a ghostly encounter? freaky thing happened today...

[chefker]

Okay. This week it's 12 years since my grandmother's death. She & I were very close, and her death hit me hard.

Let me start off by saying I really don't believe in ghosts....I'll watch shows like 'A Haunting' on Discovery Channel and laugh my ass off, thinking it quite silly. :)

Last night, I had a very vivid, and pleasant dream about my grandmother. I could see her and talk to her - she was sitting several tables away from me. It was like a school cafeteria type setting, with rows of long tables set up. So my grandmother was looking in on my life as it is now, basically - and seemed pleased to know that things are going much better for me now, than they were just prior to her death. She and I chatted - I held up DS to show her, saying "this is your great-grandson", but I couldn't touch her, nor could she touch me. She just smiled and waved. Nice dream, and I woke up feeling content.

So just now, my dog starts barking. He has a certain 'tone' to his bark when there's a stranger at the door, or when the doorbell rings. But nothing like that happened. I am sitting here in my study, doing my work on my PC, and Ivan comes trotting in. At first I thought he was barking at someone at the door - but I checked, and nobody was there. Ivan steps into the study, and he looks at the wall to the right of the window - there's a lamp in the corner, and also a picture on the wall (a silhouette of my son).

"Bark bark bark!" Looking at nothing. Ivan obviously sees something though! He keeps tilting his head, bark bark bark again...at this point I feel kind of creeped out. So Ivan continues this barking and staring at (seemingly) nothing for a good 5-10 minutes...I don't see anything, except spots from staring at the lamplight!

Then I started to wonder....could it have been a ghost? Maybe my Nana? I probably sound crazy. It sounds crazy to me.

So what do you all think?

[Happy1]

I'm a believer in the "hereafter" and that pets can definitely sense what humans can't. I don't think you sound crazy at all. I honestly think your grandmother was there with you.

Nikki :D

[Gatsby]

Yeah, I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think you're crazy either :) I'd love to have a 'visit' from my grandmothers... consider yourself lucky!!

[HeatherFL]

I don't think you're crazy AT ALL. I've seen ghosts. LOTS of them! :)

I think animals see things we can't. Tyra does it often, it's very odd. She plays with things that aren't there.

~H.

[Toonces]

Tyra does it often, it's very odd. She plays with things that aren't there.


Tyra? Banks? ;)

chefker ~ I don't think that's weird. I believe in spirits and do think that animals can sense things that humans can't.

[hockeybrat]

What a freaky experience. I have never experienced any of these things and find it fascinating that others might have.

Heather, who is Tyra? She has seen things too?

[diam124]

I agree that pets can see things we can't. Just recently my cat was following something up by the ceiling with her eyes and then chased it around the room. She "trapped" it in a corner. The thing is - there was NOTHING there. No bugs, nothing. I thought maybe it was a mouse because she was so insistent about it, but nothing.

[HeatherFL]

hockeybrat Sorry, LOL...Tyra is my SO's cat. :)

Toonces I swear that's where she gets her name!

[Toonces]

hockeybrat Sorry, LOL...Tyra is my SO's cat. :)

Toonces I swear that's where she gets her name!

Why? Does she have fierce eyes? :)

[villanelle75]

It is too bad that no one here is an paranormal expert. It seems like that what you really need! Or maybe there is one, or at least someone with some experience in this area.

[HeatherFL]

Why? Does she have fierce eyes? :)

LOL I think it's because SO finds Tyra Banks a hottie. ;)

Hmmm...maybe they do look alike?


http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g230/HeatherJWFL76/MISC/IMGP7342.jpg http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g230/HeatherJWFL76/MISC/tyra_banks1_300_400.jpg

[/end hijack]

[trestlegirl]

Awwww, Heather your cat is so beautiful!!!


I think animals see things we can't. Tyra does it often, it's very odd. She plays with things that aren't there.


One of my cats, Simon, plays with things that aren't there, but I'm pretty sure that it's only because he's a little wrong in the head. We love him anyway. :D

I absolutely believe that pets can sense *energies*, for lack of a better word, whether it be the vibe that certain people give off, an earthquake coming (my cats always know before we do), or a ghostly visitor.

[BeakersTrio]

Oh I definitely believe someone (probably your grandma!) was there with you! Once my beagle went C-R-A-Z-Y in my living room, trying to attack "something" that I could not see. I happened to be sitting down when all of this was going on and he ended up jumping in my lap and tried to attack the air from there, like he was trying to protect me. It was very creepy but I believe someone was there and he didn't like it!

I've also seen him terrified to enter a room, like literally he will peak his head in and walk really low to the ground, almost on his belly, and then when he gets the nerve he starts attacking the air again.

On second thought, maybe he is just nuts! LOL!

[amd1005]

You're not crazy at all!!! When my dad was a kid, they thought the house they lived in was haunted by his aunt. His sister would wake up in the middle of the night screaming that she (the ghost) was sitting at the edge of her bed. Their dog would sit at the bottom of the third floor stairs and bark non-stop even though no one was up there....the third floor was his aunt's bedroom when she lived in that house. So yeah, I think animals can sense it.

I could go on and on with ghost stories. I have tons. Thankfully, none involve me actually seeing a ghost because I think I would die of fright.:)

[chefker]

LOL I think it's because SO finds Tyra Banks a hottie. ;)

Hmmm...maybe they do look alike?

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Same eyes! lol




It was just SO weird, because I generally do not believe in ghosts. I usually chalk up tales of ghostly 'encounters' with a bad episode of Scooby Doo (yoiks!) :) Maybe a part of me wants to believe that my grandmother would try to communicate with me...and I hallucinated the whole thing. But that would mean my DOG hallucinated too! So...I just don't know what to think.

[Atlanta_eBride]

I grew up in a haunted house so I don't think you're nuts at all. Quite honestly I'm not the type that would probably believe in ghosts except that I have experienced it first hand. We named our ghost George - allthough we never saw it so I don't know if it was male or female. It was merely something we sensed and occassionally I had to yell at him. He'd hide things, turn off/on lights, and worst of all shake the end of my bed. He'd punce on it like a lit;;e kid - but if I told him to stop he would - mischievious little bugger he was.

I think we can tap into "knowing" about ghosts only if we want to. The strong connection with your grandmother probably allowed you to know she was around.

[amd1005]

... and worst of all shake the end of my bed. He'd punce on it like a lit;;e kid - but if I told him to stop he would - mischievious little bugger he was.

I would never have been able to sleep by myself....:o

[Atlanta_eBride]

amd1005 - funny, it wasn't until last year that my sister and I started talking about our beds shaking for the first time ever. We lived there at seperate times (long story) but it was interesting when we compared notes. She said she yelled at him too. It just became something "normal" if that makes sense.

[Soulmate]

Usually when you dream anything and you are left with such a strong feeling that you feel it for the whole day it is...how to say it...from another plane I guess. If it is random then there is a message in there that you need to listen to because it means your life is on the wrong path and you need to fix it. If it is from someone deceased then it is from them especially if it is of the content you described (conversational, updating, saying I love/miss you, etc). There is no doubt that you had an interaction with your grandmother in your dream. You can also have past life dreams that fit into this category as well.

There is no way to truly tell (the reason skeptics are still skeptical) if the ghost (which I'm sure it is) is your grandmother or not w/o a medium or some other sign. But there are ways to communicate in a way where your can prove it to yourself. You can PM me if you want or I'm happy to share here. But you need to be really careful because there are dark spirits as well and right now you are not sure who it is so please talk to someone who knows what to do before you get too involved.

[attorneymom]

I was not at all clear (and still may not be) as to where I stand on the "ghost" issue. Then, late last year, my DH, DS, DD and I were visiting my mom for the weekend, and I was sleeping on the couch (limited sleeping arrangements). I woke up at one point during the night, felt my dad's presence, and saw a form that looked like him standing about ten feet away. It was the weirdest thing. (I guess I should add that he had been gone nine years at that point). Then, just a few weeks ago, I felt his presence again.

I still don't know where I stand on all things paranormal, but I sure felt him. Chefker I think the most important thing is that you know your grandma is still close by!

[K&H's mommy]

Wow Soulmate what you are saying is interesting. I had a similar experience as the OP did. When I was in college an ex-boyfriend died in a motorcycle accident. It happened hours away while he was at college. I never knew the details behind it, never asked, just didn't want to know. I was extremely upset though, visions of horrible accident scenes in my head and just not getting over the entire thing. Months after the accident I had a dream that he came to visit me at my house. In my dream I knew he had died and I cried about it to him. Then I told him that I wanted to know the details but was scared to hear it or know what happened. So then he said he would show me that it wasn't as bad as I thought. So we went to the TV and he showed me on the TV what happened to him....as he was riding his bike, how the car came out and he swerved to avoid it and crashed....the friends coming to his side, everything....the road, the trees, the scenery....every little detail you could possibly imagine. It was like watching a movie. Then we sat at my dining room table and I got us both water. Then I woke up. I kid you not those water glasses were at the table and both chairs were pulled out. I don't remember physically getting up, it was all a dream.

Even weirder was that years later I ran into one of his friends who happened to be with him that day. Well wasn't with him when the accident happened but heard the accident and went over to see what was going on and found that his friend was involved. I had never talked about this but was drunk at a party and started asking questions about that day. The friend told me in detail what had happened and as crazy as it sounds it was exactly like my dream. The detail of the road, the type of bike he was on, right down to the color shirt he was wearing.....it was insane.

And after that I just felt calm about the whole thing. Like he came to me in my dream to reassure me and make me realize that it wasn't as graphic and horrific as my mind was thinking. He died instantly and never knew what hit him. I never had any other dreams about it. And it helped me move on.

Hope you all don't think I'm crazy now!!! :)

[NotDesperate]

I'm a believer in the "hereafter" and that pets can definitely sense what humans can't. I don't think you sound crazy at all. I honestly think your grandmother was there with you.



Me too!


My friend used to have a cat that would fluff up and hiss and growl, at seemingly nothing, while slowly following something with her eyes across the room (as if watching someone walk through).

Some people believe that spirits can visit you in your dreams. I do wonder if this can happen. Once I had a very vivid dream about my pop pop and at the end he had to leave and I didn't want him to and was crying, and I woke up crying. My sister had the same dream that night and also woke up crying. She reminded me that it was the anniversary of his death. I also have very vivid dreams about our childhood dog.

K&HsMommy, that is really freaky!

Something similiar happened to my DH when his best friend was murdered in high school. Many students had the same dreams where the guy came to them and told them he was okay and happy. One girl had a dream that he came to see her and he wanted her to write a letter to everyone for him and when she woke up, she had a pen and paper with a full letter written! It was even in the boy's handwriting (very neat small letters when hers was big swirly letters). She was very freaked out about it. DH still has the letter. And also he had little sisters at the time, like toddlers, and one morning they had dirty feet and were talking about playing in the backyard with their brother, that he took them outside! They actually went out of the house by themselves at night!

On Maury they were talking about Electronic Voice Phenomena and it was quite freaky. These moms who had lost children record their kids voices and even heard their kids voices on someone else's recordings- who lived states away. They heard the kids talking to the dog, etc. So weird!

Here is a link to a group that does this, watch the videos! http://www.aaevp.com/

I just totally believe in ghosts and sometimes it really freaks me out. If I had one shaking my bed or my dog barking like mad, I would probably cry!

[mrselle]

About nine years ago I had a dream about a friend of mine and DH’s from college. In that dream DH and I (we weren’t married at the time) were walking down a street hand in hand. It was very sunny outside and sort of like we were at a fair. To the left of us it was bright and sunny, but to the right there was this long, brick building that was dark inside. So dark that the windows were black. I turned my head to the left and I saw our friend, Chris walking towards the building. I called out to him, but he didn’t hear me. I told DH, “That’s Chris!” and I ran over to him. I got right in front of him and we looked each other in the eyes and I said, “Chris?” Then I said his full name. He looked at me, shook his head and walked past me so he could go into the building. I ran to catch up with my DH and then I woke up. I’d forgotten about the dream until the next morning when DH called me at work to tell me that Chris had died the night before in a motorcycle accident. Judging from the time of the accident and the time I went to bed that night I think I dreamed about him right after he died.

[kerrykate]

I definitly think people who have passed can come to you in dreams.
I am pg and I had my mom wait to tell extended family about it until I was out of the 1st tri because of past m/c's I've had. When I was 12-13 weeks along my mom called her brother to tell him the good news, he lives across the country from us and I'm not very close to him, I've probably only seen him a few times in my life. So when she told him that I was pg he said he was very happy for us but that he already knew I about. She asked him how he knew because she hadn't told anyone yet since I had asked her to wait. He said that their mom (my grandma) came to him in a dream a few weeks ago and told him that I was pg. My grandma passed away almost 10 years ago.

[salysaturn]

Pets usually do have that sense. WOW!

I don't think my encounter is death realated, but when we first moved in, I am certain I had a ghost encounter. I was unpacking boxes and set up my IPOD. I turned it off cause I was sick of the music. I went into the kitchen (other side of the house), and the IPOD went back on. I just said...ok, go away. Never happened again.

[PrincessTommi]

I've had two dreams like that with family members that are deceased. One was also with my grandmother, who I didn't have the greatest relationship with. Well, actually had no real relationship with when she passed. Right after she passed, we had a conversation, like you, that made me feel at peace. She told me everything was fine and she's taken care of. I'm glad I had that encounter.

Haven't had any physical experiences with animals or anything though. I do believe in them however.

[Dotsie]

I totally believe in ghosts. I've had a few dreams about my mom mom. I was extremely close to her. She's been gone almost 8 years now.

The previous owner of our house killed himself in either the garage or the basement. Our dog will not under ANY circumstances go anywhere near the basement steps. Our basement leads to our garage. It's not like she's afraid of steps. She goes up and down our other steps all the time.