from Mia Marlowe...
I won't say I actually saw a ghost when I was a kid, but I did see something. I blogged about it at Brava Authors so I won't repeat myself here. But as an adult, I do definitely feel as if I had a visitation from a departed loved one.
It came in the form of a vivid dream. A few months after my grandfather died, I dreamed of him. Instead of looking haggard and wasted as he had when I saw him near the end of his life, he was robust and happy. He winked at me and said, "Tell your grandma I love her."
So, of course, I had to call my grandma and tell her about my dream. She was so relieved. You see, she'd been catching glimpses of my grandfather around their house. From the corner of her eye, she'd seen him standing in a doorway, but when she'd turn her head, he'd disappear. She feared she was going crazy.
Fortunately, I was able to reassure her. I'd just read an article about how people often see departed loved ones in familiar places because of a trick of embedded memory. So she could choose to believe she was seeing a memory, or based on the strength of my dream, she could decide that my grandfather was still close by and trying to tell her the message he eventually sent through me.
He loved her.
And not even death could change that.
Have you been visited by a departed loved one? Seen a ghost? I'd love to hear from YOU!
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I won't say I actually saw a ghost when I was a kid, but I did see something. I blogged about it at Brava Authors so I won't repeat myself here. But as an adult, I do definitely feel as if I had a visitation from a departed loved one.
It came in the form of a vivid dream. A few months after my grandfather died, I dreamed of him. Instead of looking haggard and wasted as he had when I saw him near the end of his life, he was robust and happy. He winked at me and said, "Tell your grandma I love her."
So, of course, I had to call my grandma and tell her about my dream. She was so relieved. You see, she'd been catching glimpses of my grandfather around their house. From the corner of her eye, she'd seen him standing in a doorway, but when she'd turn her head, he'd disappear. She feared she was going crazy.
Fortunately, I was able to reassure her. I'd just read an article about how people often see departed loved ones in familiar places because of a trick of embedded memory. So she could choose to believe she was seeing a memory, or based on the strength of my dream, she could decide that my grandfather was still close by and trying to tell her the message he eventually sent through me.
He loved her.
And not even death could change that.
Have you been visited by a departed loved one? Seen a ghost? I'd love to hear from YOU!
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Mia, that same trick of memory extends to the other senses--we hear them getting out of bed, we catch a whiff of Grandma's lemon verbena perfume. The only time a loved visited me in a dream was after I'd put a beloved horse down. We had a farewell ride in my dreams that let me know we would both be OK until we met again in the Cloud Pasture. Man, do I miss that horse.
ReplyDeleteHi Mia,
ReplyDeleteThis is the thing that i often discuss with my friend that sometimes people who has died still have ties with the people they left behind (is like something that they have not resolved). so sometimes they can appear in their family's / their love's dreams to convey a message and usually delivered it to the person who's closed with them. i do believe it ;)
Great blog, Mia.
ReplyDeleteI've had "dream visits" from my Dad and maternal Grandmother and Grandfather on more than one occasion and usually when I need to speak to them the most.
Some might think it is just my need to speak to them and therefore I dream about it, but before you think that, let me add that my Dad usually visits my sisters in their dreams that same night!
Oh, yes, ma'am! My grandmother visits me and my sister as does my mother in our dreams and we can't wait to call the other one to talk about it when it happens. My sister must be a better person than I am because a couple of weeks ago my grandmother told her that she'd been approved to join them (her and my mother). I didn't get that memo yet!
ReplyDeleteGrace--I've had dreams of departed dogs, but I never had a sense that they were trying to communicate with me. I just missed them.
ReplyDeleteEli--The older I get the less I'm sure I know about how this world works, let alone the next one.
ReplyDeleteCH--Sounds like your Dad doesn't want to play favorites. How sweet.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn--Well, I'm sure your memo is in the pipeline!
ReplyDeleteMia, I haven't seen any ghosts or been visited by anyone, but I'm fascinated by the subject. I love unexplained and mysterious things. I think it's very cool that you saw your grandfather. The other thing you blogged about on Brava Authors, oooh, that's a little frightening.
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother came to me in a dream. She'd be dying of ALS had had been completely paralyzed for over five years. She told me she loved me and that she was okay. That was our deal, we promised each other that whoever died first had to tell the other they were okay. The ringing of the phone woke me up, it was 3AM. I didn't bother to answer (my dad got it on the second ring), or even get up. I knew it was my grandfather calling to say she was gone, I knew she was okay, I just rolled over and went back to sleep knowing she was at peace, finally, and so was I.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was little I used to hang out with my Italian Grandfather in his barber shop and listen to Live from the Met. My Grandfather was such an opera lover, he knew every one by heart. He'd sing along while I'd spin in his barber chair.
When he was dying I was at my office trying to get letters out for my boss before I went to the airport to fly home. My boss always dictated his letters and I used an old machine to listen to them. The machine had a habit of picking up an AM radio station, it always played big band music, which I love. Dick, my boss, would always come out and ask what I was listening to. So there I was typing away, listening to Glen Miller and the next thing I know, I'm listening Opera. I remember looking at the clock, It was 10:11 in the morning. I listened to the opera with a smile on my face thinking about spinning in my grandfather's barber chair with him singing along. I found out he died at 12:11 (on the east coast, 10:11 Mountain Time). That was his way of saying goodbye to me.
Anita--I don't know what it was, but the fact that my sister saw it too and both of us were too freaked at the time to say anything makes all the hairs on my arms stand straight up!
ReplyDeleteRobin Kaye--I love both your stories!
ReplyDeleteOh, I don't want to be visited by anyone who has already departed this earth. I can wait for the afterlife and visit them there. I do believe some people do see loved ones, but I never have and I don't want to.
ReplyDeleteAmelia
You know, I haven't ever been visited, and I'm kind of glad. I like to think those I know who have passed on are in a better place and not stuck wandering the earth.
ReplyDeleteI had a dream of my grandma a few mo the after she passed. I'm not sure it was an official "visitation" but I was comforted by the sense she was ok.
ReplyDeleteAmelia--My dream didn't feel at all creepy. Especially when my grandpa winked at me. It was just what he would have done.
ReplyDeleteShana--I believe my grandpa is in heaven, but somehow, through that dream he managed to send a message that comforted my grandma. Whether it really came from him or my subconscious, I don't know. Either way, it made my grandmother happy.
ReplyDeleteAmanda--I know just how you feel.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall seeing a ghost, but I have seem my beloved grandmother in a dream.
ReplyDeleteBut three times in my life I have suddenly had a feeling that I should pray for someone and all three times I learned later that that person was having a difficulty at the time I had the feeling...one was in a car wreck, one had a heart attack and the other was having some mental problem.
My mom has visited me in my dreams a few times. It's always a bittersweet experience. I miss her a ton, but it's good to "see" her.
ReplyDeleteGladys--I'm glad you listen when God lays someone on your heart.
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn--I remember feeling very encouraged by the dream of my grandfather. He was so like himself, full of fun and mischief with that signature wink!
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn--I remember feeling very encouraged by the dream of my grandfather. He was so like himself, full of fun and mischief with that signature wink!
ReplyDelete