A Buddhist spirit named Aaron saved a marriage falling apart
“When Aaron showed up, one of the first things he did was dictate to my mom a piece of 2,500 year old Buddhist scripture called the Satipatthana Sutra. My mom says she'd never heard of it before. Aaron kept teaching her more scriptures and coached her in meditation in the Buddhist traditions. After a while, a couple of my mom's friends wanted in on the teachings. So she started showing them how to meditate and began channeling Aaron for them.”
Dad channels an Indian spirit while shaving in a bathrobe
“My dad stands there on the pull down attic steps and closes his eyes while my mom gets an increasingly worried look on her face. My name is Monga, and I I come from India. I'm here now. Not to be disrespectful and not to focus on Munga's accent, but I just didn't find this as believable as my mom's channel. Still though, there's my dad standing there at the sink in a bright green bathrobe, his glasses on and shaving cream all over his face, channeling.”
“As we rode the buzz back home, tired, looking out the windows in silence, Arizona suddenly turned to me and said, why did I ever marry you? I sat there completely tongue tied on so many levels. Tell me why, she demanded over and over, getting louder and louder until the six or seven people on the bus turned to hear how I was going to defend myself. Why did I ever marry you? All the way home, the question just sat there, big and awkward, like the watermelon on my lap that we would have for dessert that night.”
“So I told them that if they'd listen quietly, at the end of the class, I would walk through a wall. Immediately, they all shut up. At the end of the class, I took about two full minutes where I just stared at the wall at the back of the classroom. Finally, I slowly started walking towards the wall. When I smacked into the wall, I turned to them and said, you didn't really think I could walk through a wall, did you?”
Believing in a parent matters more than believing in spirits
“I understand why my mom believes in Aaron. As for me, I think believing in Aaron is a lot like believing in God. I have a hard time having an unswerving faith in something you can't see or prove exists. But I do have that kind of faith in my mom. That's why I believe in Aaron. You, you'll have to make your own decision.”
An 11-year-old refused Robert Redford's autograph out of jealousy
“So she comes over and she's, you know, she reacts the way you are supposed to react. Like, she's just, you know, her eyes open wide and she's just smiling and talk you know, and saying, I I'm such a fan and I love your movies and can I have your autograph? And he's delighted. You know, finally, some someone is showing the proper protocol. And he's like, oh, yeah. Sure. Yeah. Hey. And my mother's standing there smiling, you know, and how sweet. And and she says, Sarah, would you also like his autograph? And I said, no. And that was, like, the crowning blow.”
Aaron refuses to prove himself by guessing numbers
“Why won't he just prove himself? It's so easy. I have a number between one and a 100. And he says he won't play that game? So he's not real. Does he know the number? He doesn't have to say it. I just want him to know the number.”
“And he said, have you heard the news? Have you heard the news? I said, no. What's the news? He said, at 11:59, the last minute of filing for congress in the 2nd District Of Illinois, you now have another Jesse l Jackson running against you. The other Jesse l Jackson turned out to be a retired truck driver who lives in a suburb called Robbins, 68 years old, no previous political experience.”
Boyfriend ranked 19th, behind the neighbor's dog and plumber
“She was starting to like him less and less. One day, he made her list all the people that she loved most in order. And who do you love next best? He would ask hopefully. And the next? And the next? He came in at number 19. He actually ranked below the neighbor's dog and the plumber who drank two gallon bottles of Pepsi while he worked and let Arizona hand him wrenches.”
