with a specific name or details of an event that could be specific for just one person. Nor did she reduce anyone to tears. The only specific information she gave was a number, which turned out to be the number of a football jersey belonging to a young man who had passed.  Not bad, but not enough for me.

I have decided not to put it off any longer -  I will make an appointment with a psychic medium.   Actually, not just one, I want to go to as many as I can afford and my goal is to see two or three a month so I can compare readings.  I will start with a couple in town then go to neighboring states.  When I visit my daughter in Arizona I will go to one or two there and anytime I go on vacation I will try to see one.  I'm going to Washington D.C. in a few weeks so I am going to try to find someone reasonably close to where I am staying.  My hope is that someday I will find someone who will really be able to contact those I've loved and lost.

To avoid any possibility of anyone being able to retrieve information about me online I will not use my real name - I am going to use my maiden name so if anyone wanted to google me they would not find out a thing. (I've been married over 30 years.) If they were to google my maiden name they would discover that one woman is incarcerated and there is a petition going around to keep her in prison; another is a dermatologist and then there are several links to several different Facebook pages. That's random enough.  I will always use my cell phone since it will come up on caller ID as "unknown."  


The next step was to find someone to go to which took me almost a week.  After searching on the internet I discovered a website that was a good resource for finding psychics listed by state, www.bestpsychicdirectory.com is where I found the first medium to start with. This website was started by Bob Olsen, a licensed P.I. with a degree in criminology. He went on his own search for answers and after going to probably over 100 psychic mediums he has a list of the ones he thought were the best. The majority of those he had readings with are located in the east, with a few in Texas.  He had not seen anyone in Oklahoma.  Another of his websites is www.bestpsychicmediums.com where he has more detailed information about his readings with his favorite psychic mediums.  If you live in the eastern United States you will have more to choose from.

My first appointment will be with Justin.  I sent him an email expressing my interest and inquiring about his rates.  He wrote back a couple of days later and said he doesn't have a set price, just takes donations because he knows how hard it is for most people in this economy to work a psychic into their budget.  He is available for readings weekdays after 4:00 and weekends after 2:00.  That works for me, so I called him today but got his voice mail. I left a message and my cell number and asked that he call back.  I should be able to see him this week.


Tomorrow I am going to buy a digital voice recorder to record each reading. At middle age my short term memory sucks so a recorder is essential.  I know nothing about them so I looked at Best Buy online and found a couple that  thankfully were not expensive - about $45 and $65.  I will splurge on the $65 one.

UPDATE - Well it's two years later and I have learned some things about mediums.  First is that the mediums didn't have to give me anyone's name for me to be convinced of who they were describing.  Second is that sometimes a comment won't mean anything to me during a reading, but sometime later when listening to a recording of the reading the light will go on in the attic and I will have an OMG moment.  And sometimes even the best mediums can't get a link or lose it sooner than you would like.  Most importantly, however, is I have learned that somehow, some people can connect with a deceased loved one or make a connection with something that provides personal information about my family members that they have no way of knowing.  When visiting mediums I used my maiden name that I have not used in 35 years, and I paid in cash.

Posts for the best readings I have had are on 4/12/11, 5/30/11, 7/15/11, 11/8/11 and 10/25/12.