Saying Goodbye (3)

This isn't a scary story at all and I'm not sure it can even be described as a "ghost" story, but it is a nice story of a VERY loved man who died far before his time but cared enough to say goodbye.

My Mom and I lived alone in a one bedroom apartment. This is when I was a freshman in highschool. Originally we had been living in this apartment with a man my Mom was dating, but he moved out when their relationship soured. Awhile later my Mom began dating Tony -- a wonderful man who was recently divorced and a father of two. Tony would come over to visit us on the week nights once my Mom had gotten home from work. She would make dinner for us or the three of us would go out together to eat. Tony saw his kids on the weekends and would come to see us once he had dropped them off. My Mom and Tony would also go out drinking on Friday and/or Saturday night while I stayed home alone.

My Mom had been going out with Tony a lot on the weekends, but decided to stay home with me one Friday night so we could spend some time together. Tony, on the other hand, decided to go out and spend some time with his friends. He called us early that evening to see how we were doing. I answered the phone and we talked for a couple of minutes before I handed the phone off to my Mom. The last thing (and really the only thing) I remember from our conversation together was Tony telling me to take care of my Mom. I may be wrong, but I don't think he had ever said this to me before. I handed the phone to my Mom and her and Tony talked to each other for about 10 minutes before saying goodbye.

I'm not sure what time my Mom and I went to bed that night, but we were awoken around 2 or 3 in the morning by the telephone ringing. My Mom crawled out of bed to answer it. What's weird is that I am a VERY sound sleeper and I don't usually wake up when a noise is made, but the phone woke me up almost immediately. I asked my Mom who was on the phone when she hung up. It was Tony's sister-in-law. She said she had just gotten a call from Tony's ex and said he had been in a car accident and was killed. Needless to say, my Mom and I didn't get anymore sleep that night.

That morning my Mom and I were sitting together in our living room. I think the TV was on, but neither of us were paying any attention to it. Nothing mattered to either of us at that point. My Mom was getting ready to take a shower. She was sitting on the couch with me, but stood up to get some clothes together. All of a sudden she froze and I remember this really peculiar look on her face. I asked her what was wrong, but all she said was, "I smell him." I swear I thought my Mom was losing it. I asked what she was talking about and she asked me if I had sprayed any of Tony's cologne in the air. (Tony left some stuff at our house for the nights he stayed with us). I told her I didn't and noticed she had tears in her eyes. She said she could smell the scent of Tony's cologne as soon as she stood up. This only lasted for a split second, but my Mom was certain of what had just happened. To this day the two of us still believe that this was Tony's own way of saying goodbye.

All of this happened in May of 1997 and neither of us will be forgetting about it anytime soon.

Rest in peace, Tony! You will forever be loved and missed!