13. Cigar smoke, saving the day

When I was 13 or so, my mother and I were driving along a two-lane country road, when she said, “Do you smell that?” I didn’t smell anything.

“It’s a cigar. It’s one of my grandfather’s cigars. Keep an eye out, every time I smell it something happens.”

Less than 10 seconds later an oncoming car crossed the center line and she had to swerve onto the shoulder to avoid being hit head-on.

12. Dreaming the Future

I had a dream where my dad was fishing with a man in overalls, when suddenly some black, smoke-like monster surged from the woods and impaled him in the heart. Woke up from that dream to a phone call from my stepmother. My father was on the operating table for a heart attack. He’d been smoking since the age of 17, and it nearly killed him at 38… He had two more by the age of 41.

The kicker? He’d been replacing the toilet when it happened. Had his buddy over to help (a plumber). Hence the man in overalls.

I still get chills thinking about it.