Otherworld - Episode 103: The Reader Pt. 1

Episode Date: November 18, 2024

A teacher's life is turned upside down when her student seems to be able to read her mind. Things get even stranger when the student begins delivering very specific messages from people she could not ...possibly know. Stay tuned, The second half of this story will be coming soon in Part 2. Check out our Merch Follow us on: Instagram, TikTok, Twitter For business inquiries contact: OtherworldTeam@unitedtalent.com If you have experienced something paranormal or unexplained, email us your story at stories@otherworldpod.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:08 Welcome to Otherworld. I'm your host, Jack Wagner. The episode you're about to hear is one that I've been working on for quite a long time, and it's one that I'm very excited about. It comes from a woman named Jennifer, and it took place about two decades ago when she was a young teacher starting out at a new school in Georgia. It's one of those stories that, after I heard it, I couldn't stop thinking about. And honestly, the reason I started to be a new school in Georgia, it's one of those stories that after I heard it, I couldn't stop thinking about. And honestly, the reason I started the show in the first place was in hopes of getting stories like this one.
Starting point is 00:00:43 I spent a good amount of time getting to know Jennifer this year, talking to her on the phone, on and off about this whole thing. She is a very normal lady who really just had this one extremely abnormal saga take place in her life a very long time ago. and then nothing similar ever again. It's been very fascinating being able to revisit these memories alongside of her over the last year. Anonymity was very important to Jennifer. For that reason, we have changed some names and minor details of the story to protect everyone's identity. Let's get this episode started. I think you're all going to enjoy this just as much as I did.
Starting point is 00:01:26 This is episode 103. The title is The Reader, Part 1. and you're listening to Otherworld. Hello. Is this Bobby? Yes, it is. At its core, the science, you can't argue. I'm worried about all the science.
Starting point is 00:01:45 Up in the sky. It's almost frustrating that it's happening. I'm going to die up. It's limbs were just like wrong. Everybody moves back into the light, even if it takes them a minute. My name is Jennifer, and I am a middle school Montessori teacher. I teach Erdkinder, which is. teaching students about animal husbandry and gardening.
Starting point is 00:02:37 My story takes place when I lived in Savannah, Georgia. I grew up in Virginia. I have a brother and a sister, and my parents were divorced when I was very young. My mom was from Poland, kind of had a strict upbringing. My dad died when I think I was like 11 years old. He was a merchant marine. There is a shipwreck in 1983.
Starting point is 00:03:11 The ship was caught in the storm and the ship sank. But a happy kid. I had great friends. School was a lot of fun. I went to the local college there and graduated. I waited tables. just a nice, happy, non-stressful upbringing, really. I was raised Catholic, but I wasn't sure if I believed it or not.
Starting point is 00:03:40 I wasn't necessarily religious. I kind of had an open mind to everything. And I still do. I don't think I know an answer one way or another, but I just always just try to have an open mind about life. and religion and all of that. In 2007, I was in graduate school for a master's degree in education.
Starting point is 00:04:13 In March, I got married, and in July, my husband and I moved out of state. I wasn't finished with my schooling, but I thought, okay, let me get settled first before I continue with my education. education, and I thought I would apply for a job at a public school. I always had an interest to be a teacher, and especially with special ed children. I think I have more patience and understanding than most with animals and children.
Starting point is 00:04:52 I have the type of personality where I kind of step back and allow them to be who they I'm certainly not a controlling person, and I try to give, especially with my students, give them space to figure out who they are. And I've noticed when I was in school, when I was growing up in particular, that a lot of times, I don't know, adults kind of disappointed me. And I felt like I was going through the system like a factory, and nobody really took the time to ask me who I am or what really my interests are or what I'm really struggling with. So I feel like I have that, I have that in me and I try to impart that with the students that I've
Starting point is 00:05:44 worked with. I allow them to make mistakes in their life. I try to allow them to figure out who they are and that making mistakes is okay and just kind of slowing. down their life. So I know I'm not good at many things in my life, but I'm good at that. I'm good at patience and allowing people to be who they are at this moment. And I guess the fact that most people with special needs aren't trying to pretend to be something that they're not, and I find that to be so refreshing, because I could be myself with them and we could both laugh and be vulnerable. and just enjoy life at its purest without any kind of superficial nonsense attached to it. Around September, there was an advertisement for a teaching assistant position in a middle school.
Starting point is 00:06:46 So I applied for it, and a few days later, the principal called. I got an interview. And he explained to me that there was an eighth-grade student who needed to be. who needed someone to work with her one-on-one, that she was on the autistic spectrum and needed somebody to help her with her homework, with her classwork, just being there for her throughout the day. So the principal and I walked down to the classroom,
Starting point is 00:07:18 and I met the special education teacher, and I walked around the classroom, and then she introduced me to Jamie. When I looked at Jamie, I saw her, she was sitting with the other kids in the class, eighth grade girl, I think there's like 13 or 14 years old, dark hair, brown eyes, super cute, kind of hunched over. She had her index fingers in her ears, kind of staring at the ground. and the lead teacher introduced me to her,
Starting point is 00:07:59 and she kind of looked up at me. She got up, super sweet. She gave me a hug, and I hugged her back. And the lead teacher explained more of the responsibilities. She mentioned that Jamie was on the spectrum, and she also had a neurological condition called apraxia, which affected her... I guess her tongue, she wasn't able to form words.
Starting point is 00:08:29 So she was essentially nonverbal. She could make sounds, but she couldn't form words. She also had apraxia that affected her fine motor skills and her gross motor skills. So she walked kind of with a clumsy gate. And her fine motor skills were affected like she couldn't hold a pencil, she couldn't button a button, open up a book. she was limited in that capacity. The principal and the late teacher said
Starting point is 00:08:58 they thought I was a good fit for her that they would call me in a few days and I was hoping I would get the job because I could, you know, as an eighth grade little girl, she probably needed a friend and I needed a friend. I was new to the area,
Starting point is 00:09:15 so I was, you know, looking forward to just helping her in every way I could. They offered me the job, and I started a few days after that. The lead teacher kind of told me Jamie's typical schedule of the day. You know, in the morning, we would be in the special ed classroom to go over morning announcements. And then Jamie and I would walk to her math class. While Jamie was in math, I sat next to her, opened up her backpack, got out her book.
Starting point is 00:09:53 Well, I took notes and Jamie listened to the lesson. Then, if I recall correctly, we went from math directly to English class. And I remember in English class, they were reading The Hobbit. And it was the same sort of deal. I sat next to her, opened up her backpack, again, because her fine motor skills, she could not open up her backpack by herself, got out her books, and took notes for her. Sometimes in English class, I would get the lesson and we would go to the school library. So we could kind of spread out and use the computer.
Starting point is 00:10:32 That's how we communicated with one another. Jamie always carried a laptop with her. It was a special kind of laptop that she would type, and then if she hit a button, the computer would speak for her. Sometimes we didn't use that feature. She would just type a message. And I have to say because of her apraxia, the way she typed was her hand was weak. So I would have to hold her wrist while she extended her index finger, and then she would hit the keys one at a time.
Starting point is 00:11:09 So I was always holding her wrist while she typed. Otherwise, she just could not physically type on the computer. but we always went to the school library, even after classes, just to either catch up on her homework or do her school work. All right, I just want to jump in and say, I asked Jennifer over and over again about how this typing worked because there are similar techniques used in the past with a keyboard, including something called facilitated communication
Starting point is 00:11:41 that have been widely discredited as pseudoscience. When I asked her about this, Jennifer insists that this was not facilitated communication and that Jamie typed on her own unguided. Jennifer even explained that she would often not even be watching Jamie while she typed. Jamie would just do her schoolwork on her own. This is such a strange story, but I wanted to be clear and acknowledge that.
Starting point is 00:12:02 Let's get back to the episode. So on day one, I remember going to the computer, and we were just chit-chatting. I would always ask her questions just to get to know her. You know, what did you? you have for dinner last night? Do you have any pets at home? What do you like to do? And things like that. You know, sometimes when I would ask her questions, she would only give me maybe one word answers.
Starting point is 00:12:35 It was hard to figure out really who she was. I kind of relied on her nonverbal. You know, like I said, she was very affectionate. In the hallway, she would always hold my hand. And that's how we mainly communicated with one another, through that nonverbal, because sometimes I felt that she didn't even maybe want to answer a question that I had. Sometimes she would just write nonsense on the computer, and I can tell, okay, she's not into chit-chatting this morning, or it was hard sometimes to get her to open up.
Starting point is 00:13:17 Sometimes I would tell her like, Jamie, you're the best and you're so smart and she would hold my hand and look at me like thank you I you know that's the best way I can describe it on the computer she wasn't very forthcoming with her personality she never wrote like paragraphs about herself
Starting point is 00:13:42 or she never opened up to me much about her personal life Interestingly, like I said, she loved to sit in a rocking chair. She would do it all day, rocking and listening to music. And I remember I gave her in my car, I had the Moby CD of that CD play. And I said, see if you like this. And she used to listen to that CD all the time and just rock in her rocking chair. That was her kind of her personality.
Starting point is 00:14:12 When she did show it, she was super bright. and funny. Like, she would, like, rip on people all the time, like, people on her class. Like, sometimes she would say, like, I can't believe that girl is wearing that skirt. She has no business wearing that. You know, she would just, like, rip on everybody. It was funny. She would type it out?
Starting point is 00:14:36 Yes, yeah. What other things would she say about people? In her special ed classroom. There were a lot of boys in there, and some of the kids. of them couldn't control. Some of them would scream or make loud noises. Sometimes I would sit with her. There was a
Starting point is 00:14:53 computer in there too and I sometimes she would start fussing and so I would say like why are you upset? Are the boys getting on your nerves and she would write, yeah I wish they would shut the fuck up. You know,
Starting point is 00:15:09 so stuff like that. That is funny. You know, just like that, you know, typical teenage, you know, judging people. Would it make you laugh? What would you be doing? Yeah, I would laugh because I thought it was really funny, especially coming from her. She wouldn't really look at people. She would kind of always look down, so I was surprised that she noticed some of the things that she noticed, particularly in what people were wearing.
Starting point is 00:15:36 One time she said, can I tell you a dirty joke? Like I said, this is part of her personality. and I said, Jamie, is this like appropriate? And so she was, she typed that on her laptop, and it sounded like, can I tell you a dirty joke? But the punchline for that was a white horse fell in a mud pit or something like that. That was her kind of sense of humor. Her memory was extraordinary. And I'm not sure why.
Starting point is 00:16:13 when we were, like I mentioned, we were reading The Hobbit, and she must have remembered details about the Hobbit that I was thinking, wow, you remember that? Let me go back on page 27 to check or something along those lines. I had a sneaking suspicion that her memory was extraordinary. So I remember one time in class, I picked up a dictionary, and I just opened it up and showed it to her, put it in her face, like, look at this dictionary. And I could see that she was kind of like scanning it with her eyes. I said, okay, now you write down what was in the dictionary. And effortlessly, she was writing everything verbatim on that dictionary page. You know, and that was, that really taught me a lesson that we were reading The Hobbit and she got the
Starting point is 00:17:10 character, she knew, she understood the story. She knew what was going on. And sadly, a lot of people just dismissed her as probably being unintelligent, but she was very intuitive, very bright, yeah, very smart. I think most of the time the other students just saw her as invisible. They didn't really respond to her. They didn't acknowledge her. They didn't include her. And a lot of times, the teachers as well. You know, if they're passing out papers, you know, a lot of the times the teachers wouldn't pass something to Jamie. And then when I would say, hey, you know, I need one of those, you know.
Starting point is 00:17:55 And she's, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry, we're just invisible. Well, I think she knew it. I could tell. Sometimes she would say that she was sad, that I know just from knowing her, as long as I did, that she wasn't able to express herself, that nobody, especially since she couldn't speak. And like I said, she wasn't stupid.
Starting point is 00:18:26 She saw how people responded to her. And I know she picked up on that. For example, I remember we were reading The Hobbit in her English class, and the teacher was going from, students, a student, everybody was reading about a paragraph. And even though Jamie couldn't form words, she could still make sound. And when it got to our turn to read, you know, the teacher just naturally skipped Jamie without even asking, like, hey, do you want to read?
Starting point is 00:19:11 And so she skipped us, and I said, hey, um, Jamie will read. And so Jamie would look at the way I structured my mouth to form words, and she would make noises, make sounds. She kind of sounded like what a deaf person sounds like when they were trying to speak. But she was trying. And even one time in class, she read a paragraph of The Hobbit Out Loud. And the kids, they clapped for her.
Starting point is 00:19:51 And it's like things like that, and she was so proud of herself. And that was such a touching moment because, God, bless her, man. You know, it's being her could not be easy, but she always tried and she, like, just was so desperate to, you know, know, fit in like a regular teenager. And so that was nice. That they clapped. And I, you know, that was such a special moment. And it was good for the other kids, too, to see her as, hey, that she is somebody. And she's trying to do something, even though it was difficult for her. I think it was a great lesson for everybody. But, yeah, overall, She was completely ignored, and nobody spoke with her.
Starting point is 00:20:51 I mean, a couple kids were interested and wanted to help, but primarily, you know, she was invisible. One time I remember, now that we're talking, she said, free me from this hell that I'm in. All right, we have to go to a break, but we'll be right back with the rest of the episode. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Maya's Mental Health Awareness Month,
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Starting point is 00:22:05 if it isn't the right fit. You don't have to do this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash otherworld. That's betterhelp.com slash otherworld. I don't think she wanted to be in that situation. It was frustrating for her to be her.
Starting point is 00:22:40 I remember we're at the school computer. And again, I was just asking, her random questions just to get to know her better. I noticed that we had a lot in common based on her answers. I remember asking her, and I would ask her questions out loud. I said, oh, what did you have for dinner last night? And she let me know that she wanted to respond, so I held her wrist, and she, held out her pointer finger and started typing that she had cream of wheat with
Starting point is 00:23:23 applesauce on top. And I thought, oh my gosh, that's what I had for dinner. I said, I didn't think anybody but me put applesauce in their cream of wheat. Weird. But I was elated that we had this weird thing in common. Maybe the same day or maybe the next day. Again, we were chit-chatting in the school library, on the computer. And I asked her a series of questions, and one of them was, what did you do last night? She responded that she watched the Yankees game. And again, I got excited because at that time, I was watching the Yankees. That's when Derek Jeter was on, Giambi, and we spent a few minutes talking about the game.
Starting point is 00:24:16 Oh, did you see that play? I can't believe Jeter did this. You know how it is when you're, when you watch something and somebody else watches it. It's kind of fun to talk about highlights. And I remember that afternoon during dismissal, her father came to pick her up. And I said, oh, Jamie and I are both Yankees fans, evidently. And he looked at me with a puzzled look on his face. And I said, didn't you guys watch the game last night?
Starting point is 00:24:49 And he said, no, not, we were not baseball fans at my house. And I was taken aback. And I said, oh, maybe she watched it in another room. And again, he was kind of like chuckling. He said, oh, the only thing Jamie likes to watch is like telitubbies. And she watches like little kiddie cartoons. And I thought, oh, God, that's weird. I started thinking that something was different
Starting point is 00:25:22 because little things that we were on the same page with, they kind of weren't adding up. And that awareness came when he didn't know what I was talking about with the baseball. So then something in my head told me there was just something, how would she know these things? Just something, it's like, you know, you're in your spidey sense.
Starting point is 00:25:49 My spidey sense was going off. I noticed day after day these little strange things that she would write to me, but that things that I was thinking, that she would write down. But again, you try to find, a logical explanation for everything. At least I do.
Starting point is 00:26:17 I just thought we're spending a lot of time with each other and we're on the same page a lot of the times. Sometimes she would say, and I remember this in particular, she said, oh, your husband is looking for cars today. And I said, how he is? And she said, yes, and the salesman is treating him like a child. And we had a telephone in the phone in the homeroom classroom.
Starting point is 00:26:47 So I called my husband. He answered, and I said, hey, were you by chance looking at cars today? And he said, yes, I was at a Mercedes dealership. But, you know, the guy, he was kind of like treated me like garbage because, you know, maybe because I'm young and he wasn't really taking me seriously. So I got out of there.
Starting point is 00:27:11 And he said, well, I'm like, how did you know? And I said, well, Jamie told me. And he said, that's really weird. Sometimes she would, when we were sitting down during work, she, I remember one time she said, how come you have sticks in your living room? And I said, well, those are walking sticks. I just, I collect them. She knew and asked about the things that I had in my house, which was very unsettling.
Starting point is 00:27:42 When the flit hit the Shan is one day, it was in the morning, we were in the school library again and she let me know that she wanted to tell me something. So I grabbed her wrist, she put out her finger to type something and she wrote,
Starting point is 00:28:06 oh, I know what your social security number is. And I thought, okay, here we go. So she, you know, Jamie was super bright. She had a great sense of humor. So I thought maybe she was like setting me up for a joke. So anyway, she then proceeded to type in my Social Security number. Exactly.
Starting point is 00:28:34 And I said, how did you know that? And she typed something like, you weren't in the classroom and your, pocketbook was there and I got up and I opened up your pocketbook and I opened up your wallet and I noticed your social security card and I knew that that was bullshit because the nature of her disability she could not open up a pocketbook a wallet and then go through my cards and I don't even think I carried my social security card with me I don't remember but I don't remember but I never did. I don't.
Starting point is 00:29:20 And when she was in her homeroom classroom, all she liked to do was rock in a rocking chair with headphones, with her music playing, or her fingers in her ears. She just was not the type to get up. She never took the initiative to get up to do anything. So for her to say that she got up to go to my pocketbook, then I started thinking that there is more to this girl
Starting point is 00:29:47 And these series of random things that we had in common, these coincidences, that she was eating the same food as me. And we were thinking alike. And the New York Yankees and then the Social Security number, I mean, something was going on with her. What was your reaction to this? I think I asked her. I said, how did you know that she said it's a little true? It's a trick that I play. It's just a trick.
Starting point is 00:30:21 Oh, so I thought, okay, maybe since I'm holding her hand in typing, I thought, am I writing the numbers? You know, I'm starting to doubt myself because I am holding her hand. So I thought, okay, maybe I'm doing it as sick as that sounds. Maybe I'm guiding her towards the answer. So I was a little scared because I knew I wasn't, but I started getting a little frightened. After that, I remember calling my sister. My sister lived out of state, and, you know, I kind of always, like, caught her up on the Jamie situation
Starting point is 00:31:08 because of all these little coincidences that were happening. And I remember I called her up, and I told her about the Social Security. I was like, what do you make of this? And she's like, I don't know. But I remember my sister said, like, I wonder what else she knows about you. And I thought, God, what else she knows about me? I just, that kind of stuck in my head. The following week, I only had my job for like two, maybe three weeks.
Starting point is 00:31:39 We were sitting at the computer. And I think that I remember the eighth graders went on a field trip that day, except Jamie stayed behind. So we were in the library a lot of the time. I remember working on The Hobbit, and there were chapter questions that we were answering. So I was at the computer. I think she was reading her Hobbit book,
Starting point is 00:32:03 and I was doing work on the computer, and I was wearing a charm bracelet. And she was kind of distracted by it. She was touching it and kind of like making little noises about the bracelet. And in my mind, I remember thinking, huh, I wonder if Jamie would like to wear this bracelet today. It seems like she really likes it. And then she tacked me.
Starting point is 00:32:27 And like she wanted to tell me something. So I grabbed her wrist and she began typing, no, I don't want to wear your bracelet. Your husband gave that to you. Then I knew she could, she was reading my mind. I was just thinking that, and she was responding to what I was just thinking. I remember what my sister said. I wonder what else she knows about you. So in my mind, I asked that.
Starting point is 00:32:58 I said, Jamie, what else do you know? And as soon as I asked that question in my head, her breathing changed. She was, like, breathing a little faster. she started typing fast and she started typing, I know your dad died on a ship, and she started talking about how my dad died in specifics. Again, I never, my dad died in, like I said, in 1983. I never talked about the way my dad died.
Starting point is 00:33:40 Why would I? you know, and she said, he's here with us right now. He looks tall and fearless. He looks old. And again, she's typing this out and I'm reading it. And I just, I don't even know how to describe the way I felt. She going into detail about the way my dad died, almost immediately, as if he was describing.
Starting point is 00:34:17 his death in the manner in which he died, mentioning water, he died on his ship, there was water everywhere, and those sentences with water, ship, it was cold. I felt like I was in a dream. I think that she typed out a paragraph about my dad, and she was typing about my dad, and then it would kind of switch as if my dad was talking.
Starting point is 00:34:49 Then I remember the bell rang, and she kind of snapped out of it. She was kind of like, you know, kind of in a trance, I would say. And I remember I didn't say anything to her. I didn't know what to say. We went back to her home room. I didn't know what to think.
Starting point is 00:35:08 I was a little frightened. You know, when something like that happens, you question your reality. And I was just walking throughout the day like a zombie, questioning, thinking, what the hell just happened? That can't be real. And even my co-worker, when she saw me right after that,
Starting point is 00:35:31 she said, what's wrong with you? It looked like you just saw a ghost. That's exactly what she said to me. And I was thinking, like, lady, I did. Jamie went and sat on her rocking chair. She was rocking back and forth. And I remember I was just sitting in a chair like, what the hell just happened?
Starting point is 00:35:54 And this continued every day messages from my dad. This is crazy. I still can't believe it. It happened every day. She was kind of like in a trance when she was typing, and I've never seen her type so fast before. So again, I'm holding her wrist while she's typing,
Starting point is 00:36:16 typing fast, fast, fast, making like shh noises, her breathing shallow, as if something was controlling her. That's now that I'm thinking about it. It's like something was controlling her. Focused. Like trying to look at something, trying to concentrate. And her typing was never clearer.
Starting point is 00:36:45 Sometimes when she typed, she would forget to put the space bar in there. but when she was typing messages with my dad, the spelling was correct. The spacing was correct. And one of the words, you know, my dad liked the piano player Rachmaninoff. That was spelled correctly. What eighth grader knows,
Starting point is 00:37:08 Rachmaninoff. And you have printouts of some of these, right? I have about eight or nine pages, yeah. I have her name is on the, the corner. It was October 31st. The Hobbit study question, so we're working on that. And then she proceeds to type, your dad really wants to talk. I see him right here. He looks tall and fearless, really old. Your dad is telling me to tell you he's not ready to leave today. He loves you, young daughter.
Starting point is 00:37:50 you're welcome. I think in my mind I said, oh my God, thank you, Jamie. Yes, please play Rachmaninoff. Will you play it for me? Jamie is a sweet angel. She found us because she knew we would need each other. And then she wrote, yes, he's very happy.
Starting point is 00:38:14 I think in my mind I wanted to, I asked him, are you happy? Like, are you, are you okay? Your husband is nice. You, two, make a good couple. And then I must have said, because Jamie looked tired, you know, as you, this kind of, this really wore her out. And I, I must have thought that in my mind, like, Jamie, she looks exhausted and she wrote tired, yes. She, and then she does good work.
Starting point is 00:38:49 You are a good teacher. and you're very kind. And then he said, tired, goodbye, reflect on everything, I tell you, love you. Another one, she wrote, or he wrote, he wants you to know that he really yearns to hear you play the piano. I see you playing the piano to play Rachmaninov very well. You used to play like your grandmother. My mom used to play, your grandmother. What was it like speaking to your dad?
Starting point is 00:39:35 It was, you know, like I said, my dad died when I was really young, and my parents were divorced when I was three, so I really didn't know him. But I, it changed my life because I didn't realize how much I missed him until this happened. And I really didn't think that he really cared about us. He moved on, you know, when he divorced my mom.
Starting point is 00:40:16 He had a new wife and a new child. And I just, I thought, here's this man coming from somewhere. Where, I don't know, did tell me that he loves me. And that's made all the difference in my life. And it's not like I had daddy issues or I missed him. I had a nice life. It just, it was so comforting to me.
Starting point is 00:40:51 And I didn't realize I needed that comfort. You know, I guess we all need like the love of our parents. And when I, you know, my dad told me that he's proud of. of me. I didn't realize like I got it was so like so nice to hear it's just a miracle and um like I said it's just life changing that after that and I know my um that my dad is okay and somehow somehow that life goes on that I don't stress about the small stuff in life anymore you know Life is good. That there are, there are mysteries in this world that we have no idea of what's, what they are.
Starting point is 00:41:53 But, um, but it's, it's, it's pretty cool. It's really cool. And, you know, it wasn't just, um, my dad coming through. It was like the floodgate was open. All right. That brings us to the end of part one. We'll be back. with the rest of Jennifer's story in part two.
Starting point is 00:42:45 I'm sure you understand by now why I was so blown away by this. It's such a wild story. And maybe the wildest part for me is that Jennifer still has so many of the original papers where all of this communication took place. It's been completely surreal to have seen these with my own eyes and read the conversations of these two going back and forth. Most of them start out as a normal classroom assignment, answering questions on a worksheet or something like that, and then suddenly it'll take a sharp turn. Another fascinating element of making these episodes for me was that sometimes Jennifer would find a folder of old papers in a box that she forgot about, and it would remind her of even more details from back then.
Starting point is 00:43:34 One thing that I went over again and again with Jennifer on was how the typing worked. And I just want to point this out, Jennifer says that she would help Jamie lift her arm up to the keyboard. But then after that, she would be typing completely on her own. Jamie would be typing this unassisted with her fingers. I think that's a very important detail to point out. Something I want to make very clear. Jamie was typing this stuff on her own. This story is not over.
Starting point is 00:44:02 We'll be back in part two with the rest of Jennifer's story. This has been episode 103. The title is The Reader, Part 1, and you've been listening to Otherworld. Otherworld is executive produced and hosted by myself, Jack Wagner. Our theme song is by Cobra Man. The soundtrack of this episode is by North Americans. This episode was edited by Theo Krantz and engineered by Theo Schaefer. Our artwork is by Coldestack Studios.
Starting point is 00:44:34 Nikki Kate Delgado is our associate producer, production help, by Haley Pearson. Please show us your support by subscribing, leaving a five-star review, and telling your friends about Otherworld. If you want to hear bonus episodes, you can become a patron at patreon.com slash Otherworld. Our social media is at Otherworld Pod. Thank you to the team at Odyssey,
Starting point is 00:44:53 J.D. Crowley, Jenna Weiss-Berman, Leah Reese Dennis, Rob Morandi, Eric Donnelly, Matt Casey, Morriceran, Josephina Francis, and Hillary Schuff. Follow and listen to Otherworld now for free on the Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And finally, if you or somebody you know
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