As I walked Rosie into my office, her eyes darted around the room. I wondered if she was going through one of those mental checklists of things people expect to see in a psychic medium’s reading room. I smiled, remembering one client who’d asked in a disappointed voice, "Where’s your crystal ball?" Sorry, no ball, pyramid, magic wand or purple lava lamp (that one’s upstairs in the bedroom).

I gestured to the chair across from my desk. Rosie looked at it, then back at me, and nervously said, "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Have a seat," I said gently. "Get comfortable. Is there anything you’d like to ask me? Or we can just talk a bit. Whatever you’d like."

"Thanks," she said, lowering herself into the chair. She clasped her hands together in her lap as if she were squeezing a stress ball. I could picture Rosie as a successful businesswoman who made tough decisions with confidence; here, though, she seemed apprehensive.

She cleared her throat. "This is my first time visiting a psychic, and I’m not sure if I’m acting the right way."

"Please, don’t act," I said with a laugh. "Just be yourself."

To put Rosie at ease, I told her about how my sessions normally went and as I talked, she sat back in her chair and seemed to relax. I was about to ask if she had any questions, when I felt a presence enter the room.

"There’s a gentleman here who wants to say hello," I said, then concentrated on the spirit person. "He’s making me feel a pain in my chest. He passed from a heart condition. But he says he’s fine now, and can eat as much chocolate pie as he wants."

Rosie leaned forward, listening intently. "He’s a very energetic man," I continued. "He makes me feel like I should be singing and dancing. His name – I’m hearing a hard ‘K’ sound. And there’s something about a gypsy." I gave her a puzzled look. "Why is he calling you a gypsy?"

"That was my husband’s nickname for me," Rosie said, brushing a tear from her eye. "Carl called me ‘Gypsy Rosalie.’ We were both theatre majors in college, and our first show together was the musical Gypsy."

For the next 20 minutes, I gave Rosie evidence of her husband’s presence, and passed on several messages. The words from spirit put joy in her eyes. "I miss you," she said, and I felt Rosie’s husband reach for his wife. In my mind, I saw the spirit hug. As he slowly withdrew, I heard him humming "Everything’s Coming Up Roses," and told that to Rosie.

Then her parents came to speak with her, and they congratulated her son on passing his medical license test with flying colours.

After the session finished, I waited a few moments, then asked Rosie how she was feeling. "That wasn’t so bad," she said, then smiled. "When I got here, I didn’t know what to expect."

"Perfect," I said. "I think things worked out because you came in with no expectations. Expectations can disappoint people, because they don’t get what they’re expecting, and often miss the stuff they’re getting."

We stood up and as I was about to open my office door, I suddenly turned to her and exclaimed, "My goodness! You have a grown son who just graduated from medical school? You look like you’re in your late 30’s!"

Rosie laughed. "Well, that certainly made this visit worthwhile!"