Grandmother's Tumor-Induced Prayer Code Finally Deciphered 18 Years After Her Death

Teresa Neumann : Jan 24, 2014
Amy Forliti – The Sydney Morning Herald

Before her death, Dorothy Holm—rendered unable to speak from a brain tumor—determinedly wrote mysterious codes on index cards. Today, 18 years later, her family finally knows what she was trying to communicate to them. In essence, they were prayers.

Minnesotan Dorothy Holm passed away in 1996 after lung cancer metastasized to her brain and robbed her of her ability to speak. Her granddaughter Janna was 11-years-old at the time and recalled that her grandmother took to writing "line after line of capital letters" on 20 index cards. (Photo via Sidney Morning Herald)

After Holm's died, Janna and her family tried to decipher the letters on the card, thinking it might be some kind of code. After a long hiatus, Janna recently revisited the mysterious cards, asking an online blog called Ask.MetaFilter.com for help.

Within minutes, one of the blog users was able to decipher the code.

"AGH, YES!" they wrote. "OFWAIHHBTN… Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name."

According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, that breakthrough gave Janna the impetus to decipher more of the cards' contents, compiling "a prayer in which her grandmother was giving thanks, and praying that her loved ones would be safe, happy and healthy."