I realized that I left out something important in the Back Story to Episode 1.
The “tree fall” incident occurred in September 1964. In early August Jeanette took Valerie outside to play with a large ball in the cemented gated area in front of the house. She tossed the ball into the gated area and Valerie excitedly ran after the ball. The ball bounced awkwardly and Valerie fell over the ball and slammed her forehead into the black cast iron pipe that protruded from the wall of the house.

Jeanette took Valerie immediately to the hospital. There they could find nothing wrong with her but wanted to keep Valerie over night for observation. They feared a concussion. I asked how often they would check on her. Every half-hour was the doctor's reply. I said that we lived a block from the hospital and can check on her every five minutes at home. All we needed to know was what signs to look for.

And that was what we did.

Now I felt this was important to mention because of the stories I've encountered over the years about people with Valerie's “talents.” They have invariably included a sharp blow to the head that seemed to cause these talents to appear.

Now, the incident that makes up Episode 2 occurred just a few months after the “tree fall” incident. To be more exact, Valerie was one-year old on October 13, 1964, and Cynthia was born on December 12, 1964. Just about two months later.

We had purchased a folding crib for Cynthia and put it in Valerie's bedroom beside Valerie's crib. The folding crib was made of a lightweight wood with a metal bed spring. The metal bed spring was hinged against the wood frame and folded down to hold the crib open. With the spring up, the wooden frame folded flat against it. When the metal spring was down to hold the crib open, a long screw went through the opposite side of the crib to secure the spring in place and prevent it from swinging down.

I believe it was sometime in February when Valerie awoke hysterically crying out. This time it wasn't in the middle of the night, so Jeanette was awake and we both went into the bedroom to see what she was crying about. After the 'tree fall' incident you can bet that both Jeanette and I were paying very close attention to what this baby was saying.

Since Valerie was older than when the 'tree fall' incident occurred she spoke a lot clearer. She said, “Crib broke, baby cry! Crib broke, baby cry!”

I immediately checked over the crib that Cynthia was lying in. The screw that secured the bed spring in place was way out. A couple more turns and the screw would have come out, the bed spring would have swung down, the baby would have fallen down and cried. Oh boy, oh boy.

Naturally, I twisted the screw back all the way in. And over the next year or so, I checked that screw often. It always seemed to be inching its way out. The darn fates were persistent.

The important part of this episode is the crib did not break, and the baby did not cry.

In the first episode Valerie saw the future, and that tree fell across the road. In the second episode, Valerie saw a future that did not happen because we responded. In other words she saw a future that was changeable. (play “Twilight Zone” theme here.)
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