One Last Goodbye

In 1977 I was living on Mercer Island, Washington state, with my parents while I finished up my last few years of college at the University of Washington. It was about that time that I was introduced to a new friend named John, through my brother who was a friend of Johns family. John and I found that we had a lot in common, and quickly became good pals. After college, I moved to San Diego for a little adventure, and a little fun. John and I lost contact for a while, until I moved back to Washington state in 1982. It was about that time that I met a new girlfriend, and as usual for me at that young age, things moved along with her rather quickly and the next thing I knew, she and I were living together. About the same time, my old buddy John and I became re-aquainted with each other, and became best friends. John would occasionally bring me over to visit with his widowed grandmother, as it was his custom to visit her at least once a week to keep her company. She lived alone, and had no family in the area, except John. When we would go over to grandmas house, she would fix us both dinner, and then we would all sit around in the living room and have conversation about anything you can imagine....God, life, death, philosophy etc. Grandma and I quickly became friends, although I wouldn't say that our friendship was particularly exceptional. One thing that we did have in common, was that we were both Catholic by faith. I think that we both appreciated this common ground, and that it strengthened our friendship. Months passed, and I lost contact with John's grandmother, although whenever I saw John, he would often let me know how she was doing...usually to tell me that she had taken ill.

One night in the latter part of the year I was in bed sleeping with my girlfriend. It was about 3:00 in the morning, and I woke up with an ear-splitting buzzing sound in my head and inner ear. I couldn't believe how loud it was. Naturally it woke me up and I sat up in the bed with the buzzing still loud in my ears. It was enough to wake my girlfriend up, who turned on the light and sat up with me for a while, until the "buzzing" subsided. Although spooked, I did eventually fall asleep again. The next day, I went to my friends real estate company to have lunch with him. When I walked in his office, he was on the phone. I sat down, and after he had finished his phone call, he said to me.."Guess what happened last night"? He then proceeded to inform me that his grandmother had died. I asked him what time she had passed away, and he replied at around three in the morning. They new that, because she died at home with her family present. Needless to say, there is no doubt, at least in my mind that grandma had stopped by my apartment to say good bye. Incidentally, I am not prone to sleep anomalies such as walking in my sleep, or nightmares, etch. And I have never had a loud buzzing sound in my ears like that, before or after the incident. And rest assured, this story is the truth.