A fortune teller predicted I had a secret brother – 29 years later I found out she was right
A WOMAN has told how a fortune teller correctly predicted she had a secret brother.
Michele Morrow, 41, from Washington, US, was a teen when she stumbled across a tape recording of a psychic telling her mum Marlene, 67, that her husband Edward, 76, had a son from a previous marriage.
Stunned by the revelation, Michele confronted her parents only to be told the mystic was “a fake”.
However, 29 years later, Michele took a DNA test and discovered she did in fact have a sibling called Tim, 51 – proving the clairvoyant’s seemingly outlandish claims correct.
Here, Michele, an actress, shares her shocking story exclusively with Fabulous Digital…
It was summer 1995. I was 16 and driving my younger sister Jeny to work in our mum’s car.
We put a cassette tape into the player expecting to hear the Beatles or Elvis, but were confused to hear our mum’s voice.
We realised we were listening to a recording of my mum and her friends talking to a fortune teller.
There was some talk about tarot cards and then we heard the woman say, “This is your husband’s second marriage, yes?”
Mum denied dad had a child and told me not to bring it up again. I pretty much put the whole thing out of my mind - until 25 years later
Michele Morrow
Jeny and I burst into hysterical laughter, this woman was totally wrong. She was clearly a fraud.
“Yes,” said my mum. My mouth fell open. “And, he had a son from that marriage. Maybe.”
We both went into shock. The entire day at work I was in turmoil, a whirlwind of questions.
As soon as we got home I stormed up to my dad, Jeny crying beside me. “I want to know about your first marriage,” I shouted. I told him about the fortune teller but he just looked at me like I was mad.
“I don’t understand anything you’re saying,” he said calmly. “Fortune tellers are just fakes.”
Mum came to find me in my bedroom later. That’s when she told me that my dad had been married, very briefly, before he’d met her.
She denied he had a child and told me not to bring it up again. I pretty much put the whole thing out of my mind - until 25 years later.
This has gone from something fun to something serious. I could be about to explode my whole family
Michele Morrow
Jeny had bought me a 23andme DNA test for my 40th birthday and the results were in.
On the section that connects you to relatives it stated that a guy called Tim could be our half-grandfather. This guy shared 20% of my DNA.
Then the memory of the fortune teller hit me like a ton of bricks.
I began typing out a message to Tim. I wrote: “I’ve got my ancestry report and it says you’re my grandfather? Probably not possible. But maybe….half-brother?”
The following day I received a message from Tim, stating his father’s name was Edward Morrow. The same as my dad. He was my brother!
Suddenly a million thoughts hit me. What if mum doesn’t know? What if dad doesn’t know?
This has gone from something fun to something serious. I could be about to explode my whole family.
Suddenly a million thoughts hit me. What if mum doesn’t know? What if dad doesn’t know?
Michele Morrow
I visited my mum and told her about the DNA match. The moment of silence between us seemed to last forever.
Then my mouth fell open as she said with excitement, “No way! I’ve been looking for him!” I stood there in shock.
“I knew his name,” mum said. “I told you, you didn’t have a brother in case you went looking for him and couldn’t find him.”
That’s when she told me the whole story. Dad was stationed far away from his first wife for work and they decided to divorce.
When she remarried, dad thought it would cause the least disruption to Tim’s life if he was raised by his adopted father. And he made a promise to himself not to reach out.
“But he always hoped Tim would find him,” mum said.
Mum told Jeny and I to contact Tim while she spoke to dad. Messages flew between the three of us. We learnt that Tim was married with two boys.
The first time I saw his photo I couldn’t believe it, he looks so much like our dad.
The first time I saw his photo I couldn’t believe it, he looks so much like our dad
Michele Morrow
We all Skyped together and it was like catching up with someone we already knew.
There were some amazing coincidences. I do video game voiceovers and it turned out Tim was familiar with my work, which was wild to think about.
Meanwhile I got a phone call from my dad. “Hello, is that Detective Morrow?” he asked. “Yes, how are you?” I replied. “You got me!” he said, and we both burst out laughing.
We had lunch together and after a long talk I understood why he’d made the decisions he did. It was to protect Tim and then all of us.
The next time Jeny and I spoke to Tim he told us he was going to be travelling to Seattle, where Jeny lived. My parents also lived nearby. Why didn’t we all meet?
Sitting there on my sister’s porch as Tim pulled up we were all holding our breath. My heart was thumping in my chest as my dad walked towards Tim with this big smile and put his hand on Tim’s shoulder.
Then, as we were having a drink together Jeny’s husband appeared with these blue balloons – saying “congratulations it’s a boy!” We all fell about laughing, and that really broke the ice.
It was an amazing three days. We did sightseeing and talked, really getting to know each other. It was surreal to look around the think, “this is my family, this is my brother”.