Growing Up Psychic – Part 1

I was born into a psychic family who lived in a haunted home. I  was unaware of this at first and knew nothing about mediumship, clairvoyance or the supernatural. But the quest for answers began at a young age. It was inevitable, since there was a lot of paranormal activity in our house and I had a natural curiosity about all things paranormal.

I didn’t know at the time about being gifted or communicating with ghost or spirits, but I did notice whenever I went over to a friend’s house that I could feel a difference in the energy at his house. It was nothing like what I experienced at my parents’ house. And when I went to both grandparents’ homes I could feel that something was trying to communicate with me there. It was the same in church and at my school.

The fact of not knowing to tell people about your abilities or keep them a secret is extremely hard; trust me I know. When coming down to it I mean it is up to you if you want people to know, but one thing I learned is when you keep it a secret even though you might not realize it, it makes you end up being someone you’re not. ~ Ryan Michaels

I grew up in the 60s and in those days when you went to the zoo in Columbus, Ohio, you could put a nickel into this arcade machine with a gypsy fortune teller inside. I knew something was up when “Madame” behind the glass gave me a little ticket which read: “You have a gift.”

She was right. I had a gift.

I had many strange experiences which I did not understand at the time. When my father bought a pre-owned car, I could sense the original owners’ energy inside the vehicle. I remember when I was about eight years old, or maybe younger, someone or something blew loudly in my ear. I took off at the speed of light, went up the stairs and jumped in my parents bed paralyzed with fear.

One night I will never forget. I saw my grandmother’s spirit. She had a blue dress on and her apparition was about two feet off the ground. She did not say a word to me, she just smiled. I was not scared at that moment, I actually felt safe. But many times after that I was very scared and things seemed to get worse. At night there was often a loud banging of footsteps in the hallway, as if someone was pacing up and down the hallway on the wooden floors.

Many times I would sleep with my parents because I was so scared. I could not remember them talking to me about what goes on the house, until my sister Lynda became pregnant with her first child. She was pushed down the stairs in our house, but thankfully she was not hurt. I can remember her telling my father he needs to find out what’s going on in this house.

Dad finally sat all of us kids down. We needed to talk. My sister was very upset about what had happened, and since she got married and was not living at the house anymore, she opened up about many things she would see and feel. She said that she could smell musky old clothes and pipe smoke in the house. She also heard kids playing and an old women singing.

The natural trajectory of giftedness in childhood is not a six-figure salary, perfect happiness, and a guaranteed place in Who’s Who. It is the deepening of the personality, the strengthening of one’s value system, the creation of greater and greater challenges for oneself, and the development of broader avenues for expressing compassion ~ Dr. Linda K. Silverman

Then I saw the look on my brothers’ faces. I could then see I was not the only one! My brother John said he thought it was me who got up in the middle of the night and that I was running up and down the stairs! Then my brother Mike came out about many things he had seen and heard. He felt someone poking him at night and he thought it was one of us. He said many times he heard the cedar chest door slamming in the night and some of his things had gone missing, like his cigarette lighter.

My parents then looked at me and asked why I have been so quiet. Had I had any such experiences? I started to get upset, and my mother tried to calm me down. I was a young boy who had been keeping a very big secret for much too long.

Finally, I broke down and told them it started for me with someone blowing in my ear, that I could also hear footsteps and noises, and at times I felt someone pulling on my bed covers. Many times I would also get up unnecessarily to let the dog in the bedroom. I could hear the dog scratching at the door and when I opened the door my dog would not be there. I further confessed that I could hear a ghost talking to me at night and that was why I would spend the nights in my parents’ room. I told my dad I had seen his mother floating in the hallway in a blue dress.

I then asked my brother John to go upstairs with me, because I was afraid to go up there alone at night. There was something I wanted to show them. He agreed and when we came back down I showed them the ticket from the fortune teller at the zoo. My mother looked at the ticket, gave me a knowing smile and said, “I think it is time we talk about your gift.”