By Bruce Farrell Rosen,
My mom, who passed away from cancer in 1999, was a gifted psychic. She never wanted notoriety or fame, she just wanted to read cups to support our family after my dad left the home in our teenage years.
But because she was so gifted, so talented, she developed quite a reputation. Referrals of new clients arriving almost daily for years. She simply could not see all of the people that wanted her to read for them.
My mom read cups for the poor, sometimes for free, and often just for what people could afford. And she read tea cups for the rich and famous, people like Marlon Brando. Detectives would come to her to solve cases, and when the young Tom Bradley was running for mayor of Los Angeles he would come to her for advice on the campaign.
She once looked into my tea cup and told me the name of the woman that I would marry. She spelled it out in the teacup, showing me the word, Sue. She described her appearance–fair complexion, blond, blue eyes–and told me that I could not find her and that she would find me. Sue moved to San Francisco from Denver, we were married, and we have two beautiful grown men as our sons.
But this is not just a story of my mother and her gifts. It’s also about the San Francisco 49ers, who are now in the Super Bowl by some divine intervention.
Recently, in The San Francisco Chronicle, there was a wonderful article by journalist, Peter Hartlaub, titled “Was the 49ers Win Divine Intervention, You Tell Us.” In it, he describes carrying a photo of his aunt and uncle around his neck during the game, his departed relatives that were season ticket holders going way way back to the 49er’s beginnings at Kezar stadium in San Francisco, and who instilled in him his love for the team.
Hartlaub describes seeing another fan with a photo of their dearly departed father and after asking the person questions, discovered the love affair for the 49ers passed on from the father to the daughter. At the end of the article Hartaub invites his readers to describe any feeling of ‘divine intervention” that interceded on behalf of the 49ers to win this game, a miracle come from behind victory won by the 49ers 34-31.
Well, Peter, let me tell you.
At halftime during the NFC championship against the Lions, when the Lions were winning 24-7, and it appeared that our dream of going back to the Super Bowl would be dashed, my mom’s voice came to me.
I heard her voice clearly and distinctly. Yes, I can question whether I wanted to hear her voice, and thus heard her voice, or I can accept that I really did hear her voice and receive her instructions. I have no doubt that it was the latter. My mom said to me “I know how much you want to win this game, I know the hard time the City of San Francisco has been having the past few years, I know how much your boys want to win (they were with me at the game), I know how much this stadium needs to win, I know how much the City of San Francisco needs to win this game and go to the Super Bowl. So, I want you to go to the souvenir store and buy a talisman. It has to be a piece of metal. Put it in your pocket and then you’ll see what happens.
I said to myself “Ok Mom, I’ll see if I can find something like that.” I went to the souvenir stand on the concourse above my seats in section 136, and there was only one person in line. I didn’t want to stay in there very long and wanted to get back to see the beginning of the second half. I found a metal piece for ten dollars with a red background and white lettering: it had the words, “Levi’s Stadium, Tenth Season” written on it. I bought it, put it in my back pocket and went back to my seat, not saying anything to anyone.
Then the second half unfolded. Field Goal. Stopping Detroit on a fourth down conversion. The miraculous deflected reception by Brandon Aiyuk. The scramble by Brock Purdy to avoid the rush and throw on the run to Kyle Juszcyzk that was absolutely Mahomes-like. The scramble to the five yard line, followed by another 49ers touchdown. The recovery of the Lions fumble, followed by another touchdown.
The ecstatic final score, 34-31 brought tears to my eyes! Yes, divine intervention and no doubt my mom played some part. The following day I told my sister the story of the talisman. She is not a big sports fan. However, she knew the 49ers were playing and was happy to see the final score that night.
Then she told me about her dream, a rather scary one, of being in my mom’s house — my mom not there — and being hunted by lions. But she was able to scare them away. A remarkable dream and divine intervention, indeed.
Bruce Farrell Rosen has retired recently after forty years as an investment manager in San Francisco. He is also an author of two books, “If you Ever Need Me, I Won’t be far away,” dedicated to his mom, a psychic, and “Bombed in his Bed the Confessions of Jewish Gangster Myer Rush.” He has authored numerous articles for the BBC, Baseball Hall of Fame, San Francisco Chronicle, Marin Independent Journal and others. He lives in San Francisco, Calif.