Generations of Spirit: How My Family Shaped My Mediumship
I grew up in a spiritual family, though I didn’t fully realize it until I began working with the public. The term “spiritual” often conjures images of zen and calm, but my New York Aries parents didn’t quite fit that description during my childhood.
Family and Soul Evolution
Through my recovery from a near-death car crash in October 2021, I’ve come to know my parents as the imperfect humans we all are. Family is karmic, making it a complicated yet essential part of our soul’s evolution.
Growing up in the late 80s and early 90s, I remember my parents reading their Aries horoscopes from the morning paper, Newsday. They still clip their favorite ones and pin them to the kitchen board.
Embracing Psychic Abilities
Both of my parents are naturally psychic and mediumistic, even if they don’t use those terms to describe themselves. I’m grateful that feeling the presence of loved ones, having visitation dreams, and getting readings from psychic mediums was a normal part of my childhood.
Subconsciously, I’ve always felt safe doing this work, knowing that my family “gets it.” I understand that not everyone has that support, which makes my mission to normalize our spiritual senses even more important.
Cherished Memories with Loved Ones
I have vivid memories of my Nanny, my mom’s mom, replaying recordings of readings from psychic mediums who connected with my great aunt Rose–her twin sister who passed away when I was a pre-teen. Everyone gifted my grandmother hummingbirds as a sign of her twin sister she missed every day. My great aunt lived on through the stories shared by my grandmother, making me feel like I knew her for much longer than the brief time we had together.
My dad has experienced powerful moments of precognition–knowing something would happen before it did. He recalls waking up just knowing Jim Morrison was dead before it hit the newspapers. As a teenager, he vividly envisioned a military man in uniform–a memory he still holds.
My mom has been shaken awake by physical sensations from the other world, often smelling and sensing the presence of our loved ones. One time, she woke up to smoke in her bedroom, possibly a physical phenomenon from the Spirit World. While these experiences “freak her out,” they don’t deter her from continuing to receive them.
Telepathic Connections
My parents joke about communicating telepathically–sending messages to each other when my mom is at the grocery store to remind one another not to forget something. I find that people tend to joke about spiritual things as a way for the mind to navigate the fear of rejection–if it’s funny it’s easier to share with others without being perceived as “strange” or “weird”. Even these lighthearted moments carry an undeniable truth: we are all psychically connected and can feel each other deeply, whether we are physically together or not.
My Nanny’s Signs
I grew up with an unconventional grandmother. Born and raised in Hell’s Kitchen, my Nanny taught me to be tough, to stand up for myself, to laugh harder than I cry, and to cultivate friendships that feel like family. Margaret Forgiorne–her given name–lived a difficult life, riddled with trauma beyond her control. Abuse, abandonment, becoming a young mom, and not finishing high school would have hardened a lot of people. And rightly so. But my Nanny was equal parts hard and soft–the kind of woman who kept a hammer in her nightstand for intruders, teaching me to do the same, (it’s still there, don’t fuck with me) and told me I was the prettiest girl in the room every chance she got.
My niece called her "Funny Nanny"--her Pisces spirit overflowed with laughter, love, and deep devotion to family and friends who felt like family. She loved Mob Wives, especially Big Ang. She grew up among a motley crew of characters, including her father, who, according to her, went to prison for being a thief. She told me stories of guns hidden in her dolls, my great-grandmother delivering an Irish mobster’s baby upstairs, and being sent to a convent upstate with her twin sister when there wasn’t enough food for all the mouths in their Hell’s Kitchen apartment. Life was not sunny for my Nanny, but somehow, she still shined.
I didn’t realize until much later that it wasn’t typical for grandmothers to routinely visit psychic mediums to connect with their deceased twin. She taught me what signs were–hummingbirds, cardinals, dimes, and pennies meant our loved ones in Spirit were saying hi. Everyone gifted her angel statues, wind chimes, and spiritual symbols. I thought this was normal until I became a professional medium and realized the reverence for the Spirit World she passed down to me was rare. In a recent reading with a mentor, he said my mediumship was hereditary, passed down through my lineage: in retrospect, this is crystal clear.
Signs from Spirit
I'm sitting at a coffee shop, writing this post about the signs I’ve received from my Nanny leading up to her birthday. Right beside me, two girls are playing Gin Rummy–a card game she loved. The signs are signing.
Since my near-death experience, my perspective on my work with Spirit has radically shifted. It’s deeper, clearer–just like my life post-trauma. When I was between worlds, I felt the peace, the love, the freedom our loved ones in Spirit experience. Grief is a beast, yet our loved ones want us to know they are well. We are the ones worrying, trying to fill the space they left behind.
Why do loved ones in Spirit come through more clearly around birthdays, anniversaries, or holidays? Because our love and awareness of them grow stronger, creating a bridge for them to draw closer. Loving awareness is all we need to connect with the Spirit World. Their power and presence are always available to us.
Maybe you've experienced something similar—a favorite song playing at just the right moment, a feather appearing when you need reassurance, a number pattern that won’t leave you alone. Our loved ones in Spirit are always around, nudging us, reminding us they're near. The more we acknowledge these signs, the more they appear. So, I invite you to pay attention. Open your heart, trust what you feel, and let the signs find you. They are closer than you think.