My Amazing Mother-in-law

Not too many people have good things to say about their mother-in-laws, but mine was wonderful. Actually, Mary was like another Mother to me in many respects. She was so thrilled when John met me, and he introduced me to her about four days after we met on our first date.

Like I said in previous posts, John, and I clicked immediately. I could scarcely believe how 'much' alike we were. His mom was not home when John, and I met. However, he did want me to meet his mom. All he mentioned to her was that he met a woman that he wanted her to meet. He did not tell her much beyond that, but I learned the reasoning for that later on.

John picked me up from my parent's home. I had just left my first husband, Bill-the cheat, and liar (but that's another story-dangerous territory, lol!), and was living with them until I could find a place of my own. He took me to his house. It was the house on Erie Road. The one that was so terribly haunted. That house was my first post on here. However, I didn't notice anything untoward at the time since I was involved in a new relationship. That was my focus at the time.

I met Mary, and she instantly struck me as warm, and very outgoing. We sat down at the kitchen table for some coffee, and conversation. However, Mary said that I didn't even 'have' to 'tell' her anything about myself. She had the ability to read tea-leaves. She was born with a veil on her face, and she told me that was the reason she was psychic. She said her mother had the very same ability. It seemed to run in the female line of the family. You may wonder 'why' she mentioned this to a relative stranger upon first meeting, but I'll explain.

When I said John, and I were so much alike it was spooky-pardon the pun here-John, and I were very open with each other. I told him about my suspicions about the house he was residing in, and he was shocked that I 'knew' it was haunted. He told me that when he, and his sister, Beth, moved in a couple years ago, that slowly, but inexorably strange things began to take place once they got settled in. Beth was married, and moved out by the time I met him. We had some fascinating discussions about the paranormal.

He was rather psychic on his mother's side. So, I guess he thought it was alright to let his mom know that I believed in that particular subject matter, but he didn't tell her anything else about me. Mainly because 'she' read his tea-leaves a few weeks 'before' he 'met' me, and she described me down to the last detail. She told him that he 'would' meet the right woman. He, like me, had a disastrous first marriage. His mom told him that 'we' would meet. It happened. Mary wanted me to drink a cup of tea, and she'd tell me what she saw about me from that cup.

Well, they boiled some water, and I gagged down a cup of tea-leaves, trying to keep the leaves from getting in between my teeth. Not too easy, let me tell you! When I was finished drinking it, she asked me to turn away from her while she read it. The reason for that was because she wanted to 'prove' that she was genuine. She said she met a phony psychic lady once. She said the woman merely 'read' a person's 'body language', and from that she merely played on the responses that she'd get. She wanted me to know that she was 'not' reading my reactions. I complied with her request.

She began telling me things about my family, and my past that I had 'not yet' confided to John about since we were just getting to learn about each other. She told me everything about my first husband, Bill. She hit the nail right on the head. I hadn't even let John know about what Bill put me through. She even told me that I was getting visitations from my grandmother, and gave me her physical description. I was, completely, blown away.

John could see my eyes bulging out, but he managed to keep a straight stone-face somehow. She, also, told me that "I" was psychic, and how she knew that the house was haunted that they were in. She said she felt it the moment she moved in there.

She was divorced from her second husband, Tom. However, they still saw each other (more for the company, but the marriage didn't work out.), but she needed a place to live, and moved in with John, and Beth. After which Beth got married, and moved out.

I was simply blown away by Mary, and her genuine ability. She used to give readings when she was married to Tom to the neighborhood women. She 'never' charged for those readings. Not a penny. She did it whenever someone needed help. She helped the police a couple times to find missing children.

I moved in after we dated for a couple weeks. John openly confessed that he loved me at first sight, but I told him we should live together first to make sure we really would get along. He agreed. However, my moving in sparked a string of paranormal events that began to drive us almost crazy. Mary was working in a factory, John was working in another place, and I was working in an office in Eastlake, Ohio.

We managed to pull our funds together, and after another couple years fled that awful house. I do mean fled. We didn't look back.

After we were moved out I continued to work in the office in Eastlake for about a year. We only had the one car, and John would drive me to work, go to his job, and pick me up later for us to go home. We were living in a mobile home then in West Park, Cleveland. The trip to, and from Eastlake got to be too much on the old car we had. So, I gave a three week notice to find work closer to home.

On the night before my last day at work, Mary, who was living with us for a while, read my leaves, and began laughing. We were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee, and she was on the living room couch. We asked what she was laughing at. She gleefully announced that the other office workers were going to throw 'me' a surprise party, and give me a gift of money. Now, 'that' I had trouble accepting. I told her that I didn't think that I was 'that' popular that they would throw 'me' a surprise party.

Once again, I was proven wrong. The next day I went into my office. The woman from the mail room next door came in, and asked me to come over to the mail room for a moment. I didn't question it. I just assumed that she had a project for me to help her with. Yikes! The moment I walked in the entire customer service department, the print shop, and half the factory shocked me with a big 'surprise'! Even the company president, and the rest of the administration was there. You could have knocked me over with a peanut. I never realized how much I was liked, and appreciated there. Wow! They had a cake, and a gift box. When I opened the box there was a red string of yarn that I pulled out. Guess what? They had several ten-dollar bills tied in little bows all along that string. Sixty dollars worth. Egad! Mary nailed it again.

I was overwhelmed amidst the hugs, and well wishes.

When John came to pick me up he could see the stunned look on my face. The first words out of his mouth were-"they gave you a surprise party. Didn't they?". All I could do was nod. He said "Mom told you so last night, honey!". Yeah, she sure did.

Mary continued to amaze me even after John, and I moved to our own apartment. We kept in constant touch. She started getting to the point where she couldn't handle the trailer anymore by herself. Although John, and I went over often to help her out. She sold it, and moved in with her eldest daughter, Dee. She lived with her for a couple years before she passed on. She went peacefully in her sleep. I think of her often. John is with her now, as is his sister Dee. I miss them, and always think of them. I, honestly, think I 'feel' them around me in times of stress, or difficulty. I feel like 'they' keep me going somehow. At least 'that's' how I feel. Like I said, Mary was amazing, and I feel fortunate to have had such a special, and wonderful mother-in-law as her. Not to mention such a special husband. Thank you for reading!