Dorothy & James

One day, Janice, a student I was mentoring, came to have lunch with me at my the center. As she was leaving, she told me she had met someone about three months ago and they were going to get married. As I looked at her, I could not help but see her life like a video that was re-wound. I saw her alone, then it played forward and she was with him, then it fast forwarded to three months later, and there she was again, all alone. I saw all of this in only a few seconds,

“You can not marry him,” I blurted. “It’s not going to work. Janice looked at me and said she needed someone and was tired of being alone. As she excused herself to go to the toilet, I stood at the door and started experiencing goose bumps all over my body, the message that came was very clear; “Your gift is not a game to play with. Each person has their own destiny and you have no right to try to interfere with it. It’s their lesson to learn. Your gift is only for those who ask you for help, unless you get a strong message that you should; nothing else.”

I went once to New Orleans where I was introduced to a “sausage po boy,” a sandwich made from fresh baked French bread, mayonnaise, lettuce and a spicy sausage. It was to die for; I was hooked! Few months later, I was the keynote speaker to talk about overcoming obstacles and fulfilling goals for a major event at the New Orleans Marriott close to the French Quarter. I called a friend who lived in the French Quarter and told him I had to have a “sausage po boy” before I left and he agreed to pick me up and take me to one of the best places to get one.

There was a long line when we got to the restaurant. As we stood there reminiscing about old times, a middle-aged white couple, Dorothy and James, joined the line. We started to talk and learned that they lived in a suburb of New Orleans and had decided to make the weekend a second honeymoon. They had come to the restaurant because it served the best po boy sandwich and they were addicted, just like me. When it was our turn to go inside and the waiter asked how many for the next table, James said that it was the four of us. He commented that we were good company and there was no need to wait for another table.

It was a very noisy place. We were seated at a long rectangular table that seated groups of four. On the other end of the table were four Italian tourists having a great time. On our side, Dorothy sat across from me with James to her left at the end of the table; Dr. Dyer was to my right, facing James.

As we were talking, the message came that I would get information for Dorothy, something James had been trying to tell her but had not been able to. I had never related a message for a stranger, nor had I done it in the presence of someone else – a husband or someone unrelated to her, such as Dr. Dyer. But for some reason I felt it was the right thing to do. I told them a quick version about my being an intuitive and getting messages for others and that I had a message for Dorothy if I could share it with her in front of all of us, she agreed. As usual, I didn’t have a clue what I was going to say but trusted it was what she needed to hear at this juncture in her life.

“Dorothy,” I said, “What I am going to tell you is something James has been trying to say but has not been able to. James loves you and is not going to leave you. He has been very stressed, mostly because of your relationship. You want him to be a certain way that he is not; he is stuck in a vicious cycle that, if it does not stop, will eventually cause him to have a heart attack and die prematurely. He tried, but cannot quit smoking, because smoking is his only way to relieve stress, and the more you talk about it – and other things he doesn’t do, the more he is stressed; and the more he smokes. He needs to have his own space and for you to just be loving and caring towards him. If you can’t do this you should go to a counselor, just by yourself, and learn how.”

As the words were being told to me and were coming out of my mouth, no one else said a word. It was like the four of us were on a deserted island. Across the table, Dorothy and James were looking at me transfixed, with tears shamelessly flowing down their cheeks.

As I finished talking, the waiter brought the tab and James grabbed it saying, “Dinner is on us.” I smiled as we went on our way, since I realized that our encounter was a “divine appointment.”

Dr. Carolle