Till we meet again?
December 1, 2005 6:59 PM Subscribe
Have you ever been visited by a (spirit, ghost, apparition, etc.) of a friend or loved one after they have passed on?
Personal experiences only please. I've read books, but am wondering if there are any first-hand experiences from fellow me-fiers. I'm not holiding my breath that my brother will appear to me someday, but I sure am curious sometimes.
Personal experiences only please. I've read books, but am wondering if there are any first-hand experiences from fellow me-fiers. I'm not holiding my breath that my brother will appear to me someday, but I sure am curious sometimes.
Background: My father's mother died of breast cancer the month before my parents were married.
They wanted to postpone their wedding plans, my grandmother refused to allow them. My parents were married November 27th 1971, I was born August, 1972.
My mother swears I was visited by my grandmother (who I was named after) when I was three months old. I was swinging in my baby swing and my mother came into the room to see the swing and me covered in a white mist.
She swears she smelled my grandmother's perfume, and just had an overwhelming feeling of my grandmother's presence. She says she said, "don't worry, I'll take care of her," and the mist disappated.
When my father returned home from work and my mother told him about it, he then told her he had been dreaming of his mother for the past few nights.
posted by obeetaybee at 7:07 PM on December 1, 2005
They wanted to postpone their wedding plans, my grandmother refused to allow them. My parents were married November 27th 1971, I was born August, 1972.
My mother swears I was visited by my grandmother (who I was named after) when I was three months old. I was swinging in my baby swing and my mother came into the room to see the swing and me covered in a white mist.
She swears she smelled my grandmother's perfume, and just had an overwhelming feeling of my grandmother's presence. She says she said, "don't worry, I'll take care of her," and the mist disappated.
When my father returned home from work and my mother told him about it, he then told her he had been dreaming of his mother for the past few nights.
posted by obeetaybee at 7:07 PM on December 1, 2005
sure. after my boyfriend died he visited for about 6 months. i never actually saw him, but i certainly could feel him and a bunch of strange, unanswered coincidences occurred. after 6 months it all stopped. i just assumed he finally made it to the other side. i have spoken to many others with simialr experiences.
posted by brandz at 7:11 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by brandz at 7:11 PM on December 1, 2005
My sister died several years ago. Three months after she died, it was the holidays and I flew into my hometown to be with my family for our first holidays without her. I went to visit her grave for the first time since the funeral. It was cold and starting to snow a little. I stood there, not speaking to her or anything, just thinking about her. I sat on the ground with my hands in my lap and quietly started to cry, and for a few moments I felt my sister take my hands in hers.
I've never experienced anything like it before or since.
posted by Gator at 7:14 PM on December 1, 2005
I've never experienced anything like it before or since.
posted by Gator at 7:14 PM on December 1, 2005
I was close to both of my great-grandparents and I have not only had very intense dream visitations by each of them, but for several years after their deaths experienced unmistakably weird coincidences regarding aspects of their personal lives that had been kept secret. Don't want to go into lurid detail here, but I am totally convinced of their posthumous involvement in my life for a period of several years.
I have kept most of this secret from my family as I don't think they'd understand. During the moment you experience something like that it is intensely obvious what is happening, but so much is lost in the retelling that I usually avoid relating it unless asked.
posted by hermitosis at 7:23 PM on December 1, 2005
I have kept most of this secret from my family as I don't think they'd understand. During the moment you experience something like that it is intensely obvious what is happening, but so much is lost in the retelling that I usually avoid relating it unless asked.
posted by hermitosis at 7:23 PM on December 1, 2005
My grandfather died in his house in October and I moved in shortly after.
At around 11 - 11:30 every night the toilet in the master bathroom flushes itself. All the rubber bits seem like they are in good working condition. I was telling a co-worker about it and he wondered if that was a time my grandfather had went to the bathroom every night.
Ever since then I am convinced it is him.
My girlfriend swears she hears strange noises coming from the room he died in, but I haven't experienced that yet.
posted by thefinned1 at 7:26 PM on December 1, 2005
At around 11 - 11:30 every night the toilet in the master bathroom flushes itself. All the rubber bits seem like they are in good working condition. I was telling a co-worker about it and he wondered if that was a time my grandfather had went to the bathroom every night.
Ever since then I am convinced it is him.
My girlfriend swears she hears strange noises coming from the room he died in, but I haven't experienced that yet.
posted by thefinned1 at 7:26 PM on December 1, 2005
Three days after my partner died I had one of the most vivid dreams of my life. It involved encountering him on the beach in Santa Monica, CA (a fovorite place) and a very detailed conversation in which he indicated that I was not to worry -- that he was fine.
I shared the incident to his family and friends. His sister and his best friend each had similar dreams on the same night -- although the details and experiences were different.
To this day I don't know what to make of it.
In the end, though, it has put me at peace with his unfortunate passing.
posted by ericb at 7:31 PM on December 1, 2005
I shared the incident to his family and friends. His sister and his best friend each had similar dreams on the same night -- although the details and experiences were different.
To this day I don't know what to make of it.
In the end, though, it has put me at peace with his unfortunate passing.
posted by ericb at 7:31 PM on December 1, 2005
I have a story similar to obeetaybee's. My grandmother on my mom's side of the family died of cancer when I was a child, and the whole family converged for the funeral and to console my grandfather. My mother swears that she came home late one night, checked the room where my cousin and I were sleeping, and saw a red mist hanging over my bed, which then slowly dissipated. She said she was sure it was Nana. Mom is a very practical person, and has never mentioned any belief in or encounters with spirits except for this one occasion, so I find it notable. I never wonder about it; even if my Grandma’s spirit was actually in the room, I doubt there is any empirical method for proving it, and my mother could just as easily have been manifesting the emotional disturbance of the death as some weird hallucination.
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 7:43 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by Derive the Hamiltonian of... at 7:43 PM on December 1, 2005
My sister died nearly 20 years ago now.
I haven't ever had waking interactions, but in dreams I certainly have. I'm a stone materialist, so I chalk it up to my mind recreating her for my benefit, but the effect and feeling is quite the same as if i had actually had an interaction in waking life with what I took to be her in flesh or spirit.
In any case, it's a kindness in a world quite bereft of such.
posted by mwhybark at 7:46 PM on December 1, 2005 [3 favorites]
I haven't ever had waking interactions, but in dreams I certainly have. I'm a stone materialist, so I chalk it up to my mind recreating her for my benefit, but the effect and feeling is quite the same as if i had actually had an interaction in waking life with what I took to be her in flesh or spirit.
In any case, it's a kindness in a world quite bereft of such.
posted by mwhybark at 7:46 PM on December 1, 2005 [3 favorites]
Yes. one of the most vivid experiences was when I was starting out in nursing, before Hospice was really getting going. My unit had a young man, dying of cancer, who was in the hospital for quite a long time before passing on and we all became quite fond of him. One afternoon we came to work and saw that his name was no longer on our census, and we knew without discussing it that he must have died. In the late evening, as we were all quietly doing paperwork, one of us asked if anyone knew the circumstances of his death, and in the moments of silence after we talked about him I heard him say, "thank you, I love you, there is no pain here".
The next day I told one of colleagues that something had happened to me when we were tlaking about Carl, and she asked, "did you hear him, too?". Still brings tears to my eyes, that he left enough behind to tell us that. God bless him.
posted by puddinghead at 7:50 PM on December 1, 2005
The next day I told one of colleagues that something had happened to me when we were tlaking about Carl, and she asked, "did you hear him, too?". Still brings tears to my eyes, that he left enough behind to tell us that. God bless him.
posted by puddinghead at 7:50 PM on December 1, 2005
It's slight, but some years ago a member of my then circle of friends died in the wee hours of the morning. Almost every one of us dreamed about him that night. Mind you, he'd been ill, so you could argue it wasn't surprising we were thinking of him.
posted by zadcat at 7:52 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by zadcat at 7:52 PM on December 1, 2005
No.
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:54 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by thirteenkiller at 7:54 PM on December 1, 2005
For a month after my father died I kept seeing him out of the corner of my eye, standing on the landing of the stairs to my appartment. I thought it was the grief playing tricks with my mind, until my roommate mentioned that she kept seeing him there too. She described him wearing the exact same clothes I saw him in - brown plaid pendleton shirt, grey polyester slacks, battered brown wingtips.
posted by echolalia67 at 7:55 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by echolalia67 at 7:55 PM on December 1, 2005
I've tried and tried and tried to somehow conjure up my dad. No dice.
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:00 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by CunningLinguist at 8:00 PM on December 1, 2005
I personally have not seen the apparition of a friend or loved one (Though I have seen something... someone I guess, that I didn't know). However I have felt and heard things.
I had an aunt who died suddenly (accidental OD) who still seems to inhabit her bedroom, where she died. Every single person in the family has felt like she's still in there and feel a little uneasy about going into her room. When we do go in there, all of us continue to ask permission to enter the room, just like we did when she was alive. It just seems rude not to.
I also heard my dog bark bark one night a few months after the dog died of old age. It was obviously her because she was a small dog (miniature pinscher) who had a habit of standing in the hallway directly outside my bedroom door and bark. We always thought she did it because it echoed and it made her sound like a big dog. It was a single loud bark, but it sounded exactly like her and we hadn't gotten another dog at the time. My mother, my sister, and I all heard it. We were all in different rooms at the time but could pin point exactly where in the house the noise came from.
Now, my grandmother swears she had a conversation with my grandfather a week or so after he died. She told us that she woke up suddenly at about 3 am because she felt someone sit down on the edge of the bed. she turned over to find him sitting there, smoking a cigarette and fully dressed in his suit. My grandfather was the type of man who woke up on saturday morning and put on a suit & tie, even if he wasn't leaving the house.
They talked for a few minutes about their children, about how she needed to be strong. Then apparently my grandfather stood up and said good night and left the room. My grandmother didn't think anything of it at the time because she said it felt totally normal and comforting.
But my grandfather hadn't been able to walk for about 10 years before his death, because he'd had both legs amputated due to poor circulation.
My grandmother is one of those no-nonsense type people who doesn't believe in, in her words, all that hogwash. But she is absolutely convinced that my grandfather stopped by to check on her after he died.
posted by aristan at 8:29 PM on December 1, 2005
I had an aunt who died suddenly (accidental OD) who still seems to inhabit her bedroom, where she died. Every single person in the family has felt like she's still in there and feel a little uneasy about going into her room. When we do go in there, all of us continue to ask permission to enter the room, just like we did when she was alive. It just seems rude not to.
I also heard my dog bark bark one night a few months after the dog died of old age. It was obviously her because she was a small dog (miniature pinscher) who had a habit of standing in the hallway directly outside my bedroom door and bark. We always thought she did it because it echoed and it made her sound like a big dog. It was a single loud bark, but it sounded exactly like her and we hadn't gotten another dog at the time. My mother, my sister, and I all heard it. We were all in different rooms at the time but could pin point exactly where in the house the noise came from.
Now, my grandmother swears she had a conversation with my grandfather a week or so after he died. She told us that she woke up suddenly at about 3 am because she felt someone sit down on the edge of the bed. she turned over to find him sitting there, smoking a cigarette and fully dressed in his suit. My grandfather was the type of man who woke up on saturday morning and put on a suit & tie, even if he wasn't leaving the house.
They talked for a few minutes about their children, about how she needed to be strong. Then apparently my grandfather stood up and said good night and left the room. My grandmother didn't think anything of it at the time because she said it felt totally normal and comforting.
But my grandfather hadn't been able to walk for about 10 years before his death, because he'd had both legs amputated due to poor circulation.
My grandmother is one of those no-nonsense type people who doesn't believe in, in her words, all that hogwash. But she is absolutely convinced that my grandfather stopped by to check on her after he died.
posted by aristan at 8:29 PM on December 1, 2005
I lived with a ghost who liked to mimic my roommate and make fun of her. It was really weird.
posted by evariste at 8:31 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by evariste at 8:31 PM on December 1, 2005
ericb, about 12 years ago a good friend of mine died unexpectedly. A few days after his death, I had a very vivid dream that we spent some time together, walking and talking. He assured me that he was okay, and told me that I would know it was really him and not just a dream because other people who were close to him would also dream about him that night. He said to remember what he was wearing, because he would be wearing the same clothes in everyone's dream.
But I never told anyone about the dream, because I figured it was just my subconscious trying to comfort me. Now I wonder... I may have to compare notes with some friends.
posted by amro at 8:43 PM on December 1, 2005
But I never told anyone about the dream, because I figured it was just my subconscious trying to comfort me. Now I wonder... I may have to compare notes with some friends.
posted by amro at 8:43 PM on December 1, 2005
Ghosts don't exist. Memories are important though.
posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 8:45 PM on December 1, 2005 [3 favorites]
posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 8:45 PM on December 1, 2005 [3 favorites]
Twice in dreams, unusually intense ones. The first was after my brother died. Like ericb and amro's experience, I dreamed that he was telling me he was okay and that there was nothing anyone could have said or done to prevent or avoid his death. Was it "real" or just my sleeping mind reacting to my waking thoughts? Who knows?
The second time was a year later, a month after my husband's best friend died, who was like a brother to the both of us. I dreamed that my husband and I were attending his wedding. To this day I can recall the dream in almost photographic detail. In life he was unmarried and uninvolved with anyone, so I felt that he was showing me that he had found a happiness in the next life that he hadn't had in this one. Later that morning I learned that it was his birthday. That was seven years ago tomorrow in fact.
posted by platinum at 8:51 PM on December 1, 2005
The second time was a year later, a month after my husband's best friend died, who was like a brother to the both of us. I dreamed that my husband and I were attending his wedding. To this day I can recall the dream in almost photographic detail. In life he was unmarried and uninvolved with anyone, so I felt that he was showing me that he had found a happiness in the next life that he hadn't had in this one. Later that morning I learned that it was his birthday. That was seven years ago tomorrow in fact.
posted by platinum at 8:51 PM on December 1, 2005
I think my mother visited her house after her death.
At the time of my mom's death, my niece was six years old. Nearly three years later, after cleaning out every dresser and closet in the house of her clothes, my sister found a brand new child's Barbie nightshirt in a drawer we'd previously emptied. My mom was known for buying all kinds of gifts and stashing them away, but the nightshirt was the size for a nine year old, not a six year old. And, there's no way we could have missed it when cleaning out the drawers. So, I think Mom wanted my niece to have a gift.
posted by Serena at 9:24 PM on December 1, 2005
At the time of my mom's death, my niece was six years old. Nearly three years later, after cleaning out every dresser and closet in the house of her clothes, my sister found a brand new child's Barbie nightshirt in a drawer we'd previously emptied. My mom was known for buying all kinds of gifts and stashing them away, but the nightshirt was the size for a nine year old, not a six year old. And, there's no way we could have missed it when cleaning out the drawers. So, I think Mom wanted my niece to have a gift.
posted by Serena at 9:24 PM on December 1, 2005
Along the lines of dreams, a few weeks after my little sister died at 19 (this was three years ago), I dreamed she had left me a note in our shared bathroom taped to the wall along with a lot of money. I knew what the note had said without having to read it: she had needed to leave and was sorry she couldn't have said goodbye, but that she would be okay and wished the best for me.
For a long while after that she appeared in my dreams as only an observer, a passive character that merely existed. But then a few nights ago I dreamed that I had returned to my hometown and everyone had aged 10 years except me, everyone including my sister. We hugged and cried; she told me that she had missed me so much and wished we could have stayed together.
I am pretty confident that she had tried to contact me in the first dream I had of her after she died, but am not sure of her other appearances.
posted by rhapsodie at 9:56 PM on December 1, 2005
For a long while after that she appeared in my dreams as only an observer, a passive character that merely existed. But then a few nights ago I dreamed that I had returned to my hometown and everyone had aged 10 years except me, everyone including my sister. We hugged and cried; she told me that she had missed me so much and wished we could have stayed together.
I am pretty confident that she had tried to contact me in the first dream I had of her after she died, but am not sure of her other appearances.
posted by rhapsodie at 9:56 PM on December 1, 2005
On the morning of my mother's first chemotherapy a white parakeet with a blue throat was trapped in her garage. I called a bird rescue lady, who came and caught it with a net. When I told one of my aunts about the little bird she exclaimed that it had to have been a visit from my great-grandmother, who loved parakeets and who had just about raised my mom. I expressed doubt, noting that the little parakeet had bitten the bird rescue lady, but my aunt said that that just confirmed it.
I've seen ghosts before that weren't relatives. It isn't a pleasant experience.
posted by Sara Anne at 10:14 PM on December 1, 2005 [1 favorite]
I've seen ghosts before that weren't relatives. It isn't a pleasant experience.
posted by Sara Anne at 10:14 PM on December 1, 2005 [1 favorite]
In a sort of opposite version of this, twice when my grandfathers passed away, I had premonitions the day/night before, usually in dreams. The first time, I remember feeling odd knowing why my mother had awakened me to tell me about her father's death. Both times, I found a solace in the "forewarning" or whatever one would call it.
posted by Atreides at 10:20 PM on December 1, 2005
posted by Atreides at 10:20 PM on December 1, 2005
I might have told this story on Mefi before, but here goes. When my grandfather died, we cleaned out his house and my sister inherited his old TV. It was one of those that didn't have a remote or anything -- just a knob that manually clicked around. When turning it on, it started at channel 2, and went up through I think 12. Also, my grandfather was an avid golfer.
One night, a few days after we put the TV in my sister's room, we were all awakened by the TV turning on, loudly. When we all rushed down the hall into the room, the TV was on channel 9, where a golf tournament was being rebroadcast. (And my sister was still in her bed across the room. She has not been known to sleepwalk, either before or since.) I'm convinced it was my grandfather, telling us he was okay.
posted by sugarfish at 10:48 PM on December 1, 2005
One night, a few days after we put the TV in my sister's room, we were all awakened by the TV turning on, loudly. When we all rushed down the hall into the room, the TV was on channel 9, where a golf tournament was being rebroadcast. (And my sister was still in her bed across the room. She has not been known to sleepwalk, either before or since.) I'm convinced it was my grandfather, telling us he was okay.
posted by sugarfish at 10:48 PM on December 1, 2005
Someone whom I never said goodbye to died a long time ago, and I have regular dreams where I find him alive and am absolutely overjoyed and incredulous to find him just as he was before the cancer.
It's a wonderful feeling that doesn't always dissipate upon waking.
Just dreams, though.
posted by deafmute at 12:15 AM on December 2, 2005
It's a wonderful feeling that doesn't always dissipate upon waking.
Just dreams, though.
posted by deafmute at 12:15 AM on December 2, 2005
My mother in law,came to my wife, in a dream and told her everything would be OK, the dream woke her up, and the phone rang....
posted by hortense at 1:13 AM on December 2, 2005
posted by hortense at 1:13 AM on December 2, 2005
In late 2001 I purchased a flat in East London. It was selling at a steep discount to market because the old English lady that had lived there for 30 years died in it.
Full of rubbish, it took me a good two months working evenings and weekends to rid it of the smell of decomposition and trash, rendering it habitable.
The first night that I slept in the place from my upstairs bedroom I could hear laughter, music and glasses tinkling downstairs. I thought it was one of my neighbours, as I live alone and have burglar bars on all the downstairs doors & windows. So after a while I headed towards the stairs to see if I could find out precisely which flat the noise was coming from. I figured I'd take care of it in the AM.
As soon as I reached the top of the stairs the noise stopped so I returned to bed. I'm a sound sleeper, but later that night I awoke to find myself staring at my bedroom door. I don't really know why, I just awoke.
This same routine was repeated several times over a period of weeks. It still happens occassionally now, almost four years later, but much less frequently.
It all became clear when the old lady next door, who had been friends with the woman living in my flat told me about Hannah, her husband and her husbands brother. They used to get together and spend days in my flat, smoking, drinking, listening to music and playing cards. They were great friends and had these drinking sessions regularly for years.
I bought the the flat contents and all, and when I took possession it was filled with enough glasses, mixers, glass swizzle sticks, etc to stock a pub, so I wasn't surprised to hear that the old lady had been a heavy boozer.
Hubby died in the same living room years before Hannah.
Funny thing is I've had two house guests since, parked both on the couch in that same living room and both later complained about my noisy neighbours, claiming they "sounded like they were in the next room".
So it wasn't really a friend or a loved one, but I'm surely hoping Hannah loves what I did to her flat 'cause they still visit from time to time.
posted by Mutant at 4:04 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
Full of rubbish, it took me a good two months working evenings and weekends to rid it of the smell of decomposition and trash, rendering it habitable.
The first night that I slept in the place from my upstairs bedroom I could hear laughter, music and glasses tinkling downstairs. I thought it was one of my neighbours, as I live alone and have burglar bars on all the downstairs doors & windows. So after a while I headed towards the stairs to see if I could find out precisely which flat the noise was coming from. I figured I'd take care of it in the AM.
As soon as I reached the top of the stairs the noise stopped so I returned to bed. I'm a sound sleeper, but later that night I awoke to find myself staring at my bedroom door. I don't really know why, I just awoke.
This same routine was repeated several times over a period of weeks. It still happens occassionally now, almost four years later, but much less frequently.
It all became clear when the old lady next door, who had been friends with the woman living in my flat told me about Hannah, her husband and her husbands brother. They used to get together and spend days in my flat, smoking, drinking, listening to music and playing cards. They were great friends and had these drinking sessions regularly for years.
I bought the the flat contents and all, and when I took possession it was filled with enough glasses, mixers, glass swizzle sticks, etc to stock a pub, so I wasn't surprised to hear that the old lady had been a heavy boozer.
Hubby died in the same living room years before Hannah.
Funny thing is I've had two house guests since, parked both on the couch in that same living room and both later complained about my noisy neighbours, claiming they "sounded like they were in the next room".
So it wasn't really a friend or a loved one, but I'm surely hoping Hannah loves what I did to her flat 'cause they still visit from time to time.
posted by Mutant at 4:04 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
My brother died unexpectedly during my freshman year in college and I was crushed. He was the kind of big brother little sisters love, the kind that will kick the ass of anyone who picks on you, etc.
Fast forward a few weeks later and I'm in my dorm room trying to sleep when I start thinking about him and am overwhelmed with missing him. Next thing I know I feel someone holding my hand and after a few minutes I start to calm down and then I feel my hand being let go. I'm convinced that it was him comforting me and letting me know that in some way, he'd always be with me.
I'd never before nor have I since experienced anything like that. I have no idea if it was really him or a figment of my imagination. I honestly don't care. I'm glad I had that experience, I still really miss him.
posted by SoulOnIce at 6:08 AM on December 2, 2005
Fast forward a few weeks later and I'm in my dorm room trying to sleep when I start thinking about him and am overwhelmed with missing him. Next thing I know I feel someone holding my hand and after a few minutes I start to calm down and then I feel my hand being let go. I'm convinced that it was him comforting me and letting me know that in some way, he'd always be with me.
I'd never before nor have I since experienced anything like that. I have no idea if it was really him or a figment of my imagination. I honestly don't care. I'm glad I had that experience, I still really miss him.
posted by SoulOnIce at 6:08 AM on December 2, 2005
The night my father-in-law died the family gathered at his house to be together, to take care of his wife, and to do the sort of stuff that has to be done when a loved one dies.
After a long day my wife and I went to bed. We left the light on and stayed up talking for a while. There was some crying going on so every now and then we'd reach over and grab a Kleenex from a box on the night stand.
The light from the single lamp in the room was casting a circle of light on the ceiling above us. While we were talking I noticed that one side of the circle had become irregularly shaped and as I looked at it I noticed it was in the shape of a profile. My father-in-law's profile.
I should mention I am an atheist and I do not believe in ghosts or anything like that. But this was weird. Where before there was just a circle of light there was suddenly a profile.
I continued talking to my wife for another few minutes without saying anything about this "apparition." Eventually it was too distracting and I pointed it out to her. "Look up, hon, I see a profile of your dad."
My wife, who is more open minded than I am when it comes to these things, laughed and said it didn't look anything like her dad. That didn't make it any weirder. Had Ted come to say goodbye to us? This had the potential to totally change my way of thinking about the world around me.
We continued talking for a while, forgetting about the profile. After about ten minutes I looked back up and... it was gone. My father-in-law had gone away. We hadn't turned on any lights, it just went away by itself.
"Amy... it's gone."
Now my wife was freaked out. Why would it have disappeared like that? Did he say what he needed to say?
I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I figured this out so I got out of bed and looked around the room. I looked at the lamp on the nightstand. Just a normal lamp with a normal shade. Lying on the nightstand, under the lamp, was a hand mirror. Just a normal round mirror.
Between the two there was a box of Kleenex. With a tissue sticking out of the box.
I pushed the Kleenex over an inch or two and it blocked part of the light from the lamp, which was reflecting off the mirror onto the ceiling, the tissue casting a shadow on one side.
The profile was created by a shadow from a tissue. Without realizing it we had taken a tissue from the box. The next tissue that came up was in a different position, out of the way of the light, so the mirror was again able to cast a perfect circle of light onto the ceiling above us.
So, no, I've never seen a ghost, and I believe all sightings have similar explanations, though I'm the first to admit I could be wrong about that.
posted by bondcliff at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2005
After a long day my wife and I went to bed. We left the light on and stayed up talking for a while. There was some crying going on so every now and then we'd reach over and grab a Kleenex from a box on the night stand.
The light from the single lamp in the room was casting a circle of light on the ceiling above us. While we were talking I noticed that one side of the circle had become irregularly shaped and as I looked at it I noticed it was in the shape of a profile. My father-in-law's profile.
I should mention I am an atheist and I do not believe in ghosts or anything like that. But this was weird. Where before there was just a circle of light there was suddenly a profile.
I continued talking to my wife for another few minutes without saying anything about this "apparition." Eventually it was too distracting and I pointed it out to her. "Look up, hon, I see a profile of your dad."
My wife, who is more open minded than I am when it comes to these things, laughed and said it didn't look anything like her dad. That didn't make it any weirder. Had Ted come to say goodbye to us? This had the potential to totally change my way of thinking about the world around me.
We continued talking for a while, forgetting about the profile. After about ten minutes I looked back up and... it was gone. My father-in-law had gone away. We hadn't turned on any lights, it just went away by itself.
"Amy... it's gone."
Now my wife was freaked out. Why would it have disappeared like that? Did he say what he needed to say?
I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep until I figured this out so I got out of bed and looked around the room. I looked at the lamp on the nightstand. Just a normal lamp with a normal shade. Lying on the nightstand, under the lamp, was a hand mirror. Just a normal round mirror.
Between the two there was a box of Kleenex. With a tissue sticking out of the box.
I pushed the Kleenex over an inch or two and it blocked part of the light from the lamp, which was reflecting off the mirror onto the ceiling, the tissue casting a shadow on one side.
The profile was created by a shadow from a tissue. Without realizing it we had taken a tissue from the box. The next tissue that came up was in a different position, out of the way of the light, so the mirror was again able to cast a perfect circle of light onto the ceiling above us.
So, no, I've never seen a ghost, and I believe all sightings have similar explanations, though I'm the first to admit I could be wrong about that.
posted by bondcliff at 6:12 AM on December 2, 2005
After my partner of 5 years died, I couldn't find his checkbook. I assumed it was in his desk at work, but when I collected that stuff, it wasn't there. Then he visited in a dream and told me where it was. I found it right where he said. I just needed to know what bills he'd paid.
One time I was in an altered state of mind. My mind reached out and discovered what seemed a connection to other minds. I was really altered at the time, and started broadcasting mentally, quite loudly it seemed, some glittering generality. A response came back:
"Get off the channel, you stoopid noob!" (paraphrased, there weren't any words, only the sentiment)
posted by Goofyy at 6:47 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
One time I was in an altered state of mind. My mind reached out and discovered what seemed a connection to other minds. I was really altered at the time, and started broadcasting mentally, quite loudly it seemed, some glittering generality. A response came back:
"Get off the channel, you stoopid noob!" (paraphrased, there weren't any words, only the sentiment)
posted by Goofyy at 6:47 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
Also no.
I've only ever talked to dead people in sleeping dreams. Most recently, my grandfather and Pope John Paul II. (I'm not Catholic).
I've also talked to Bill Murray, talking fish, the Olsen twins, and Alvin and the Chipmunks in my dreams. So...
posted by lampoil at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2005
I've only ever talked to dead people in sleeping dreams. Most recently, my grandfather and Pope John Paul II. (I'm not Catholic).
I've also talked to Bill Murray, talking fish, the Olsen twins, and Alvin and the Chipmunks in my dreams. So...
posted by lampoil at 7:04 AM on December 2, 2005
I lived in an apartment where a good friend of mine had killed himself. For months after his death, our cablebox was completely unscrambled. HBO, Payperview, everything.
We chaulked it up to his ghost, seeming how one of his ambitions in life was to watch TV all day and try and figure out how to rig up a black box.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:54 AM on December 2, 2005
We chaulked it up to his ghost, seeming how one of his ambitions in life was to watch TV all day and try and figure out how to rig up a black box.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 7:54 AM on December 2, 2005
My mother had the "spirit sitting on the bed" dream twice - once for her mother and again for her husband. In Dad's appearance, he kissed her awake. Mom tells me it doesn't matter if that one was "real" or not, it was a lovely goodbye all the same. (Mom and Dad never got to properly say goodbye because he went comatose in hospice while we were scrambling to manage a spike in his pain.)
I, likewise, don't care if that experience was "real". It did a lot to help ease Mom's grief & lingering regrets.
posted by Sangre Azul at 8:22 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
I, likewise, don't care if that experience was "real". It did a lot to help ease Mom's grief & lingering regrets.
posted by Sangre Azul at 8:22 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
My friend David died of AIDS in 1992. Afterwards, I'd have conversations with him in the car, while I was driving alone. Not sure if this was just my mind conjuring up his mannerisms, voice, and laughter, but it sure sounded like him. His visits tapered off; now they're rare. Also it seems like I had some really good luck in the couple years following his passing, which I attributed to his looking out for me 'up there.' I'm a logical, scientific atheist type to whom an afterlife sounds like a pleasant fantasy, which I can't really believe in; but maybe there is something like a spirit world.
posted by Rash at 9:26 AM on December 2, 2005
posted by Rash at 9:26 AM on December 2, 2005
The night my father died, I woke up and wondered if he was in the room with me. It was about 3:30 a.m., and I knew he was dying-- I had gone home to try and get some sleep-- so it wasn't too odd, I suppose, that I was tossing and turning (he did in fact die at about 3:30 a.m.). Later on, I had dreams in which he would phone me to say hello, the most remarkable of which was when I was considering buying a car, and he called in my dream to say "Get the car. It's a good deal." The funny thing being that he had known so little about cars that he'd driven his until it was out of oil, out of transmission fluid, and even the battery all ran dry at various times. My mother and myself couldn't stop laughing at it.
I don't suppose that there's anything remarkable in any of this, but the sense of his presence was a comfort.
posted by jokeefe at 9:52 AM on December 2, 2005
I don't suppose that there's anything remarkable in any of this, but the sense of his presence was a comfort.
posted by jokeefe at 9:52 AM on December 2, 2005
My grandmother passed away fourteen years ago. I was sixteen at the time, and took it pretty hard. A few days later, she came to me in a dream, handed me a chocolate chip cookie (I loved her homemade cookies), and told me everything would be okay. And it was.
posted by mrbill at 9:53 AM on December 2, 2005
posted by mrbill at 9:53 AM on December 2, 2005
Oh, and the car did turn out to be a good deal.
posted by jokeefe at 9:57 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
posted by jokeefe at 9:57 AM on December 2, 2005 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks to everyone who posted their wonderful stories. These were exactly the kind of answers I was hoping to get in my original question.
posted by punkrockrat at 10:27 AM on December 2, 2005
posted by punkrockrat at 10:27 AM on December 2, 2005
My late, great, favorite aunt came by and whispered good-bye to me, oddly enough, when I was in a store, looking for a sympathy card to send to my mom upon her passing. She let me know that she was fine and that she'd miss me, but that she'd be watching out for me. I had the impression of a golden haze around me during this extraordinary scene. (Purple and gold were her favorite colors.) This is the first time I've ever told anyone of this occurence, which happened more than 10 years ago.
posted by Lynsey at 11:09 AM on December 2, 2005
posted by Lynsey at 11:09 AM on December 2, 2005
After my father died at the age of 56, I understood ghost stories much better. I'd see him, sometimes he appeared as I remembered him and I was suprised to see him, since he was dead. Other times, he looked like he'd come back out of the earth. It only happened when I was sleeping, they were surely dreams but they felt more real than dreams usually do.
In the middle of the night, years after he died, I woke up in the dark of my bedroom. I felt something which was nothing new, but more than that I smelled him, the smell of cigarettes, booze, stale coffee and musk. It stayed in my head for a minute.
I 've never experienced anything like that before or since.
posted by Good Brain at 10:43 PM on December 2, 2005
In the middle of the night, years after he died, I woke up in the dark of my bedroom. I felt something which was nothing new, but more than that I smelled him, the smell of cigarettes, booze, stale coffee and musk. It stayed in my head for a minute.
I 've never experienced anything like that before or since.
posted by Good Brain at 10:43 PM on December 2, 2005
My grandfather died at 4 in the morning the summer I was 14. I dreamt that I was in my grandparents' house, and two of my aunts were there showing the doctor in (whom I'd never met), and talking about letting my grandmother sleep a little longer, and calling their siblings. I could smell my grandparents' house, I could hear my aunts' voices, and I knew exactly what was happening. Then my grandfather came to me and he told me goodbye, and that he loved me. He gave me a hug, and I cried a little.
When I got up that morning, I went into the kitchen and asked my mom if my grandpa had died. She was a bit stunned, but told me he had, and we were leaving for his funeral later that day. Later, listening to my aunts talk to my mom and their cousins, I found out my dream was an exact replica of what happened in the house when grandpa died. I met the doctor who attended my granddad's body in my dream at the funeral; he looked just as he did in my head.
So yeah, I have been visited by a loved one after their passing. I generally don't share this story, but there you go.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 1:15 AM on December 3, 2005
When I got up that morning, I went into the kitchen and asked my mom if my grandpa had died. She was a bit stunned, but told me he had, and we were leaving for his funeral later that day. Later, listening to my aunts talk to my mom and their cousins, I found out my dream was an exact replica of what happened in the house when grandpa died. I met the doctor who attended my granddad's body in my dream at the funeral; he looked just as he did in my head.
So yeah, I have been visited by a loved one after their passing. I generally don't share this story, but there you go.
posted by Felicity Rilke at 1:15 AM on December 3, 2005
One afternoon I was overcome by a strong feeling that a friend had just committed suicide. Later that night I got a phone call. "Guess what?" "R killed himself?" "Dude, how did you know?" "I had a feeling."
This, my friends who believe in imaginary friends insisted, was proof of a supernatural world and of an afterlife. R had visited me from beyond the grave (well, from beyond dangling under his garage in a coma from which he never recovered, anyway).
No, I said, it was a coincidence, and probably not a very strong one given that we all suspected R was terribly depressed, knew that he had a history of self-harm, and given that he had looked remarkably cheerful the previous couple of days, presumably having decided to end it all. The "feeling" was probably just my brain clicking it all together, and given that he was in the coma for like, 12 hours, it could hardly be said that the feeling and his death coincided in any precise fashion.
Strange, too, that he would choose to visit me, somebody who was more of a casual acquaintance, than say, his room mates, or his parents. No, insist the believers, it's because you have The Shinnin', and that's why you're such a vocal atheist, because you're afraid to admit it. Sigh.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:55 PM on December 4, 2005
This, my friends who believe in imaginary friends insisted, was proof of a supernatural world and of an afterlife. R had visited me from beyond the grave (well, from beyond dangling under his garage in a coma from which he never recovered, anyway).
No, I said, it was a coincidence, and probably not a very strong one given that we all suspected R was terribly depressed, knew that he had a history of self-harm, and given that he had looked remarkably cheerful the previous couple of days, presumably having decided to end it all. The "feeling" was probably just my brain clicking it all together, and given that he was in the coma for like, 12 hours, it could hardly be said that the feeling and his death coincided in any precise fashion.
Strange, too, that he would choose to visit me, somebody who was more of a casual acquaintance, than say, his room mates, or his parents. No, insist the believers, it's because you have The Shinnin', and that's why you're such a vocal atheist, because you're afraid to admit it. Sigh.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 4:55 PM on December 4, 2005
Here is a weird one for you and I swear it is true.
About 10 yrs ago my grandfather died suddenly in his sleep. I was over a thousand miles away and had to fly in. My Grandmother had stayed until I arrived at my mother's house next door. Upon my arrival Grandmom wanted to know if I was afraid to stay at her house with her because she wanted to go home. So we stayed there together starting right then. I actually stayed with her a couple of months through the holidays...she was my best friend afterall. She passed away just a couple of months ago.
Anyways, back to the story. My grandfather owned a cuckoo clock that belonged to his aunt. The clock at the time was sitting on the kitchen counter. Grandmom and I kept saying to each other that it didn't feel like he was gone...Just that he was out working in his shed. Well, every night for a week, as Grandmom and I sat around and talked about him, this cuckoo clock cuckoo'd once and only once every day of that week. We both heard it and acknowledged it to each other.
It freaked us out at first and we knew that know one would believe us...but that no matter what WE both knew it happened. We finally chalked it up to the fact that after Grandpop died he fixed that clock. In fact I said that he was actually living in the clock, which made us both roar with laughter.
We were right nobody believed us...however, to this day my own mother keeps that clock on her wall and won't let me have it. The clock never worked again after that week.
As I said earlier, Grandmom died recently...and I expect her to visit me as well, apparently she hasn't gotten around to it yet. There were alot of mysteries about her life. Particularly that she was psuedo adopted and we think that her mother was actually her sister. So, I have just told myself that she is busy with all that.
Will she ever visit to tell me she is alright? I dunno...but I think after the cuckoo clock incident, that if there was a way she would absolutely do it. Maybe, she is just waiting for me to be ready for it....
posted by SweetIceT at 8:03 PM on December 4, 2005
About 10 yrs ago my grandfather died suddenly in his sleep. I was over a thousand miles away and had to fly in. My Grandmother had stayed until I arrived at my mother's house next door. Upon my arrival Grandmom wanted to know if I was afraid to stay at her house with her because she wanted to go home. So we stayed there together starting right then. I actually stayed with her a couple of months through the holidays...she was my best friend afterall. She passed away just a couple of months ago.
Anyways, back to the story. My grandfather owned a cuckoo clock that belonged to his aunt. The clock at the time was sitting on the kitchen counter. Grandmom and I kept saying to each other that it didn't feel like he was gone...Just that he was out working in his shed. Well, every night for a week, as Grandmom and I sat around and talked about him, this cuckoo clock cuckoo'd once and only once every day of that week. We both heard it and acknowledged it to each other.
It freaked us out at first and we knew that know one would believe us...but that no matter what WE both knew it happened. We finally chalked it up to the fact that after Grandpop died he fixed that clock. In fact I said that he was actually living in the clock, which made us both roar with laughter.
We were right nobody believed us...however, to this day my own mother keeps that clock on her wall and won't let me have it. The clock never worked again after that week.
As I said earlier, Grandmom died recently...and I expect her to visit me as well, apparently she hasn't gotten around to it yet. There were alot of mysteries about her life. Particularly that she was psuedo adopted and we think that her mother was actually her sister. So, I have just told myself that she is busy with all that.
Will she ever visit to tell me she is alright? I dunno...but I think after the cuckoo clock incident, that if there was a way she would absolutely do it. Maybe, she is just waiting for me to be ready for it....
posted by SweetIceT at 8:03 PM on December 4, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
(of course he really wasn't much of a friend; I didn't even like him much)
posted by cyphill at 7:02 PM on December 1, 2005