PITTSBURGH - Dolores Hughes, a 50-year-old local housewife, began to feel the symptoms of the onset of menopause this week. But more distressing to her family is her belief that her hot-flashes and night sweats are really the hand of God touching her, known as the Rapture.“I always prayed to experience a mystical union with the Lord. And now it is beginning!” she said.
As an Evangelical, Hughes believes that the Rapture is an event whereby God takes a select group of faithful Christians out of the world before the Tribulation.
Her 23-year-old daughter, Sarah, however, insisted she go to her OB-GYN. “I’m like, ‘Mom, just go to the doctor and tell him your symptoms!’ But she just kept looking out the window, waiting for angels to arrive,” she said.
Sarah finally convinced her mother to make an appointment. However, her doctor, William Casey, had similar results when discussing the issue with her.
“I tried to explain to Mrs. Hughes that menopause is natural and results from a woman’s ovaries ceasing to produce eggs, thus ending her menstruation,” Dr. Casey said. “But she just kept telling me that it’s not too late for me to be saved. I offered to prescribe her hormones but she said she’d soon be free of her earthly body.”
Her family reports that a similar incident occurred last summer when she thought the Apocalypse had begun, only to find out later it was just fireworks night at PNC Park.
