beware the soothsayer

fortunetellers freak me out.

granted, i have never really consulted one (unless you count the tarot reader at the highschool graduation celebration thing who told me the psycho boyfriend at the time was *possessive.* uh YEAH, but i think the annoying-ass pager i was wearing was a dead giveaway). and i doubt i ever will, for fear of what s/he might tell me.

and here is why.

when my mother was 12 and growing up in a tiny one-stoplight town in the motherland, some guy passing through town came over to their house. everyone knew my grandma because of her hospitality and fabulous cooking. so of course she invited him in for dinner.

during that time he made a lot of predictions based solely on looking at each individual in the room, which included my mom, her six brothers and sisters and my grandmother.

he said:

* (to my grandmother): when you die, only one of your children will be with you; all of the rest, except one, will show up after you're already dead.
she died peacefully at my youngest uncle's house after saying a prayer in which she named everyone in the extended family. everyone else came for the funeral and when they were all gathered at his house, the postman arrived with a letter from my mother that had been sent more than a week in advance.

* that only two out of the seven would be very happy in their marriages, including which ones.
true.

* that the third sister shouldn't marry the man she was engaged to at that time or she would be unhappy for the rest of her days.
sadly, that was very true. that guy left and has an entire different family in another state. and her kids have been a handful to say the least.

* that my grandmother is very blessed to have her youngest son.
no one could have taken care of her, especially at the end, better than he and his wife did.

* that my mother's husband would come from a city off a famous railway track. that no one would be present at her marriage and that it would take place across the seven seas.
my mom had never imagined leaving the region, much less going to work in the big city, where she met my dad on a blind date she agreed to as a favor to her cousin (who wasn't allowed to see her boyfriend alone). and she had never dreamed that she would end up in the U.S. it was true; no one from the family was present for the nuptials.

my mom had never really thought much about it until one day she and her sister were talking and realized it had all come true.

and all of this guy's predictions were based on one look around the room. she said there had been no personal questions. he joined them for the meal and walked out the door. they never saw him again.