Well, mom another year older, Happy birthday. You now have 13 great grandchildren. 1 great great grandson and another one will be born any time this month. Hope you are behaving. You are kinda out numbered with your ex husbands around.
This is from m autobiography.
Phil
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Penny Looney became a family friend after we moved from Houston to Pasadena. Penny was often described as a “character”. That was true. She was gregarious, and had a great sense of humor. She also had a gift, although she occasionally joked it might be a curse. Penny had psychic abilities. She sometimes called herself a spiritualist. She noticed this as a child. While she could do many different paranormal things, she was best at assessing someone's medical problems through the use of her spirit guide. Penny had no medical training, but she could describe medical conditions which other people had. She said her spirit guide Tronteodontis (spelling?) would tell her what was wrong with someone. She could psycometrize (spelling?), meaning she could pick something up and get impressions from it.
Mom once went over to Penny's house for a visit. When she had to go to the bathroom, Penny advised her there was a poltergeist in there. Mom didn't believe her. After the toilet flushed itself three times all by itself, Mom was a believer.
Penny joked that she had known me since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. When I was doing the Overview program at KULF in Houston, I asked her if she wanted to be on the radio. She liked the idea, and I set it up. Before the show, I asked one of the people who worked at KULF, if they would join us later. I did not tell them what it was for. (I am not using this person's real name to preserve their privacy. I'll call him Hector) Since Penny had known me for so long, it didn't think it would be fair for her to do any prognosticating on me. When Penny was doing a “reading” on someone, she went into something like a trance, with her eyes closed. It was not really a trance, but that is the closest description I can think of. She would contact her spirit guide, and then she would ask the person she was reading to give her some very basic facts about themselves. Penny says she seldom remembered what it was she said during a reading. She usually told people to bring a tape recorder with them, because she wouldn't remember afterwards. During the first half of the hour long interview (live on tape), we talked about all kinds of things. The spirit world, life after death, and all kinds of “new age” or spiritual things. The KULF recording studios had big glass windows. About halfway through the program, I noticed my prearranged guinea pig walk by. I waved them in.
Hector (not his real name) walked in and sat down. I told him to answer any questions Penny might have, and then to comment on what he was told. Penny asked him his name and when and where he was born. Hector responded and then looked at me quizzically. Penny then went into a medical reading. She started with his head and slowly worker her way down. She seemed to actually feel each thing she would mention. She told Hector that while he didn't get many headaches, when he did, it was like someone had put a metal band around his head, and then started tightening it. She said coffee would often trigger the headaches. Hector looked at me in amazement. Since he didn't say anything, I asked him if that was true. He swallowed and weakly said it was. Penny then went on to describe several other, very specific, medical issues, all of which Hector said were exactly correct. When Penny got to the groin area, she looked a bit different. She said she could not talk about this area right now. We would have to talk about it later. Penny then mentioned a few other minor medical issues before she was finished. I asked Hector how accurate Penny had been. He said he had never met her before and had no idea why he was coming into the studio. He then said he had always been a skeptic about paranormal stuff. But, everyone one of the very specific medical issues Penny has described were completely accurate. I thanked Hector, and he left the studio. We continued the interview for the remaining ten minutes of the hour.
As soon as the “on air” light went off, Hector came back in. He asked Penny what it was she couldn't talk about earlier. She said she didn't remember, but she would go back “down to level” (her expression for her condition during a reading), and Hector could ask about it. Penny went back into a trance. Hector then asked what it was they could not talk about. Penny said she had been told not to speak earlier because they were in public (radio program), and this was a very personal matter. She reached toward her groin and looked very uncomfortable. Penny then said about two weeks earlier, Hector had ruptured one of his testicles. She actually said which one, but I cannot remember which it was. Hector looked stunned. I should say here that Penny only saw Hector take a few steps before he sat down during the interview. I had seen Hector many times during the previous two weeks, and there was nothing obvious about such an injury from his outward appearance or movements. Penny then went on to say that if Hector followed his doctor's advice, he should have a complete recovery. She then said that was all there was. Penny came back up from “level” and asked us what she had said, and why she could talk about it earlier. I told her. She asked Hector if she had been correct. Hector looked at me, then Penny, then me again. He then told Penny that only he, his mother, his girlfriend and his doctor knew that he had ruptured one of his testicles about two weeks ago.
We had more response from the public about this program than any other show we had ever done before, or since at KULF. One of the responses I got was from a teacher at Pasadena High School. He asked if Penny would be willing to come and lecture some of the students about paranormal phenomena. I check with Penny, and she said she'd love to. She really enjoyed telling people about such things, and how they could improve their own abilities. A month or so later, Penny and I went to Pasadena High School and met the teacher. Sixty students were in one of the larger classrooms. About five or six other teachers were also there. Penny told everyone about her life, and gave them some descriptions about many different paranormal things. She had brought a modified Polaroid camera, and she did some examples of Kirlian Photography. Several of the students put their fingertips on the modified camera, and then when the film was developed, you could see an electrical area around where their fingers were. Penny would then interpret some of what she saw. One of the students was missing his hand from just below the wrist. I opened a brand new pack of film myself, and loaded it into the camera. No one else had touched it. He put his wrist on the edge of the camera opening. When the photo was developed, you could see where his wrist was. You could also see what appeared to be several fingerprints exactly where fingers would normally be in a hand of his size. The students was very excited. He said this was proof that he really did have phantom limb syndrome.
Next Penny talked to the class about auras. She explained what they were, and how to look for them. She said you could see them around most living things. The ones around humans were the easiest to see, She asked if anyone had seen one before. A few hands went up. She then said we were going to help them see some auras. I was standing next to Penny during all of this. We pulled down the white projector screen in the front of the classroom. This was just the standard screen used to show movies on in the classroom. She ask our host teacher if we should be able to see any colors around a white piece of paper held up in front of the white screen. The teacher said we should only see a shade of gray from the shadow the lights cast on the screen. As she held the paper in front of the screen, she asked if anyone saw any other colors right then. No one said they did. Penny then told everyone what she was going to do. She would hold up the white paper, and count 1 – 2 – 3. On 3, she would use her abilities to project a color into the aura around the paper. As she said 3, she wanted everyone who saw the aura to shout out what color it was. Penny said I helped give her strength or power. I'm not sure what I was doing, but I held her left hand and thought powerful thoughts. I know that sounds a bit corny, but I was doing this in the way Penny had taught me to do it. Penny held up the paper and said, 1 - 2 – 3. Almost in unison, everyone in the classroom yelled out the same color (yellow, red, green, or blue – I don't remember which). This was followed by cheers and applause. We did this several times, and the responses were always the same from the crowd, except for just one student. The colors were different each time. Finally, Penny told everyone she was going to do something a little different, Everyone should just look at the aura and see what it did. Penny held up the paper and said 1 – 2 – 3. I was still facing the crowd holding Penny's left hand. As she said 3, I saw the faces of the crowd all move in unison. It appeared the aura was moving. Based on their movements, the aura went across the wall and then up to the ceiling. She then said she was tired and stopped. The students and teachers were very excited, and it was a fun afternoon.
Penny also taught classes on how to develop your paranormal skills. She had quite a few dedicated followers, if that is the correct term. She never claimed she was the source of her gift. She always gave credit to God. It was just channeled through her. At various times during her life, promoters tried to get her to go on tour. The man who arranged all of Uri Geller's tours was one of them. Uri Geller was a well-known psychic from Israel. Penny did not want to travel. Her husband Bud had been a drummer, and she saw how being on the road had affected him. Penny did do individual readings. She bought an old parking meter. She would crank it up to 55 minutes. When the needle clicked over to 0, your time with her was up.
Doing the psychic things with Penny was very exciting and interesting. But, beside that, Penny was also a good friend, and she was fun to be around.
Happly Birthday mom.
A little known fact about my mom: she loved to go crabbing and fishing more than anything. Her birthday is actually 7/12/1935. The reason it became 1934 is mom could nit get a copy of birth certificate from Pasadena .papa (her father said he thought she was born in 34 and nanny (her mother) said 35. Since it was retirement age nearly for mom they chose 34. My birth certificate though says 35. She loved her grandkids and epically her great grankids. Mom loved being by the water but hated living in matagorda so far away from the city life. She was a character that is for sure. There will never be another penny looney. Love you mom.
I was referred to Penny following a divorce. I was working with three teenage children to raise and new to working outside the home. She took me by the hand and led me through life like a Grandmother... so wise, so loving and practical. She even helped by giving me pragmatic pointers about moving from my two story house into a one story with advice like "Baby you will need two maids, one to clean the house you are leaving and one to have cleaned the house you move into... spot on! Such confusion surrounding the move as the origional move-in house fell through and we had to find a new home in 2 days.
When I had an offer to work for Ethan Allen and was nervous about being called a "designer" (I had studied art not design), she said I would always be in that business and each move would be a bit more creative. She said, "but it's soft, Baby, it will come easily as you work well with color" and I followed her encouragement and pushed through the fear. Another time, she told me I see you with "pillows"... something with pillows. As it turned out, over the years I did many custom pillows for different jobs and companies. She was so entertaining, yet could zero in on exactly what was happening. My children were a large concern of mine and she could see each of them in her mind's eye and what they needed and how they would develop.
There are spiritual gifts that are given to some that the angels and God hover over and bless. Penny was Real and a gifted counselor and intuitive. She blessed me with such sound advice and wrapped it in so much love and humor. I know she was one of my greatest gifts at a time when I would have been lost without her. Many times I would be so fearful at the rapid change surrounding me that I would have been immobilized without her strong mothering and kindness. God Bless you Penny. I only wish I had had a chance to talk with you once more to tell you now as a grandmother what you meant to me. Perhaps this will reach your heart soon. You were soo significant to me in my life and without your wisdom and laughter, I would have shyed away from some of the challenges I faced at a most critical time. You always left me with "I hope somehow I was able to help you"... and Oh...My, you most certainly did... and with much grace! I doubt that you are just sitting around, but sense you are actively guiding us in spirit!
Penny had told Kyle that what he needed was "A breath of fresh air". So when we met shortly after on Match.com and I wrote in my first email to him; "What a breath of resh air" - he knew there was something happening!
Kyle introduced me to Penny at Nigel and Regina's home in 2003, around the time we got married. The very first time we had a conversation, she was sassy, funny and fabulous! She told me someting about my health i didint know - liek she has X-ray vision! Well, knowing her now, would you expect anything less from Miss Penny?
Over the 10 years I've been married, I just like Kyle, came to love Penny very much, as does the entire Kietrys family, so when Penny was coming to New Jersey, one of us would always offer to have her and Jim stay as our guests.
Penny stayed with Kyle's Parents, Deanne and Tom a few times, and she and I went on a few long drives where we'd talk - but last time Penny was in NJ, she and Jim stayed at our house and slept in our bed - and little did I know at the time, but our house would never be the same again - Her positive energy and love of life, still live here!
What a woman, what an energy and how lovely, kind wise and funny she was!!
While they were there, I had many conversations with her where she helped me with things I was going through and gave me confidence to understand situations better, and encouraged me to move forward with things that I was apprehensive about. But one thing she said that no-one has ever told me, was really intimate and yet so poignant for all of us: she told me that the most important part about making love with your partner, is the time immediately after - "The moments after when you lie there just touching hands, allowing the healing to take place"
I also remember how she would suffer pain, to be able to show how much she loved and adored Amma when she'd come to NJ - she and Jim would have to find the money, deal with the difficulty of traveling with a wheelchair, etc., and Jim would dote on her to make sure she was as comfortable a possible (thank you so much, JIM ;-) and we'd get ready and go to Darshan to see Amma, and wait, and wait. So when Amma finally arrived, and made her way around the room to Penny, Penny's eyes would fill up and she would looktransformed, like a little girl being addressed by her beloved long lost Mother.
She was so beautiful but she would see the beuaty in all of us...
Unfortunately, after Penny left NJ, she went into hospital and her health deteriorated. I don't think she traveled out of state ever agian since then. I was glad we had the opportunity to enjoy her, speand quality time and really 'play' with her and Jim before she became too ill.
Rest In Peace, dear Penny
