My Visit with the Beyond... or my Gram

For Christmas last year, my mom gave me a gift certificate for a private intuitive session with a local psychic medium, Cindy Newcomb.  Cindy is great!  I've been to a house party with her and she hit things left and right for people, including me and my mom.  I am fascinated by this stuff - I always have been.  But I also have a terrible memory, and I kept forgetting to call and make my appointment!  Finally I remembered, though, and this Wednesday I made the drive to her brand-spanking new office to meet with her.

When I got there, I walked in and I instantly felt relaxed.  You see, Cindy is more than a psychic medium.  She also practices massage therapy and Reiki, an ancient Japanese "laying of hands" technique that reduces stress and promotes relaxation and healing.  She also has a partner who works there with her who does hypnotherapy.  Very new-age, very bohemian, yet very relaxing.

I climbed the stairs and was met at the doorway by Cindy, and she instantly made me feel like an old friend.  The first thing she said to me was, "I just dragged a fireplace into my room.  Can you guess where it came from?"  She pointed to the floor, where there were drag marks on the carpet from one end of the hall all the way to where we were standing.  I asked her how long they've been in the new office and her answer was, "Three days!"  Then, "Come on, I'll give you the tour!"  She showed me every room and asked my opinion on the decor.  In the mean time, she was already starting to receive communication.  "I think your grandma is talking to me," she said as we headed back into her office/room with the big comfy furniture...

As soon as we sat down (and I started my tape recorder), she asked me who had two dogs – I confirmed that it was my mom and she said, "They're little dogs, right?"  Yep.  "They're like babies to your mom."  (Mom even has one of the dog's faces tattooed on her arm!)  My Gram says that those dogs are nuts (ha ha and that they see her.

She knew that I have a child and that she is a girl.  She asked if she see things?  (I think she does.  If she doesn't see them any longer, she definitely senses them.)  Gram says, She should know her (meaning my grandmother's) name.  She wanted to know if she named after somebody?  In fact, she was.  We gave her my Gram's name as her middle name.  She wanted to know Sassy's full name, and when I told her, she said that she has two angels – I knew what she meant.  Sassy's first name is the same as her 3x great-grandmother, and although we didn't intentionally name her after Grandma Drew, it's still a family name.  Cindy said that both Grandma Drew and Gram are looking after her.

Next she moved on to my former job.  She asked where I worked and what I did.  I was an administrative assistant in a private mental health practice for ten years before my billing job was outsourced.  She asked, "Were most of the mental health people in the billing office?  In the staff?"  Gram says there was one.  She’s being sarcastic.  Yep, I knew exactly who she was talking about.  Of course, you have to be at least three degrees of crazy to work in the nut house, right?  Myself included!

Cindy then asked if I was going back to school.  I told her that I wasn't sure whether I had the brains for it anymore, i.e., I'm pretty sure I have adult-onset ADD.  She said that Gram was listening to the conversation that Joe and I were having the previous day.  (And yes, we had a long conversation about what I wanted to do.  Do I want to stay home?  Do I want to go to school to become a nurse?  Do I want to get a "no-brainer" job in a store?)  Do you want to be a nurse?  You’re supposed to go back to school to be a nurse - an RN.  Do you have to work full-time?  Apparently I’m supposed to be a nurse.  She was kind of being pushy about this, but let's just understand this.  My grandmother was a nurse.  My aunt went to nursing school and two of my cousins are nurses.  It kind of runs in the family.  Plus, Gram was always pushy!  lol

Who died of a head injury?  Who’s Harold or Harry?  Who’s Frank or Francis/Frances?  I had no answers for any of these rapid-fire questions.

Then...  Is your husband driving you crazy?  All I could do was laugh.  Because it's so true.  Gram says he’s driving you nuts.  But you’re probably stuck with him, 'cuz she kinda likes him.  (Who'da thunk???  Seriously!)  She thinks he’s comical.  He’s got a very dry sense of humor.  What’s his job?  (He's a Correction Officer.)  He’s very good at it.  (Yes, he is, but he hates it.  Everyone hates it.  No one says, "When I grow up, I want to be a prison guard and babysit dangerous criminals all day long!")  Everyone at work likes him, but he doesn't like to admit that.

You need to understand that all of this information is coming at me at such a fast pace...  bam, bam, bam!  I was so glad they told me to bring a recording device because I can never remember anything!!  

Cindy then asked me if I was moving, the answer to which was no.  She asked if I had moved a whole room around, and the only thing I could think of was the recent cleaning out of the basement and moving things out for the yard sale.  She asked if we were making room for something, and the answer there was, of course, just to clean out and organize the mess.  She asked if I have a chair that belonged to my grandmother, and I don't.  "Where you were sorting things, is there a chair?"  Well, there is a couch and a chair - we have a sitting room down there.  She was sitting on the couch watching me.  There is a dollhouse that she made down there, on the table right in front of the couch.  Cindy said, "You’re not getting rid of that, right?"  Heavens, no!  We’re fixing it up for Sassy.  My grandparents built two identical dollhouses back in the 1980's, and they gave one to me and one to my cousin Angie.  Mine disappeared because we moved a lot when I was younger.  A-ha!  That’s where the "moving" comes in!  The truth is, I've been talking about that with Sassy a lot over the past few days.  She’s been asking where this-or-that is, and I told her that we moved around a lot when I was younger, so it's been lost...

Out of the blue comes one of my favorite parts, because it's good news for my oldest and bestest friend in the world!  Cindy asked, "Is your sister giving you an issue?"  Well, here's the thing.  I don’t have any blood sisters.  I understand that, but Gram is asking about somebody like your sister.  (Kari and I have referred to each other as 'sisters' for as long as I can remember.)  I said, "She’s not giving me an issue, she’s been having an issue.  OK, apparently Gram wants to talk about that.  Cindy says, She’s going to take up my whole day!  She asked, What was her issue?  I told her that she just had a miscarriage.  OH!  That’s the other baby she has!  (Huh??)  She asked whether she was going to try right over again?  Gram says, we’re going to send her another baby. (YAY!!!!!)  She asked, "Was she only just a little bit pregnant?  Tell her I think January is a good time to get pregnant.  What’s her name?  Did she know if it was a boy or a girl?"  I said  No, but I had a feeling.  Cindy said that she thinks it was a girl.  I think it was a girl, too!  She thinks she gets a boy next time.  Then she asks, Do twins run in her family?  (Yes, they do!)  Does she have to have help getting pregnant?  Did they have to put eggs in?  They’re going to have to and I think she’s going to get twins.  When I told all of this to my BFF later that night, she was so happy!  They have been trying for so many years that this is just the news she was waiting to hear.

And just like that, the gears were switched...

She told me:  You need a profession or something – aren’t you getting bored?  Then she asked, Who’s going to listen to your tape?  I told her that Joe thinks he is.  Gram says, Do you think we should let him?  LOL...  my answer, of course, is no!

Next she asked,  Do you know what March means?  That’s when my Gram died.  "Did she always like Joe?"  She never knew him - we didn't meet until about two and a half years after she died.  She thinks he’s nice – even though he’s grumpy sometimes!  (Hammer, meet nail head.)  "They like him at the prison, even though he gripes about it, he does a good job.  I think he has to stay there."

"Are you having an issue with your lower back?"  Nope.  That’s my mom.  Gram’s a little worried about that.  What’s going on with her back?  Gram says she’s in a lot of pain.  It’s constant.   (Holy crap, yes it sure is!  I seriously don't know how my mom does it...)

She asked, "Do you talk to your grandmother all the time?"  (Oh, yeah!  Like every day.)  "She’s like, 'Cindy!  This is like any other day!  We talk like this all the time!'"  (And it's true!  For me, the veil between the living and the spirit world is very thin...)  Then she asked me, "Do you wake up at 3:00 in the morning?"  (Yes!  Almost every single night I wake up; it's around 3, and I think to myself, 'It's the Witching Hour.')  "She comes to kiss you at 3:00.  She says, 'I come when you’re sleeping, I give you a little kiss right here [Cindy points to her forehead] and I check on Sassy.  And Joe snores.'"  (And he doesn't believe it!!)  Gram says, I’m testifying – he snores!  "Do you have somebody’s blender?  No…  Do you need one?  No…  I don’t even use it!  Is that one of the things down in the basement?  Are you sorting for a garage sale?"  (We just had one.)  She was there.  (She never missed a good rummage sale!)  She said it was a lot of fun!  "Did you make good money?"  We did!  "Did you make like $700?"  I think we made over $1000 between us all.  "She said you made tons of money."

Then:  "I need to know who John is.  He’s very old.  He’s talking to your grandpa - your mother’s father.  I need to know who died of lung cancer or respiratory issues."  Gram died from CHF.  "Was there someone else – a guy?"  (Most everyone in my direct family died from heart issues.  Looking back on this, though, I think that perhaps my ex-stepfather was trying to come through.  I didn't realize at the time that he couldn't breathe when he died.  And the next night he actually came to me in a dream and I apologized to him for not acknowledging him during my reading.  Weird.)  "Who was Charlie or Chuck?  They’re all on your mom’s dad’s side of the family."  (I have no idea who that is...  I still have to do some research.  All I can think is that maybe they were my Pa's Navy buddies??)

Cindy then pointed to my gold-and-diamond pendant that I always wear and asked, "Is that her necklace?"  No, it's not, but this isn't the first Medium who's asked that!  "Why is she claiming it, then?"  (Joe got it for me before we were married.)  She likes it!  (My first jewels…)

"Gram wants to know if there’s anything you want to ask her.  Do you have a tattoo?"  Yes, she was really pissed about that!  Did you get a tattoo for her?  No, but my cousin did.  She’s laughing.  (I told her what the tattoo was - an angel sitting on a cloud with her feet dangling off.)  Gram really thinks it was cool.  Are her initials in the clouds?  (I texted my cousin later that night and asked him and he said that there wasn't, but we're going to inspect it the next time we're together.  lol)    She says, Why don’t you have one for me…  you have another one? 

Then...  "What do you want to ask her?  She wakes you up at 3:00 in the morning and she checks on Sassy.  Do you smell her in your house?"  No, but sometimes we see lights flicker and Sass will say 'Hi, Gram.'  "That’s her.  Do you ever look out of the corner of your eye and swear you see somebody?"  Yes.  "That’s her.  Who’s Doris?"  That’s her aunt.  "Doris is in your house too.  She always runs around in the living room.  They must travel in a pack.  I have a black dog with your grandfather – do you know what that means?"  My grandfather had a lot of hunting dogs.  "Do you remember a beagle?"  Yeah, that one was before my time, but there was a beagle.  "How the hell do you remember all of that?"  Oh, I’ve heard all the stories.  "Yeah, your Gram says, We’ve got tons of stories!'  Are you happy?  She wants to know."  In general, yeah.  I’m not happy when I’m being nagged about a job.  "Oh…  who’s nagging you??"  Hahaha! 

"What’s January?"  My mom’s anniversary.  "What’s your mom think about you getting a job?"  She’s indifferent.  "Yeah, that’s what Gram says.  You tell Joe just to knock it off.  When you’re supposed to go back to work, you’ll just go."

"What’s the place by the water she wants to talk about?"  Camping?  "Did you just do that?  Did you just get back, like, three weeks ago?  Do you always go to the same camp?  Gram goes with you.  So does your grandpa.  Who’s Jack…  he’s talking to Jack.  There’s some damn family reunion going on up there.  He might not be in your family – he might have just known him.  Do you smell your grandma sometimes because she says sometimes she sends you smells.  Do you understand that?  And who was the smoker?"  She used to sneak them.  "She said sometimes if you smell smoke and no one’s smoking, it’s her.  She wants to know why you’re sad – she thinks you’re sad."  Depressed – does that count?  "Are you diagnosed with that?  Whose fault is that, she wants to know?"  I don’t know…  I think it’s her fault.  It runs in the family.  "She says 'Thanks a lot!'  (laughing)  Do you take medicine for that?"  Yes.  "How’s that working?"  Well, if I don’t take it…  "Yeah, she says if you don’t take it you’re naughty!  Do you get real sad?"  I used to, but lately I get manic.  "Oh, so you get wacky!  Are you bipolar?"  I’m not, but it does run in the family.  "Do you have somebody who took their own life?"  Not in the family, but my uncle’s best friend.  "Wanna say Hi to him?"  Yeah, that was Eber.  "That was his name??"  That was his nickname…  Steve was his name.  "Eber – he says 'Yeah, that’s me!'  Did he shoot himself?"  No.  "Do you have somebody who did?"  Yeah, Joe’s friend at work.  "Who’s Nick?  He said he shot himself, too.  He was in law enforcement."

Cindy then asked, "Are you going somewhere in February?  'Cuz your grandma says you’re going somewhere in February."  We’re going somewhere in a couple of weeks…  "Well, that would be a “2” like February would be a “2.”  Where are you going?"  Down to the City.  "Just for a long weekend?"  Yep.  "Going by yourself?"  No.  "Is Sassy going?"  Yes, but she doesn’t know it yet.  "Why do I think she knows, but she isn’t saying?"  She knows that she has a super-secret surprise coming, but she doesn’t know what it is.  "What are you taking her to see?"  The American Girl Store.  "Wow!  Does she have a doll?"  Yes.  "Is it one who looks like her?  What’s her name?"  Helen…  kind of a weird, old-fashioned name.  "Maybe it’s not so weird!  If she sees passed-on people, maybe she knows someone named Helen!"

Switching gears again...  "Do you have really old marbles?"  No, we have really old coins.  "Whose are those?"  Those are my Pa’s.  "You’re not ever selling those, are you?"  No!  "'I don’t know if they’re worth a pot to pee in,' he says, 'but you should keep them!'"  (It's funny that he should bring those up, because right after Pa died my aunt Kathie told me to take them before anyone else tried to claim them because we used to look at them together.  Now it's something that Miss Sassypants and I do together, and it reminds me of him...)

"Who’s Robert?"  Well, we have tons:  Pa’s brother, Gram’s brother, my uncle, my cousin…  "Are they passed?"  No.  Maybe they just want to acknowledge all of the Bobs.  "Tell Sassy she can never name any of her kids Bob!"

She then asked, "Are you bored with your life?"  I feel like I’m too busy to be bored!  "Is your husband bored with your life?"  He thinks I need something to do.  "Doesn’t he understand that you do a ton of stuff all day?"  Umm, apparently not, Cindy!!

She told me that I should really come for Reiki.  A lot of people who come for Reiki actually get off a lot of their depression medicine!

Then she asked, "Who has a German Shepard?"  I did; he was a mix.  "Yeah, your grandpa has that dog too…  what was his name?"  Dinger.  "He was a goofy dog.  What’s December mean?"  My mom’s birthday, my great-grandmother’s birthday…  And what’s her name?  Margaret Frances.  Oh, really?  Margaret Frances??  See??"  I said, Yeah, well I’m slow!  I’m sure I’m not the only one!  Her reply, "You’re so friggin’ funny…  you crack me up!"  Nice to know I can amuse the psychic.  "Do you have a scar on your leg?"  On my knee, yeah.  "Yeah, Gram remembers that.  I don’t know if she was alive when that happened, but she wants to know how the scar on your knee is.  Can you friggin’ believe her?  She’s nuts!  But she thinks you’re fun – she really likes hanging out with you!"  (I got that scar when I was about four.  I was playing on my swingset and banged my knee on a bolt.  I remember it clearly.)  "Did you have a really huge bonfire this year?  Did you almost burn the whole campground down?"  Well, yeah  I was trying to use up the wood and I like to use the charcoal lighter…  "She says, My God, you could see it from Heaven!"

"Is there anything else you want to ask?  I want to make sure you cover everything you want with your grandma before time runs out.  Do you have her ring?"  (Yes, I have her wedding band and her Mother's ring.)  "Good, don’t ever give those away."  (Oh, I never would!)  "'Cuz all the other people in the family are all a pain in the ass and they always fight."  (Because of her son!)  "She knows that…  She babied him, didn’t she?  She says, 'I babied him bad and I’m so sorry!'  What’s his name?"  David.  "Is he really bad?"  (Yeah, he’s the most mentally ill one of us.  Hahaha!  There was a big fight about my grandfather’s dog tag.)

Cindy then said, "I think you need a job that would make your brain happier.  What can you do that would let you stay home?  You’re good at scrapbooking; why don’t you do that for a living?  Take what you’re good at and what you like to do and make that your job if you don’t want to work full-time.  Gram says your life is pretty good right now; you don’t need a full-time job.  Don’t you like being home?  No daycare, though!  Jesus!"  (Did she know what happened the last time I babysat?  Dear Lord!!)

So, in a (giant) nutshell, that was my psychic reading with Cindy Lane-Newcomb.  As you can see, my Gram monopolized my session, but I would have expected, or wanted, nothing less.  And yes, she is a bit like our friend Theresa Caputo, the Long Island Medium, in that she's cuckoo and fun.  I highly recommend going to see her if you're in the area!  It took me about three weeks to book my appointment, which I didn't think was bad at all!  Now, you can be as skeptical as you like, but I know I was talking with my grandmother.  There was no doubt in my mind.  I welcome all comments and opinions - from believers, non-believers and skeptics alike!

Oh, and BONUS!  She totally took a picture of herself and the Flat family that I have with me this month!

She thought it was awesome!