My Dad (2)
Jennifer, Tennessee, USA
October 2006
I don't know if these random happenings can be considered "paranormal", but they were definitely not normal.
My father passed away very suddenly in 2004. It was a terrible shock and tremendous loss for our family. Strange things began to happen to me the night he died, but please don't misunderstand, while I truly believe this to be a ghost story, I have never once been frightened.
My father and I had been on vacation when he died, my sister was in college, and my mother was teaching school and had to stay home. I was able to get vacation days from my job and so I accompanied him. He had a massive heart attack and died immediately the first night of the event we were attending. It's strange to note, though not particularly part of this story, that though I was not with him when he died, I knew immediately. I actually sat down on the ground crying before anyone came to get me.
After he was rushed to the hospital and pronounced dead, the hospital staff found a hotel room for me.
I was in the hotel room, sitting on the bed in a fog, when one of our friends answered a phone call to the room. It was the front desk asking me to come down to the lobby to speak with a Sheriff's Deputy. I went, and was told that one of the nurses had asked him to bring me some of my father's personal effects. One of the items I was given was my father's gold pocket watch, one which had been in his family for generations. As the Sheriff's Deputy held it out to me, I could see that it was not running. I accepted it, and carried it back to my room.
As I sat on the bed staring at the face of the watch, suddenly the hands sprang into action. I took it as proof of my father's presence, and subsequently carried that watch in my hand for nearly six months. It is now sitting on the mantle of my new home. Needless to say, the next month was the most difficult of my life.
One night, I dreamt that I was in my living room, sitting on the sofa, and watching TV. My father was in the TV, and he was talking to me. I don't remember exactly what he was saying, but I know he was telling me that he was OK. The strange thing was that when I woke up, I was sitting on the sofa in my living room, looking at the TV, which was on, though the station was nothing but static. I have heard that those we love can communicate with us through sleep, and it is my belief that this was the case.
I now live with my husband and his brother in a new, modern, house in Tennessee. Both of them tell me that they regularly see the image of a large, tall man in the hallway, though I never see or am bothered by anyone.
My father was very tall, and a rather large man. Is it possible that this is my father, checking them out so to speak?
He never had the opportunity to meet my husband, and it is my belief that now he is checking up on me. It's actually a comforting feeling.