My future is bright so my psychic must be fibbing

Ormond Beach Observer
News

You can tell me my future if it involves a Range Rover.

My first experience with a “psychic” isn’t one I love to remember.

I was 16 and spending an evening at my friend’s house. Her father, a unique Spanish-French school teacher with nipple piercings claimed to be able to “see into the minds of the soul.” He pulled out a deck of purple Tarot cards and one-by-one told each of us our futures. I opted out of a reading because I was convinced that my ideal future (fame, fortune and a brand-new black Range Rover) wouldn’t come true if I was asking for it. However, my boyfriend at the time, an avid believer in psychics and aliens, was eager to discover his tomorrow.

I sat outside as he spent 30 minutes grinning ear-to-ear listening to his future plans. He burst out the door smiling and said “Emily, we’re getting married.”

I didn’t think I’d be having this conversation until I was 30 years old so I was obviously confused. As I pushed him for more information, he just kept smiling and saying, “I don’t know babe, it’s in the cards.”

The last five minutes had me rethinking the entire relationship as I was shoved into a room by my friend’s parents who made my 16-year-old boyfriend get down on one knee and propose with a rose charm they recently discovered in their couch cushions. Thankfully, I had just got my drivers license and quickly became one of the youngest runaway brides.

So when I got invited to cover the Museum of Arts and Sciences’ Night of the Paranormal, I was a little hesitant. But this time, I took my mother with me so no proposals could be made without her consent.

The event included alien abductees, haunted historical items and plenty of psychics, mediums and tarot card readers. My mom walked around “getting a feel for the psychics” until she found Mary. A Tarot card reader for Daytona Books and Metaphysics, Mary was the kind of person that you could trust with your future. With her Tarot card reading, my mom was allowed to ask one question to her “spirit guides” and of course, she chose to ask about my 19-year-old brother. She wanted to know if he was going to be okay. She always wants to know if he’s going to be okay.

I was skeptical at first. Sure, Mary’s random smiles and laughs could be her talking to spirits or she could have a case of the giggles. Or maybe she's just crazy. But she did say some things about my brother that were spot on. She knew he was a surfer, that he liked to work with his hands and that he was a stubborn boy with a lot of impatience. Yes, that could be true of a lot of 19-year-old boys, but it gave my mom a peace of mind so who cares.

I sat down to have my own reading, decided to be super-selfish and ask about my own future. She knew my boyfriend worked in a “high-tech, high-pressure job” (he’s studying to work with computers in the Army), that I was an avid list-maker and that I’m constantly taking on too many things at once. Talking to a stranger who seemed to have a comprehensive knowledge of my worries and fears was undoubtably creepy. Was she a psychic or an excellent eavesdropper?

I’m still a skeptic. I never believed in psychic abilities or future-tellings because it didn’t feel fair to be so concerned for the future when there is so much to take care of in the present. I also didn’t like the idea of my future already being determined for me. I can barely plan a day let alone the rest of my life.

Still, Mary had a lot of good things to say about me. So paying 20 bucks for a half hour of compliments wasn't a total lost. And she gave me peace of mind that my future was bright. I mean, she drew me the card of the sun. How much brighter could it get?