The Worst Review I Ever Got

The worst e-mail I ever received and the best e-mail I ever received were from the same person.

In late April of 2019, on a Saturday, I was in Mobile holding sessions at Sterling Hot Yoga and Wellness on Old Shell Road. That day was packed- every slot filled, back to back. I was excited to be there and meet new people and see new faces. The day began, each session feeling more on target and uplifting than the one before. Between sessions I was monitoring the doors as classes are light on Saturdays. I would watch for cars to arrive that might be bringing my next client. At one point I saw a red car pull up, looking a little weathered, had lost it's shine some time ago in the hot sun, showing every mile it had supported this driver. Tags were from Mississippi and I thought to myself that this was certainly for one of the other establishments in the area and I couldn't imagine anyone driving from MS to have a reading at Sterling. Because most of the connections came through the yoga studio, it was unlikely that anyone not attending yoga classes would even know I was there. I went into another session and when it was over, the red Mississippi car was still sitting there. I was looking for my last appointment of the day when the car door opened and a young, beautiful, slim girl gently made her way out of the car and started walking towards the studio. I opened the door to greet her and thanked her for driving that distance to come see me. She responded timidly with just a few words sharing that this was a dream of hers to have an Akashic Reading and she was glad it was finally happening. I was honored and grateful to have this time with her. The session was like many others (I read the prayer, check in and start saying what I am seeing), except she didn't speak too much, didn't really elaborate on things as they came up and definitely didn't reveal anything about her life. I told her what I was seeing. She asked a few questions- career, relationship, health... I gave her the replies as they came to me. At one point she asked if I ever saw her having a baby. I took a second and said, "Yes, definitely. I am seeing you pregnant and I can see an infant." She said, "are you sure that it is me and not any of my friends?" I said, "oh yes, it is you. I see you pregnant- it is a very clear image." She then asked me about a timeline. I said, "Looks like actually within a year- give or take a month or so." I reminded her that timelines slide around a lot, yet this felt just as I said- within a year, give or take a month or so. With that the session ended. She paid me $100 and thanked me for the reading. After she took a quick restroom break, preparing for the long drive ahead, I walked her to the door and watched her gently get back in her car without any expression on her face- much like the whole reading. Closing up and gathering my things, driving back across the bay, I thought the last session was kind of peculiar and I truly hoped she heard what I said and got what she needed. After all, it was her Guides giving me the messages, so I had to trust it was exactly as it was supposed to be- divinely orchestrated and intended. Spring turned into summer and summer turned into fall. Life went on. It was October, 6 months later, when I received the worst email I ever got. My inbox alerted me to a testimonial that someone had submitted to my website. I clicked it open only to read strong words of criticism, hurts and judgements- a story of a reading that was apparently woefully off. I was accused of being a fake, a gimmick, only in it for the money, everything I said was off. This person stated that they were homeless, had no money and borrowed $100 to have a reading instead of groceries and necessities. She stated that she suffered from an AI disease, had suffered severe trauma and was desperate, yet I saw nothing of that. She acknowledged that a few things were definitely on point but most of it was a joke, completely false, a total waste of time and, more importantly, money that she needed to use for food. All of this was submitted Anonymously.... Shock and disbelief were my first reactions, quickly followed by concern. I immediately knew who it was and searched through my files to find her name and e-mail address. Meanwhile my thoughts were racing from - Why didn't she say anything? How could I be so far off? I am never this far off! This is my first negative review- out of thousands of readings it was bound to happen some time, statistics-wise. Those words are harsh! Ouch! A Gimmick? In it for the money? I'm not normally so off base. My ego was reacting and yet in my heart I knew this person was hurting and I was unable to help and that's okay. Because I have a lot of integrity with what I do, if anyone ever feels the session isn't helpful or they didn't get what they came for, I will offer another reading at another time at no charge. In this case, however, I decided to offer her a refund. I felt the money would obviously be much more helpful. I contacted her right away and she reacted with shock and disbelief at my refund offer. She was very grateful and realized that I take my work seriously. She apologized for the review and offered to take it down. I told her no worries and I wished her well on her journey. "Shew- that was crazy," I thought and I just let it go, acknowledging to myself that I was indeed perplexed and curious about the whole experience. Kind of imagine tilting your head to the side, scratching the top of it and thinking WTF. (smile) Fall turned into winter. Winter turned into Spring. Spring turned into Summer. Life went on. In late June of 2020, 8 months had passed since the worst e-mail ever. Covid is raging, things seem so uncertain. It was then that I received the best e-mail I have ever gotten. Here it is- unedited. It was titled "Surprise": Hello Betsey, I am writing this because I needed to tell you, perhaps, you weren't that far off on my reading. Most of the time it didn't seem as if you were reading me. Then when you Predicted I'd have a baby in a year give or take, I thought you were surely mistaken! It seemed impossible to get pregnant when I hadn't menstruated for over two years when I came to see you. I had entered perimenopause and was experiencing noticeable changes in my body. Suddenly, in December 2019 on my birthday, I began my period and strangely they've been consecutive. I believe it's just over a year since you predicted this and I just found out I'm pregnant. The timing is kind of perfect. I'm truly, truly, sorry for doubting you! Pure Elation!!! I was BEYOND happy to get this message! I was once again Shocked and in Disbelief! Amazing. This was pure joy- not only was I happy to know that I wasn't that far off, ha ha ha, I was extremely delighted for her and this good news. What seemed impossible came to be. I laughed and cried for her. Her guides clearly wanted her to see positive future potential and opportunities, even if to give her hope that settled in her subconscious. I believe truly her Guides wanted it planted there so that it could take root and grow without any interference. This is damn good stuff! We have been in touch and have had another reading this month (gratis) just to check in on the pregnancy. I see it coming full term. I can see her holding an infant. I can see Mom and Baby healthy. I am feeling it is a Boy- yet I run about 50/50 on birth gender predictions. LOL We all shall see. Since the news in June, she has taken the time to write her version of the experience. Her story is intriguing and inspiring. Though some of the details are different for us, the overall story is the same. With her permission I am sharing her new testimonial, again, this is unedited: In early 2019 while scrolling through Facebook I happened upon a post for some kind of spiritual fair that included meditation, yoga, and akashic record readings by Betsey Grady. I responded to the post and someone responded back that the event had already passed; but, it was possible to still have readings done in the Mobile/Fairhope area by Betsey and I was given her website to book. It was weird to see the post because I wasn’t following the event or knew anyone that had even heard of it. I felt led to have a reading by Betsey. I had just moved back from a year and half of living on the west coast and things had not gone as planned. I was in a desperate situation and truly needed guidance. I was homeless and unemployed and I borrowed money from a friend to secure the reading instead of buying food/necessities. I most wanted to know where I’d find my next job and where I might find a stable place to live. I met with Betsey Grady in March 2019. Although the recording of the reading has vanished I remember some key things she told me. Betsey had a very calm soothing energy about her. When she began my reading she told me about a past life and how I chose my life path before coming into this world. Some things she said really resonated with me; others seem too good to be true. She had positive things to say about my future and the purpose of my life. One thing she specifically said was that the spirit guides were showing her a vision of me holding my baby. I was stunned. At this time my health was very poor. I have an autoimmune disease and I had not had a period for over 3 years at this time. Before that, my periods were not even consecutive and I only had a few a year. Doctors told me such issues were common with my autoimmune condition and I would most likely need fertility help to conceive. I did not mention this at all to Betsey. I asked her if she was sure she was seeing me with my baby; all my friends have children and some had just given birth and I was often holding other people’s children. She said she was sure she was seeing me pregnant by age 32. I told her I was 31 and that meant a baby within a year- I was in disbelief. She asked the guides and confirmed that I would conceive within a year. This ignited a hope in me but also fear; in my current circumstances it was hard to imagine being stable or healthy enough to conceive at all. Some other things she said made me truly wonder if she was actually reading me and not accidentally picking up someone else’s energy in a nearby room at the yoga studio where we met for the reading. I left feeling skeptical but hopeful. About 6 months later it seemed that none of the reading was coming to fruition. I still hadn’t had a period this year, so how could I possibly be capable of having a child. I then wrote a review about our visit; I felt the reading was inaccurate...too good to be true. I felt like she judged me all wrong. She never mentioned my illness or homelessness which I really struggled with at the time. I had ended up seeking emergency services about 10 times at least in 2019 for my autoimmune condition; I wondered how she did not pick up on this major part of my existence. To my surprise, Betsey emailed me soon after and was shocked that I was displeased with the reading. She apologized to me for me not feeling comfortable enough to tell her during the reading that it seemed “off”. I was truly surprised that she seemed to really care about my feelings toward the reading- she even offered to refund my money! I completely did not expect this. Fast forward to December 2019, the week of my birthday and the week of a major traumatizing event that has haunted me for a decade now. I started my period this week. My first and only period of 2019; it was normal and even when I had periods they were never normal. “How strange”, I thought. I became very sick with an unknown respiratory illness for about 20days and lost my job by January 2020 being too sick to work; but I had another normal period. Two consecutive periods?! Wow, that hadn’t happened in at least 5 years or longer! This pattern continued through March 2020. Despite the pandemic and everything that was happening I had never felt more healthier and happier physically, emotionally, and mentally. I was able to spend all of quarantine in Kentucky with my boyfriend while he worked a job there. It was awesome and I wondered since I was having periods and we were spending so much time together, was it really possible to get pregnant now? In April I didn’t have a period. I got excited and took a couple pregnancy tests. Negative. In May I also did not have a period. I was back at home and my boyfriend was working out of state and I barely saw him. I didn’t even bother to take a pregnancy test, afterall, not having periods had been normal for me and I let go of the idea of having a baby. In June, my boyfriend made jokes about my 15lb quarantine weight gain.One day he even grabbed my belly and made a joke there was a baby in there. He only said jokingly what I had been thinking, but I almost cried because I had never gained weight so fast. Every time I had gotten sick I lost weight and putting it on was always a struggle. I was in disbelief but I was having weird thoughts of how I might look if I was pregnant in certain clothes. Why was I even thinking about this, where were these thoughts and images bombarding my mind coming from? After another week or two of deliberating I finally decided to buy a test. I didn’t want to waste money for nothing, again, I didn’t have the income to waste. I took a test on Father’s Day and it was Positive! I had never had a positive test in my life. I went back to the store and bought two more tests that had a clear “pregnant” or “not pregnant” readout so I was’t deciphering one line or two lines. Both tests read “Pregnant”! I was so shocked and happy. I immediately told my partner who was just as shocked. I searched and searched for Betsey’s website and email which was very difficult to find for some reason,but I finally found it and emailed her the news that her prediction had come true! She predicted a miracle! The next day was Monday and I had an official pregnancy test done at a doctor’s office and they figured I was 13 weeks pregnant. Literally 24 hours later I was admitted into the er, very sick and dehydrated. The er doctor decided to do an ultrasound. I suddenly remembered that just a week or two prior I had a severe immune reaction that lasted about two weeks and I had to seek urgent care. I was given a shot and a prescription to stop the hives covering my body and the extreme swelling and pain in my joints. My ankles were so swollen it hurt to walk or stand and my wrists were so swollen I could not even make a fist and just turning a door knob was almost impossible. The Dr had given me a very high dose of steroids to counteract this immune reaction. I told the er doctor about this just after he said he saw a problem with the ultrasound. He told me that he couldn’t find a heartbeat and that it seemed that my baby had died weeks ago. I was in total shock. I had only just found out I was pregnant a couple days ago. He said I was very ill due to this and I needed to be hospitalized and have an emergency D&C the next morning to remove the REMAINS or he said I could DIE of SEPSIS. I literally couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I asked him with tears in my eyes if he was truly certain and asked what if my pregnancy was not as far along because I never had normal periods- “could that be a possibility” I asked him. He quickly responded “I do not want to give you that kind of hope, Ms Miller, It is what it is.” The doctor and nurse prepped me to move to a hospital room in the labor and delivery ward. They kept asking me how I felt about the news I was given. I refused to respond. I refused to believe them. I kept thinking about Betsey’s words- she saw a ‘vision of me holding my baby’, so how could my baby be dead? I didn’t want to believe the doctor. I held onto Betsey’s words, her vision, and it gave me hope. I put my faith in God and just continued to pray. They pumped me full of antibiotics, fluids, and anti-nausea meds as I prayed and cried all night alone in the hospital. I called my boyfriend that night and told him to take off work the next morning and come to the hospital because I’d be having surgery. I told him what the er doctor said. The next morning he came and we were both sad and quiet. He comforted me as best he could. We waited for the OBGYN to come and speak to us about surgery. When the OB arrived he said he reviewed my file and the ultrasound that was taken in the emergency room. He said he decided he did not want to do surgery yet- he wanted to wait!? He believed that the doctors might be wrong about how far along in pregnancy I was because they went by my period. He said he felt that instead of 13 weeks, I may be just 6 weeks along and although the medication I was given to stop my immune reaction was known to cause miscarriages he wanted me to wait two weeks and then check for growth of the baby and look for a heartbeat. He said, “I want to give you hope that this pregnancy is viable”. This was the opposite of what I was told last night by the other doctor. I was in shock, again. Happy but also scared, those 2 weeks of not knowing if my baby was dead inside me or alive were extremely difficult. When I went back to this OBGYN 2 weeks later, they found a heartbeat and the baby was alive and growing! I was so happy and emotional to hear this news! My pregnancy is high risk and there still needs to be special testing to confirm there are no birth defects. I have just made it to my second trimester and this baby is definitely a MIRACLE. I feel so blessed that Betsey foresaw this baby when at the time it truly seemed impossible. Her words brought me so much hope when I needed it the most. I truly believe God planned for this baby, that he prepared my body physically, mentally and emotionally and he allowed Betsey to see this and tell me during my reading. It is my hope in sharing this that we now know that we can believe in miracles; we now know that the impossible IS possible; we now know that all we have to do is Believe. Summer is turning into fall. Fall will soon turn into winter. And Life goes on~ in miraculous ways.... If you find this story inspiring or healing or extraordinary in any way, please share it. I truly believe that stories heal and that they are meant to be told and shared. We never know whom it will touch, soothe, inspire or give hope to; however, I do believe whoever needs to read this will. Our Guides are always serving us- Always and All ways~