My brother died unexpectedly on June 14, 2002.  He died of a heart attack while working as a roofer on a house two hours away from home. The only person with him at the time was his boss.  He was rushed to a local hospital but they were unable to revive him.   My parents did not learn of his death until almost 5 hours later.  Understandably, everyone felt especially sad that he died basically alone, with no family at his side.   This was particularly hard on my parents.   My brother had never been married, so he and my mother were very close. Many times after his death, my mother would express how sorry she was that she wasn’t there when he died.

On Christmas Day that year my parents and my sister and her family gathered at my house.  My sister was the last to arrive, and pulled my mother and I into the kitchen because she had something she had to tell us.  She told us how on Christmas Eve in the very early morning she got up to the bathroom and saw my brother sitting in her living room chair. She said he was as real as we were. She said she asked him how he could be there when she knew he was dead.  He told her, “I’ve come to tell you something. I want you to know that I didn’t have any pain, and I wasn’t afraid, and that crossing over was really ‘neat’.”  I asked her what happened next and she said she sat on the floor by him and held his hand for awhile and the next thing she knew she was back in bed.

I believe this story for a number of reasons. First, because my sister is the sanest person I know. When everyone else is loosing their heads, she remains calm and in control.  She is a college educated professional and not one to make up stories of ghosts.  Second, it makes sense that Michael would visit Diane, they were very close as kids, she being the youngest and he the oldest.  Third, he would never go and visit my mother because he would know that would scare her, and he would never want to frighten her.  Lastly, one of the words he often used was “neat”. After all, he had grown up in the 60’s and 70’s.   I cannot tell you how much comfort that visit gave all of us. We knew our first Christmas without Michael would be hard. Somehow, he was able to find a way to let us know that he was okay, and it made the pain of the first Christmas without him, a little easier to bare. .  June Murray, RN

Taffy

My 'golden girl', my beloved Labrador golden retriever Taffy, was a kind, affectionate and extremely intelligent dog!  It seemed as if she could read my mind and she followed me everywhere I went. I swear at night when she slept beside my bed that she synchronized her breathing with mine. Taffy had become my only family since my husband left and grown son had moved out. She'd taken on the role as my protector and watched my every move.  Her eyes lit up every time I told her "You're the best girl in the whole world". 

On July 26, 2005, she passed away from cancer.   I felt as if I had lost my best friend and certainly a family member. Shortly after her passing, I awoke one night and saw Taffy walking toward me. Filled with joy I sat up and reached out for her, but she walked past me through the sunroom and out her doggie door, although it had since been covered.  It was as if she had simply "melted away".  There is no question in my mind that this was not a dream.  She looked so happy and at peace.  I truly believe she came to tell me she is okay and healthy; no longer suffering. 

I miss her still and always will, but feel her presence every day.

Dianne L. Layne

Robert

Scott, a classmate who had moved out of state for a year, came home. He had no idea that our friend Robert had died in a car accident.  While driving to meet some of us at a party, he passed Robert in his maroon trans-am at an intersection and they waved at each other. Scott mentioned that he'd seen Robert on Chestnut Street as he came in to town. We were perplexed about who or what he’d seen, but he insisted that the car and the driver were no other than Robert. He was shocked and silent for the rest of the night after we broke the news to him about the car wreck months ago. He couldn't have seen Robert’s trans-am either, as it’s totaled body was propped on cement blocks in the garage at Robert's parents house. Fawn

Visit from Grandma Faye

My grandmother Faye was very close to me as a child and young adult. She served as my guardian for several years and we had a special bond. At the age of 23, I was estranged from my father due to differences we had, so my grandmother Faye who was ailing with lung cancer and diabetes, felt basically forced to choose sides and we stopped talking to me, too.

I knew that she didn't have much time left to live, and because of the strained situation with my father, I also knew that when she passed nobody would inform me. I had just returned home from a business trip to Europe and was sleeping on my couch when I awoke with a buzzing/ringing sound in my ears. It began to grow louder in intensity so I opened my eyes and tried to move. I struggled to move, but felt paralyzed. My first thought was that I was still sleeping, but I blinked my eyes several times and knew that I was awake.

Still paralyzed and the buzzing/ringing sound was still in my head, I looked up in the corner ceiling of my living room and saw as a nebulous, greenish, glowing cloud. I was so terrified I thought I would go crazy. Then, suddenly, I just knew it was my grandmother Faye. I don't know how, but I just knew. My fear ended instantly and I closed my eyes. The ringing in my ears stopped and when I opened my eyes again, the green cloud was gone and I could move again.

I turned on the lights and sat awake the rest of the night afraid to call her house because I didn't want confirmation that I'd been visited by her apparition. I really didn't want to believe it was true. A month later I did call her house and her husband's voice announced that it was his residence. No mention of my grandmother. I knew then she was gone.

I believe she was trying to let me know that she had passed and was looking in on me.

By Bill Tipton

Tickle Toes

On December 20^th 2004 my aunt passed away suddenly from a blood clot in her lungs.  A few days after her death my mom was in her bedroom gathering wash and I was my room with my 2 year old niece. I went out into the hallway to ask mom something and she asked if I had come into her room a couple minutes earlier. I said no.  She said that while she was bending over to gather clothes out of her hamper she heard someone say "Hey!" I told her it wasn't me but maybe she heard my niece, which was not really possible since my door was shut and mom's room is at the other end of the hallway. I asked her what it sounded like and she said it sounded like a whisper but it was quick and she couldn't tell if it was male or female. 

The next thing that happened was also to mom about a week or so after my aunt died. It was in the middle of the night and mom was awakened by a voice which she said belonged to my aunt.  Mom never looked over toward the voice but said she was awake enough to answer. 

My aunt said that she missed work.  And then my aunt said “It’s okay here”. She didn't sound very happy. 

Then she told mom that she needed her to pray for her and mom said “Okay” and my aunt said it again to her, more insistently.

A few days later mom went to church to light a candle for my aunt and an older lady handed her a card with prayers on it. She said the prayers powerful and mom needed to be careful about what she prayed for.

The last thing took place in my room while my niece was sleeping over.  Mom was getting her ready for bed and my niece kept saying that someone was tickling her feet. She was sitting on my bed and the only things near her were my boots off the edge, on the floor. Mom told her that her feet must have been touching my boots.

The next day my niece told me the same thing and I asked her to show me how. She wrapped her fingers around my toes. To this day she still brings the ‘tickle incident’ up, and she’s also still skittish about sleeping in my room.

Anonymous

Pull Your Legs While You Sleep”

My mother works in a cafeteria in which she knows many people. There are many usual customers who go there on a daily or weekly basis. My mother knows many of these people since she's worked there for over 20 years.

There was one customer who mom would always sit with in her lunch hour. They talked about many things, and he would say to mom "When I die I’m going to come back from the grave and pull your legs while you sleep" In Spanish it actually means “scare you” not literally pull your legs.  Mom would laugh and tell him not to say that.

One day, she noticed that her friend did not go to the cafeteria. She refused to think that something bad happened to him so instead she told herself that he was sick. The man was over 70 years old. After a few days she started to get worried and asked co-workers if he had been there. They all said no.

Later she woke up in the middle of the night and was startled to see a silhouette of a man in the darkness of her room. The "man" told her that he was alright and was in a better place. He told her that he wanted to say goodbye to her before he left our world forever and told her not to worry about him. He disappeared into a corner of her room and after a few minutes mom went back to sleep.

When she went to work the next day, one of her co-workers told her that her friend had died the night before. She told mom that he died peacefully in his sleep. He’d kept his "promise" and came to “pull her legs” while she slept.

By Marco Lopez

My Little Brother Still Loves Me 

Crystal J Cline.

Jacob was born two days after my first birthday. We were a year apart, but so close that most people assumed we were twins. We were inseparable and even when I was old enough to have friends he’d accompany me to their houses.

Our mother abandoned us when we were only 4 and 3 years old. The year before this we’d been "kidnapped" by her and an abusive boyfriend. Then one day she called Grandma and told her to meet us at our Aunt's house. She put Jake in my arms and said "Take care of your brother, Sissy" and got back in the cab and left us. 

It was my priority in High School to defend him. I was outgoing, in drama club and a cheerleader, while Jake was quiet and passive. I remember getting into fights protecting him. He’d ignore bullies who hit or pinched him, but I’d go for the ‘low blow’ when they picked on my brother!

Jake was also "accident prone." When he was still in diapers, he fell into a swimming pool and was rescued only after brushing against somebody’s foot.  Before leaving for the military he was beaten by a street gang and almost died. In fact his military induction was delayed a month because of injuries.

Jake called me from Japan the night before died. We talked for hours. I missed him so much. The next day after work, I had an argument with one of my step-siblings over the phone and was feeling a bit glum so my fiance’ took me to Red Lobster.

As we passed my dad’s favorite bar I saw two marines outside talking to Dad's friend. I begged Tom to stop, but he assured me they had nothing to do with Jake, and we went on to the restaurant.

At the restaurant my step mother called and told us that two marines had brought us news of Jacob. I called Granny and understood through her sobs that one of the marines was a Chaplain. We quickly rushed to Granny's house but the marines told us they could only talk to Dad. I didn’t know what was happening.  Finally I was able to contact my uncle who told me "there's been an accident Sissy, your little- brother has been killed."

It turns out that six hours after I spoke with him, Jacob was hit by a truck while crossing an expressway. Strangely enough, he had called everyone he knew that day except dad. He and dad were very close.

His funeral was closed casket and I didn’t get the closure I needed to believe he was really gone. For days I couldn’t sleep, I’d just stay awake and ask God for a sign about Jacob. One sleepless night my daughter Sami was thirsty so I walked her to the kitchen. As I turned from the fridge to hand Sami some juice, there sat Jacob at my kitchen table surrounded by a blinding white light!

I dropped to my knees, and don’t remember our conversation but we had one. The entire interaction has been wiped from my memory. I remember that he seemed sad and that he hugged me at the end and said "I love you Sissy, take care of Dad for me."

Still kneeling I reached around and touched Sami's face. She said "You're pokin' me in the eyes, mommy." Needless to say, she slept with me that night and I still don’t know what she did or did not see. 

My Grandpa’s Ghost

By Carrie

When I was about 4 or 5 years old, I saw my grandpa's ghost. I was laying on my couch and my mom was outside talking to my dad because the portal to my attic was open but no one had been  in the attic at all that day. All of a sudden I saw a pair of feet come down from the attic. The figure was in the shape of an elderly man with glasses, dress shoes, and a pair of dress pants on too. I wasn't scared because I could tell that the ghost wasn't going to hurt me. The figure came over gave me a kiss on the forehead and then went right through the front door. When my mom came in, I told her about the incident and when I described the figure, she went and got a picture of my great grandpa. When I saw the picture I got all excited and said "mommy mommy that's him, that's who I saw." I'm 11 now and I find it very comforting because my grandpa had died when I was just a little baby and it's nice to know that he's watching over me.

Attending His Own Funeral

 My five year old sister was puzzled when mother told her why we were at church.

“If this is Grandpa Reed’s funeral, why is he standing at the door greeting people?” She asked.

Mom and I couldn’t see him, yet she was insistent grandpa was standing there. I have no reason to doubt what she saw because she knew grandpa well. He'd held and played with her just as a grandfather should.

My grandpa was a spiritual man, kind and good to all who knew him. I believe this is why he was allowed to attend his own funeral.

When my sister was small she had a disease requiring several operations. Shortly after her operations, we took her to church where she saw a picture of Christ. She acted like she recognized him and when mother asked her about this she said, “He is very nice and has the prettiest eyes, he played with me while I was in the hospital”.

My sister was a small child at the time which makes all the more sense for me to believe her.

Michael Vadnais

Lost Too Soon

This took place towards the end of 2004 as I was leaving for work. I was backing out of our driveway, looking to make sure no one was on the sidewalk. Children and older folk love to walk early in the morning where I live. I don't just peel out of the driveway for this reason it takes me a few seconds to back out. I looked to my left and stopped the truck abruptly.  There stood a man with his hands in his pockets wearing a waist length leather jacket and thick tinted glasses like in the disco era.  He also wore bell-bottom type pants, and wondered where he came from with that outfit. The 70's are gone, man! 

He stopped walking and I looked right at him. Then he nodded his head as if to say, "Go ahead", so I did.  I know the neighbors on both sides of us and he wasn’t one of them. I didn’t know where he’d come from. I was now in the street ready to drive away and he was still looking at me.  I took my eyes off him for a moment, glanced back and he was gone. Later at work my husband called with very sad news that his dad had died the night before. I’d never had a chance to meet him because he and my husband were not on speaking terms. When my husband was a teenager he was forced to find work to help his mom keep their home after his father left them.  At the viewing I walked up to the casket with my husband and nearly fell over in disbelief. I waited a few days to tell my husband that the man in the casket had been the visitor our sidewalk. He showed me a picture I’d never seen before of his dad when young. He was even wearing the exact same clothes!

Mary Escobar

My dad’s call . . .

June and brother experience  . . .

MOM

Mom’s Promise

Mom and I made a promise to each other that the one who dies first would show the other they are okay. We did this because she worried about me out late at night.

When she had her second battle with cancer, I helped take care of her. She was tough, it took the cancer two years and I didn't work for those years so I could help. It’s amazing how strong she was, and funny. Mom was the center of our family. Dad, brother and I could talk to and confide in mom about anything we needed help with. If there is a good side to her death, it brought the three of us closer.

The night she died I knew she was going and didn't want to see her last breath so I had a friend take me out. I cried the entire time and at two ten in the morning I screamed “She’s Gone!” I called to check on her and the nurse said “She just turned over and took her last breath”.

When I got home the funeral man came and picked her up, then we all sat around the kitchen table. At five in the morning our cordless phone rang but not the other phones in the house. This phone was the phone my Mom used because it’s portable. The message was a recording that says “You have dialed a number on your own line. Please hang up and let the other party answer”.

In my town you can phone another person in the house by dialing the house number and then hanging up. That's the only way you hear that message. Knowing that nobody dialed the phone in our house, I knew it was Mom. A few minutes later our phone did this again, three or four more times. This phone never did this before my Mom died.

My best friend was at my house and the cordless phone was in the basement with us. The phone rang and the “You have dialed a number on your own line . . .” message came on. I ran upstairs to ask my dad if the other phone rang and he said “No and quit fooling around”. My friend pressed redial on the other phone and it dialed her house number. When we redialed the cordless phone it dialed my house. She was so scared she left that moment.

An Old House

There is an old house in Athens, Louisiana that was built in the late 1800's. My father bought the two story wood frame house for around three thousand dollars. It sits on about 2.25 acres of land. This was my childhood home.

My wife and I visited my parents one cold winter day. I decided to go to the large room and play an old smoked up piano that I salvaged from a house that was partially burned. I was playing a haunting melody that just came to me when I felt what I thought was my wife leaning on my right shoulder, I smiled and turned to great her...but there was no one there. I immediately left the room and joined my Father and wife in the living room but didn't say what had happened. Then suddenly the room was filled with the overwhelming scent of fresh cut Roses, so strong it was almost nauseating, this was the dead of winter. We all smelt it and I asked my Dad did he spray any kind of air freshener. He said no so we looked around and couldn't find anything then as sudden as the fragrance came ....it left. By D. L. Anglin

Smell of Roses 1

Grandma was diagnosed with cancer in 1996, she was treated and we all thought she was cured. When the doctor said that her cancer was surgically removed, I never thought it would come back. In December 1999 she felt sick again and went to the hospital but still wanted to come to my house for Christmas. Against what the doctor thought best, she checked out of the hospital and rode eight hours to my house. When we arrived I took her back to the hospital and I and an aunt took turns staying with her day and night. On December 30th, my grandma had been in a great mood, joking and playing with me all day. My aunt arrived and I drove home to clean and prepare next day’s supper. My two children were sleeping as I mopped the kitchen floor in front of our back door which had a mirrored glass effect. Suddenly I sensed someone walk behind me.  I looked up and saw a shadow moving by me (the feeling was more intense than what I actually saw), and in my head as I saw this shadow, I had the memory of my deceased grandpa. He had been gone for five years. I dropped the mop and ran upstairs where I cuddled in between my sleeping children. Although I would love to say I felt at peace, I can’t, I was scared to death. I woke up at around six in the morning to the smell of roses. My aunt phoned at seven am say that grandma had fallen into a coma. The cancer had invaded most of her organs and she never came out of her coma. She died on January 31st.  All day the smell of roses persisted, I smelled it everywhere.

Garza Grissell

Smell of Roses 2

There is an old house in Athens, Louisiana that was built in the late 1800's. My father bought the two story wood frame house for around three thousand dollars. It sits on about 2.25 acres of land. This was my childhood home. My wife and I visited my parents one cold winter day. I decided to go to the large room and play an old smoked up piano that I salvaged from a house that was partially burned. I was playing a haunting melody that just came to me when I felt what I thought was my wife leaning on my right shoulder, I smiled and turned to great her...but there was no one there. I immediately left the room and joined my Father and wife in the living room but didn't say what had happened. Then suddenly the room was filled with the overwhelming scent of fresh cut Roses, so strong it was almost nauseating, this was the dead of winter. We all smelled it and I asked my Dad if he’d sprayed any kind of air freshener. He said he didn’t, so we looked around and couldn't find any source.  As suddenly as the fragrance came ....it left.  

D. L. Anglin

Roses and Grandma
I was spending the summer with my fiancé, and his parents and we had come home from a wedding reception one night.  I walked upstairs to change into some comfy clothes before we watched a movie. The hallway was dark and I hadn't bothered to turn the light on because I knew my way around. As I opened my bedroom door I felt somewhat uneasy, as if something passed right through me. I never saw anything, but I did smell roses. I had no roses in my bedroom, nor did I have a rose-scented candle or perfume. It didn't make sense to me, but I knew that something had just entered the room with me. I slept with my fiancé, in his room from then on. The next day at church, I was sitting in the pew right next to my fiancé, and I smelled the roses again. There was a floral arrangement at the front of the church, but it consisted of carnations. That night, as I was getting out of the shower, I felt as if someone were in the small bathroom with me, but knew that it wasn't true. I moved over to the mirror once I was dressed and started brushing my hair. All of a sudden I saw an old lady's face looking at me in the mirror. However, I wasn't scared. She had a very grandmotherly look to her and a kind smile on her face. Over the course of the summer, I kept smelling the roses faintly especially when I went to my room. Just before I left I asked David if anyone in his family loved roses. He told me that roses were his dead grandmother's favorite flower. She planted them every spring, wore rose-scented perfume and gave them away as gifts to people she loved. I told him what happened and he told me that these same experiences happened to his sister-in-law, too. The family believes this is his grandmother's way of saying from the other side that she knows I truly love my fiancé, and she's accepted me into the family. By Anonymous

 Grandma’s Perfume

By: Mary Cunningham

My maternal grandma and I were not very close.  She was difficult to get

Along with, told crude jokes, and chain smoked like a fiend. In December1995 she died of emphysema.  My mom had been in Florida taking care of her, and I was in Texas taking final exams for my first semester in college.  I was studying at my boyfriend's house that night and called mom to see how Grandma was doing. She said, "I'll call you right back." She called back 5 minutes later and told me Grandma had died.  Though we weren't close, I was overcome with emotion and started crying. The next morning, I grabbed a sweater from a moth ball filled storage closet and as I pulled it over my head noticed that for a change, it DIDN'T smell like mothballs. In fact, it smelled really good.  I sniffed it again, and to my shock it smelled like grandma's perfume - Chanel No. 5.  I knew it couldn't have been my perfume that was on it.  Being a poor college student, I was doing well to afford shampoo!  Mary Cunningham

My Former landlady:

About fifteen years ago I shared an apartment with a housemate.  It was the downstairs of a two family house, an older home where the landlords lived upstairs.  They had been there for many years and raised several children in the house.  They were friendly people and often had family around.  Well, the landlady had died of cancer while I lived there and afterwards the family was distraught.  After weeks of seeing everyone having a hard time I came home to one of the daughters looking peaceful and happy.  She related how on a couple of occasions the family had come home and the Christmas lights outside the house had stared blinking on and off.  They’d had the lights for years and they were not the kind of lights that blink.  She said that while everyone else was busy looking at the fixtures and trying to figure out how it could be happening, she knew it was Mom saying hello. “Well, whatever makes her feel better” I thought.  

But a few weeks later, a guy I was dating came to visit me.  We sat on the couch together and he put his arm around me, the light in the corner went out.  We giggled and said, “That was a funny time for the bulb to burn out.”  We snuggled and talked for a while and then he took his arm off me and said, “Guess I’d better get going.”  The light came back on.  Then we were laughing and he said, “Gee, I guess I’d really better go!”  It would have been just like the landlady to have a sense of humor like that.  I began to wonder if her daughter had been on to something!

Karen Lee

Mindy

When I was born, I had a twin sister who died shortly after we were born.  My mom and dad didn't talk about her much, but I always knew I had a sister who had died.  I remember talking to her all the time but don't remember her talking back.  Mom told me a story that suggests she did.

When I was three or four years old Mom heard me talking to someone in the bedroom and asked me who I was talking with. I told her it was Mindy (my twin) who was talking with me so she asked me what we had been talking about.  It was close to our birthday and I told Mom that Mindy wanted a birthday present. This experience explains why we always put plastic toys on her grave, every year, for our birthday.