Maggie's Farm

Got this story from my Granny. She, as a young woman, was busy in the house when her mother came in and said "Doll, we must kneel down and pray". Great-grandmother had sensed something was wrong with one of her sons abroad and this was her response. Granny did as she was bid, and recorded the incident in her diary.

Many months later, a brother returned from an overseas voyage. Granny and brother greeted each other, and then one of them asked if anything odd had happened. Think it was the bro as in my memory of the story my Granny recounted their mother's insistence on praying instantly. Bro responded that, as his ship was rounding the tip of South America, he was swept overboard. He called out to his mother, and the next wave swept him back onboard.

The diary was consulted; it was determined the call and the prayer were at the same time.

Many years later, Granny was busy reading tea leaves for my mother and my aunt. She'd apparently gained a bit of a reputation for the same during the war but this was much further on. She looked at my mother's cup and said "You will hear of a death." At that point, the phone rang and Mother answered it. The call was to advise her of the death of a pupil (she was a teacher in a rural area further north) who had died rather quickly from blood poisoning. Granny never read tea leaves again.