Ruth Wolfgram is 62 years old, has five grandchildren, loves gardening - and talks to dead people.
She been a psychic medium since she was a child.
Ruth lives on her farm in Interlochen. It’s where she runs her small business, Celestial Blessings. She helps people make sense of death and suffering.
“People want hope,” says Ruth. “They want to know their loved ones and friends are all right especially if it was a tragic death.”
She’s helped reconnect countless parents with their children, lovers with their partners and even pets with their owners.
Of course, some people will doubt this is real. But what’s undeniable is how real it is for Ruth. Especially the dark side of the spirit world. Ruth has so many stories - of objects being thrown across rooms, invisible hands grabbing her, punching her, even throwing her down stairs.
If she could travel back in time and choose to accept or reject her gift, Ruth says that she would rather go without it.
“I'm glad that I can help people, but because of all the very frightening and scary things I've seen, I wouldn't pick that again,” she explains.
Ruth’s experience in the physical world has been no less terrifying - or heartbreaking - than some of her experiences with the spiritual world.
She lost a grandmother to cancer, a brother to a drunk driver and her father to suicide, all within two years. Then her daughter, a war veteran, returned home with PTSD and an opioid addiction. She overdosed and died in 2014.
But Ruth is a survivor. And it’s clear she survives using the same strategies that she helps other people use, so that they can survive.
She keeps her deceased daughter’s ashes in a small box on a bookshelf.
“I have it here because I haven't decided what to do about it yet.” Ruth explains. “I don't think I have to make any quick decisions either.”
Ruth says that her daughter sends her signs. After having a visitation dream, she knows her daughter is in a good place. She says a visitation dream is when a departed loved one comes to visit in your dreams and you get to talk with them.
These dreams give Ruth hope. Because she knows that tomorrow night, she can dream again.
James Ayers is an advisor in reproductive health marketing and communications at Population Services International in Washington, DC. He came to Interlochen in June for the Transom workshop, taught by Rob Rosenthal.