Val was desperate to hear from her mother who had died recently from leukemia, but I was apprehensive. I had an uncle who was a medium, but my family had always just accepted what he did without question; they didn’t ask what it was all about and it was never referred to or discussed. To be honest, we just thought of him as ‘the funny uncle’ and that was as far as my knowledge went about Spiritualism.

   Looking around, the congregation seemed to come from a broad spectrum of society; I don’t know what I was expecting, but they all looked pretty normal people to Val and me. There was a friendly welcome for us and as we entered we were each given a hymn book. We chose our seats and the service began with a silence, a prayer and a hymn, then a talk by the medium that I found extremely thought-provoking.

   The clairvoyance began after a second hymn. The medium had spoken to a couple of people and I was fascinated by what he was saying because the messages all seemed to be accepted and understood. Indeed, one of the women had broken down in tears and explained that the person who had come through was her husband; he’d been killed in a road accident at just forty-two years old. She was so thrilled but also emotional to hear from him.

   I was in awe and it suddenly dawned on me that I had ‘come home’. I knew now that I wasn’t abnormal in ‘seeing’ the things I could or having the psychic feelings I did about certain events that were happening.

   Suddenly, the medium came to me… In a stupor, I sensed an energy filling me, but he broke into my thoughts saying, “Are you aware that you have been called to work with Spirit?” I looked at Val and shook my head.

“No way,” I whispered. The medium repeated his words and I replied, “No, I don’t have any knowledge of that.”

He paused and told me that he had my Uncle George here and he gave me some information that no-one else knew, not even Val who was a very close friend. It was all about the time when I was a very little girl. Uncle George had made a rocking horse for me and I had tried to feed it with sweets, which got stuck in its mouth; in the morning when I awoke, ants were climbing up towards the mouth to feed on the sugar!

“I have your attention now, good,” said the medium. “It is Uncle George that is preparing the way for you to work, and it’s no coincidence that you have come here tonight. You will stand on the rostrum and be known for what you do – and the work begins today.”

“There’s no way I would… could do anything like that,” I said.

“You have been chosen,” he replied, “and although there are difficulties in your material life, all that will change. They are preparing the way.” Upon that, he bestowed healing and blessing on me to help me.