Talking to the Dead

By Jeff Brailey

A frozen rain and snow mix covered the ground as I left the house. For a moment, I toyed with the idea of blowing off the 140-mile road trip to Florence, Kentucky. I could think of a dozen reasons to jump back into bed and only one reason to brave the winter weather – curiosity.

I opened the car door, adjusted the seat and turned the ignition. Suddenly the distinctive voice of Gordon Lightfoot flowed from my radio speakers. “If you could read my mind love, what a tale my thoughts could tell, just like an old time movie, ‘bout a ghost from a wishing well…”

The hair on the nape of my neck stood up and that song cinched it. Even a blizzard couldn’t keep me from receiving my first psychic reading.

About four weeks earlier I emailed an Indianapolis psychic requesting an interview for an article I was thinking of writing. It took her two weeks to reply and when she did it was to ask questions about the nature of the proposed article.

I wrote back that with renewed interest in psychic phenomenon, evidenced by the Court TV show Psychic Detective and the new hit NBC series, Medium, I thought readers might be interested in her work.

Within a few days the psychic sent me a rather terse email stating she was not seeking media attention at this time. A couple of days later came the invitation to the reading Gordon Lightfoot convinced me to attend.

My Indianapolis psychic and a Kentucky counterpart were holding a reading for around six or eight people in Kentucky and since I had expressed interest in their work, I was invited to receive a free reading. Because the two women have no desire whatsoever for media attention, I’ll call them Beverly from Indy and Jan from Kentucky.

I arrived in Florence about an hour and a half before the scheduled group reading. I stopped in a strip mall parking lot and pulled out the email directions and phone number Jan had sent me. Large snowflakes fell as I dialed.

A vibrant cheery “Hello” filled my ear.

“Is this Jan?” I inquired.

“Yes Jeff, it’s me.”

I didn’t ask how she knew it was me. I told the friendly psychic I arrived a bit early and asked if she would mind if I came over. She said, “I wish you would.”

I arrived at Jan’s comfortable condo about five minutes later, meeting her husband who introduced me to her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Jan said shaking my hand, “Your father has been here all morning.”

“My father!” I said shocked. “Are you sure?”

“Well, he says he’s your father, Jan laughed.

When Jan is scheduled to do readings, she prays about each individual she will read that day. When she prayed my name she said my father immediately came through. She described him as being tall, very energetic and a fast talker. I concurred with her description.

We agreed to wait for Beverly to arrive from Indianapolis before starting the reading. I sat down and gathered my thoughts.

My father was actually the last person I thought would contact me from the Great Beyond. He passed away 41 years before. We were not particularly close. His sudden death had a profoundly negative affect on the relationship between my younger brother and me.

We chatted for a while and when Beverly arrived, introductions were performed and Jan told her about my pushy father. Beverly went to freshen up as other guests arrived for the reading.

Since my father had been waiting the longest, mine was the first reading. What I heard from Jan and Beverly caused a dam in my brain to burst and my emotions came out as forcefully as a flash flood. They revealed information no one but my family members are aware of.

For example, Beverly said, “It was his heart and it happened at home very suddenly and you were not there.”

“Your father loves you, although he didn’t always tell you, he’s telling you now,” she continued.
Jan chimed in, “He’s talking so fast. Slow down, we’ll be here, we aren’t going anywhere.” Then to me, “You have two fathers or another man you consider your father.”

“Yes, my step dad” I replied.

“He and your dad were friends before he crossed over,” she accurately reported. I had known Jerry since I was a little kid. He married my mom four years after my father passed away.

“They are together,” both psychics said with laughs, “They were pranksters in life and are a couple of pranksters there too.”

That was true. Dad was one of the world’s great practical jokers and when he got together with his friends, especially Jerry, it was usually pandemonium.

I thought nothing could shock me anymore but what came out of Jan’s mouth next floored me. “Tell your mother they are together and they all will be together when she crosses over, just as they will be together in death.”

I never told anyone about the gravesite where my father and step father are interred. A stately granite stone sits in the middle of the plot. My father is buried on the front side and Jerry is on the back side. Mom will share the plot with them when she passes.

There were quite a few more revelations that validated that my father contacted me from beyond the grave. An uncle, a nephew and a cousin came through. Jan and Beverly told me things I thought no one in Indiana or Kentucky could know about my family and me.

The reading continued with each person in attendance affirming the presence of a loved one who had crossed over. Some of their revelations were as shocking to them as mine were to me.

I have began reevaluating my beliefs about eternity and life after death. My experience was not spooky or scary. In fact, it was reassuring and comforting.