Visit From My Father-In-Law

What follows happened to my husband and he has given his consent for this story to be told.

One night, seven years ago, we were laying in bed talking about nothing in particular when my husband fell suddenly and deeply asleep.

At first I was rather annoyed to say the least as he'd shown no signs of being overly tired, but then I became concerned. His breathing was unusually slow, spaced and shallow and he was icy cold to the touch. I called his name a few times but got no response. I lay next to him, frightened and unsure of what to do and I feared he might be dying. He was in this state for only a minute or two when he awoke with shock, sat up straight, looked directly at me and asked me if he'd left the bed. I assured him, he hadn't. He then hurried out of the room, down the hall and into the living room searching for something or someone. Finding nothing, he came back to the bedroom, sat on the bed and told me this. "I've just been speaking with Dad in the living room" (his father had died suddenly eight months previously) "He was a young man again, not looking old and ill as he was when he died. I walked down the hall and saw him sitting in the chair waiting for me. I started to ask him questions but he said he had only a short time and that I was to listen. He explained to me that his death was needed in order for the baby (our son) to live. He described the birth in detail and explained he was needed on the other side to guide proceedings. He said that he comes to watch over us from time to time and he told me he was proud of me as a son." (the only time he's ever said that). "He then faded until he was gone and the next I knew I was back in bed."

My father-in-law died when I was 5 months pregnant with our first child. He appeared to my husband when our son was 4 months old. Strangely enough, during the birth, complications did occur which were frightening for a while, but ultimately all resulted in a safe delivery.

Now, I've never been comfortable with the whole "saving the baby's life" part of this story, I suppose this is because I'm basically a stubborn person who believes I don't need divine intervention to achieve my life's pursuits or overcome my struggles. However, I do believe my husband saw his father, whether it be as a ghost or perhaps through an out of body experience. I was laying right next to him in the bed and something certainly happened. I witnessed his state of suspension and sat with him for hours later as he tried to come to terms with the whole experience.

He's never paid a return visit and no-one else from my husband's family has experienced anything similar to this. I'm not sure if this ranks as a ghost story as such, but it certainly unsettled us for a while, that's for sure.