Premonition

THE PREMONITION

This is our last Christmas together.

I can sense that something’s not right.

I can’t tell Carol of my feelings.

Already she feels too much fright.

What is this impending disaster?

I don’t know, but my feelings are real.

I can’t explain my premonitions –

I just know the way that I feel.

Dear God, I beg, I implore you.

Wrap your arms around Carol, give her love.

Help her to accept what will happen.

Send her strength to go on from above.

GUT FEELING

Be still, be still, my soul!

Please hush and do not fret.

Why do you sense danger?

Nothing has happened yet.

Put away misgivings;

Let faith replace your doubt.

Don't make trouble for me.

What is this all about?

Why are you so restless?

What is it that you fear?

Tell me what will happen;

You know that danger’s near.

Be still, be still, my soul!

Don't upset life right now.

Thank you for your warning,

But I’ll survive somehow.

Barbara and Jean Blinn - 12-25-82 Last happy pic. Barb wearing a "mask" that she and Jean are a happy couple.

Carol and Barbara Christmas 1982 Barbara no longer wearing her mask for the moment and showing the viewer a glimpse of her fear and inner turmoil. Carol posing for her father, who she did not dare show fear of or face the consequences.

Christmas 1982 Carol and Jean and last C

Christmas 1982 - Carol and Jean at their last Christmas together. Again, Carol trying not to show her fear of her father.

This was the last Christmas together. Jean never wore a mask in the pictures we took. Carol always painted a smile on her face and tried to be the perfect daughter.

Barbara knew when something bad was about to happen, and this Christmas especially bothered her. Knives, guns, and other physical and verbal threats had become a way of life in the Blinn household, but no one outside the home knew that. The situation was getting much worse. By December 1982, Barbara had already started seeing an attorney to escape Jean but feared she could not yet leave. Her mother-in-law had a powerful influence in the community and she was frightened for Carol's welfare.

Barbara's gut feelings and premonitions were accurate. The trials we would go through over the next year would test anyone's mental and emotional strength. It was only through divine intervention that Barbara and Carol made it out of their perilous situation. What the mother and daughter did not know was the impact their situation would have on a community. Read more about what happened in Bullheaded Inner Strength, coming soon!.