Page 41 of Amazing Grace

‘Of course not, love, in fact you’ll never guess what I’ve just done! I’ve only gone and booked a session with a medium. I was just going to message you to tell you.’

‘You haven’t! How could you do that without me? I want to come too.’ She laughed.

‘Shall I see if you can come with me? I can pop back in and ask.’

‘Oh, I don’t know now. I want to but I don’t want to. Oh, bugger it, yes please. Will you ask?’

Grace went in and asked if she could take someone along and the medium smiled and said of course. She dropped Hannah a text to tell her it was all sorted.

The following Tuesday, just before they went into the shop where they were due to see the medium, Grace felt the strangest sensation in her legs – it felt as if there was no circulation in them at all from the knees down. Hannah laughed at Grace as she rubbed her legs to warm them up, but Grace brushed it off, putting it down to the fact that it was a very cold December night.

The room smelled of incense and candles and was warm and cosy. ‘So, my name is Michelle, as you know. Please sit and try to relax. The way this works is that if any spirits come through to me, I will give you evidence so that you know who they are. Is that OK?’

Hannah and Grace nodded, nervous and full of anticipation, clutching at each other’s hands.

‘There is a lady here trying to make contact with you but she’s struggling because she’s so upset. She’s someone who has very recently passed to the spirit world after battling with cancer and is devastated to leave her family. Do you know who that could be?’

Michelle became very emotional at this point and said that she needed to hold her chakra stick to ground herself because the spirit’s sadness was flowing through her and was making her feel a little overwhelmed. Tears started to stream down both Hannah’s and Grace’s cheeks as they hoped and prayed that this was their mum trying to get through to them.

‘Your mum wants to thank you girls for all you did during her illness. She knows how you both sat for hours on end at her bedside and she wants you to know that even though she couldn’t communicate for the last few days, she could hear everything that was going on. She says that she is glad that you are wearing her rings, Grace, and that she loved the freesias that you put in her coffin.’

The next thing she said stunned them all as Michelle explained that their mum was new to the spirit world and had to find her own way of communicating with her girls. She would do this by letting them feel a cold sensation in parts of their bodies. Grace and Hannah were astounded and both smiled through their tears at the fact that their mum could make contact in this way.

‘Your mum says that she will always be around her girls and will never leave your side. Just as she tried to be the best mum she could be in life, she will continue to do this in death; the only real difference is that you can’t see her any more. She wants you to carry on talking to her; she hears everything you say and she wants you to try to see through your sadness by knowing that she’s really not far away and will still always be there to wipe away your tears.’

At the end of the reading, the sisters, who were still a bit dazed by the events of the evening, as well as extremely emotional, went back to Grace and Mark’s house. Seeing their distress, he asked them what had happened but then sneered when Hannah told him, saying that they were both ridiculous for believing in someone who was clearly a charlatan and taking advantage of two people who were going through immense grief.

Despite his attempts to belittle everything they felt, Grace and Hannah felt a huge sense of peace and calm, something they hadn’t felt since their mum had passed away.

* * *

After Grace relayed the story, she looked up to see tears streaming down Ruth’s cheeks. She went over to sit by her and put her arm around her. ‘Ruth, I’m so sorry for making you cry. I’ve spoilt your evening.’

‘But darling, you couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s beautiful, the fact that you connected to your mum that way. I’d love to have that experience with Meredith, wouldn’t you, Vinnie? Mike, darling, surely you would want that for me. I don’t know how else I can find peace since she was taken away.’

Grace turned to Vinnie and his cheeks were tear-stained too. Mike was still sceptical and asked, ‘But how do you know that the things she said weren’t just general and that you latched onto them because you were so deep in your grief? I’d hate to think that someone was capable of doing that to people who were so vulnerable.’

Grace explained further. ‘There were things she couldn’t possibly have known. Like the rings – how could she have known that I was the one wearing them and not Hannah? And she didn’t say thanks for the flowers, she said thanks for thefreesias. Who would know that? I went back to see Michelle a few days later and took her some flowers, and she told me that she was thinking of giving up because she hated the fact that she had to take money from grieving people, but that she needed to earn a living. I was devastated because I felt like I’d found a way to communicate with mum and that she was taking it away again, but it also showed me that she wasn’t a charlatan out to exploit anyone. Michelle did explain that the bond between my mum and us was so strong that she didn’t feel like it mattered who made that connection; that my mum would always find a way to tell us that she was around.

‘She must have seen the sadness on my face though, so she offered to book a date in. The day before I went to see her again, I’d found out I was pregnant. When I walked through Michelle’s door at that appointment, she sat me down immediately and said, “Your mum has been bothering me all morning and couldn’t wait for you to arrive. She says that she wanted to give you something very special and decided that the best gift she could give you is the gift of a child. She wants to know whether you will keep her present.”’

Tears were once more streaming down Grace’s cheeks at this point and Vinnie got up and moved to sit next to Grace and held her hand, stroking it gently as she continued her story.

‘There was no way that I was doing anything but keeping this gift from my mum, and Michelle went on to give me all sorts of proof that these messages were from my mum. She told me Mum knew that Mark wasn’t happy about the pregnancy and that it didn’t matter and that she’d help me through it and that I’d never be alone. She told me that Mum was delighted that she could send me this very special present and would always be around me and my baby. That’s probably why I mollycoddle Archie so much, because I see him as a very special gift from heaven from my mum.

‘I’ve been back another seven times or so and was constantly told that Mum thought that Mark wasn’t right for me and that I needed to sort my life out. Michelle even gave me a crystal once, charged with Mum’s energy, and told me to wear it on a chain around my neck so that whenever I needed to feel close to her, I could just touch it. When I did, the crystal throbbed in my hand. It was bizarre! She even told me at one point that Mark was carrying on behind my back, but I chose to ignore that part – more fool me. The last time I saw her was just after Dad had moved to the retirement village; she told me that Mum was really happy that he had lifted himself up and was living his life again. And since Archie’s dad and I have split up, I don’t feel the constant need that I did before. It’s strange but I feel that I know everything I need to know and I feel her around me all the time.’

Ruth hugged Grace tightly. ‘I know I’m crying but what you’ve told me is just so beautiful and I would love to have that peace and calm when I think of Meredith. I worry about her all the time and wonder if there was something more that I could have done to save her or worry that I should have spent more time with her. If only I’d known that we only had a short time together. That’s why I’m so hell-bent on creating memories for my children. Life is a gift and can be snatched away at any time. Life is for living and enjoying.’

‘Do you know, Grace, I was really against this when Ruth mentioned it before,’ said Mike. ‘But now I hear your story and see how it’s helped you through the years without your mum. I’d love you to pass on this lady’s number if possible and I’ll arrange for Ruth to go. You too, Vinnie, if you fancy it.’

‘Not sure, mate, it’s a lot to take in. I’ll think about it,’ Vinnie replied. He seemed really quiet for the rest of the evening, but as usual was very attentive to Grace.

Archie came through from the den. Grace smiled at him and he beamed back at her. ‘Hello, gorgeous, how are you? I’d forgotten you were here.’

‘Hey, Mum, I’ve had the best time ever. But I’m getting a bit tired now.’ He climbed up on to her lap.It doesn’t matter how big he’s getting, he always nestles into me when he is tired and he still fits into my body perfectly, she thought as she snuggled him tight.

‘Shall we get you home soon, tiger?’ Vinnie asked.

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