I would like to share with you how superstitions have affected my family throughout the years and why I choose not to believe in them.

1) Placing an acorn in the window to keep lightening out. In 1881 my great grandfathers greatest fear was being struck by lightening. He was a great believer in superstitious beliefs and followed many of them; one being the acorn on the window sill to keep lightening out. One evening, during a very bad storm; not only did lightening strike my great grandpas house, it burned the house and all his possessions to the ground.

So much for the acorn theory, right?

2) My grandfather was also a superstitious man and believed that cows lifting their tails is a sure sign that rain is coming. He raised corn in Indiana on a huge 100 acre farm and thought that by keeping a few cows around he would be able to predict when rain was coming. Based on this theory, grandpa purchased another 300 acres believing that because his cow’s tails had been raised quite frequently that he would make a bundle on more acreages for corn crops. The very next year was the driest season they had ever experienced; many lost their crops, including grandpa but he certainly had plenty of fertilizer! So much for that superstition!

3) My mother always told me that if I tied a wedding ring to a piece of thread and held it over my pregnant belly, if it would swing in a circular motion my baby would be a girl. If it would swing in a straight line, it would be a boy. Well guess what? My wedding ring swung in a circular motion and not only was it wrong; I had TWIN boys! Another suspicion down the tubes!

4) And last but not least, my eldest son was on the high school baseball team; one of the best players they had. They were about to play their biggest rival team and one of his team mates suggested that he spit on his bat for good luck before he was up to bat. He never believed in superstitions before but he thought; what the heck, it couldn’t hurt right? Wrong! He spit on his bat, rubbed it in and when he was at bat his very first swing was a fowl ball that went backward into the crowd and hit ME, yes ME smack dab in the forehead! Now how’s THAT for luck?

These are all true stories so needless to say, neither I nor any members of my family now practice superstitious beliefs for fear of what might actually happen!