In My Grandad's Arms

When I was very young I used to regularly experience the same dream. In the dream I was a baby, it was daytime and I was in my cot. A strange yet familiar person approaches me, lifts me from my cot and sit down whilst holding me in his arms. I lay in his arms for a while and he is trying to explaining something to me but I am not sure what. However, I did get a feeling of contentment and peace while I was there with him. My Mother enters the room then turns around and looks at us. She looks terrified and screams, then runs right out from the room. The familiar stranger changes his mood and decides to place me back in my cot. I am not sure why but I really, really wanted him to stay.

So that was my dream and I didn't think anything of it till I was much older, about 17 years old. My Mother and I were in conversation about ghosts as I was really curious about this subject. Partly due to the fact that my Aunty on my Dad's side of the family was, in her younger days, a practicing medium. My Mother surprised me by announcing that she had a true ghost story of her own to tell. I was really anxious to hear this and asked her why she hadn't told me this before. Her response was because she knew it would have scared me a lot when I was younger and now she felt I was old enough to hear it.

Now she started by saying that my Dad's Dad had passed away four years before I was born. Then went on to tell me that one day when I was a baby my Mother heard me awake from my afternoon nap and went up stairs to see if I was alright. She then proceeded to tell me everything that happened in my dream and that the familiar stranger in my dream was in fact my Dad's Dad. I felt very scared and excited at the same time. I couldn't believe it. I asked the normal questions like, "Are you sure!". She explained to me that he looked real just like he did in life. Not ghostly or transparent but like a real person, like you or I in the cold light of day. I was very shocked by this information and later realized that my dream was based on a real experience.

Since then from time to time I feel a slight comforting presence. Although I have never seen him again. It makes me feel very privileged and special that my Granddad made the effort to come and see me. I will treasure that moment always.