From Predictable to Profound: Teresa’s Story of Loss, Awakening, and a New Way to Serve
For decades, Teresa Baker Opland lived a life that made perfect sense. A military career gave her structure, purpose, and a clear path. She loved the predictability of it—knowing what to expect, sticking to the plan, trusting that if she followed the rules, life would follow suit. She and her husband were both career military—soulmates who fell in love at first sight. Their life was full: meaningful work, a growing family, and the comfort of knowing what came next.
Until one day, it wasn’t.
While her husband was deployed with the Marines, Teresa was home with their three young boys—just nine months, two, and four years old. Her days were consumed with diapers, dinner plans, and the daily rhythm of working and parenting. And then she got the call.
He wasn’t coming home.
Everything stopped. Suddenly, her biggest worry wasn’t what to make for dinner—it was how to tell her sons that their daddy was never coming home again. The predictable life she’d built was gone in a moment. What followed was a storm of grief, loss, and deep, painful questions.
Teresa didn’t sugarcoat what came next. It was devastating. But even in the thick of it, she found herself searching for something to hold onto. She made a decision—one that would change everything: “
I will not be defined by this grief.”
She knew she had to get up every day—for her boys, yes, but also for herself. She joined a young widows’ support group. She went to counseling. She faced the darkness and walked through it, not around it. And through that process, something began to shift. Her heart cracked open. And into that space, something completely unexpected arrived.
One day, she found herself sitting in front of a medium—a first for her. Raised Roman Catholic, with a background in military inspection, this kind of thing was far outside her comfort zone. She arrived skeptical, arms folded, demanding proof. But what she experienced in that session shook her to her core. The medium brought through deeply personal details—things no one else could know. Evidence, not just comfort. Proof that her husband was still with her.
That moment opened a door Teresa didn’t know existed. What started as a desperate search for reassurance grew into a passionate curiosity, and eventually, a calling. She dove into studying mediumship, fascinated by the idea that we are all energy—and that connection with those who’ve passed is not only possible, but powerful and healing.
Years later, she now works as a professional medium herself. She knows firsthand what it means to feel broken, to search for peace, and to find unexpected gold in the hardest chapters of life. And she brings that depth to every session she offers. Whether she’s using mediumship, angel oracle cards, or biomagnetic healing, her work is all about reconnection—between the seen and unseen, the present and the past, the pain and the purpose.
One story she tells captures it all. During a client session, Teresa was feeling tired. She wasn’t sure who the client needed to hear from. And then, unexpectedly, her husband—her late husband—entered the space. In full uniform, he stepped in like a trusted escort. “Right this way, sir,” he said, guiding the client’s loved one forward. Teresa could feel it—his presence, his service, still ongoing. Helping her help others. Still walking beside her.
Now, having just retired from the military, Teresa is stepping fully into this new chapter of her life. She’s planning retreats in New England—spaces she wished had existed during her own grief. Spaces where people can heal, connect, and remember that they are never truly alone.
“I used to tell the story of grief on repeat,” she shares. “It was valid, and it shaped me. But I got tired of carrying it like a badge. I was ready to write a new chapter.
Today, Teresa walks a very different path—but one she was always meant for. And every step she takes, she knows: she is never walking it alone.
“If you only knew who walked beside you at all times, on the path that you have chosen,
you could never experience fear or doubt again.”
- A Course in Miracles
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