Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Boo



 
I bought my favorite candies for the little Trick or Treaters (+1) and I am doing OK.

I do not believe in ghosts or poltergeists or things that go bump in the night. Nope, not me.  I am sensible and believe there is a reason for everything. Practical Arleen, that is who I am.

There are those moments though.

  -  On a Sunday morning 11 years ago,  I received an IM from a dear friend who had passed away the day before.  Her name popped up on my computer and the message was just 10 numbers. I could not believe my eyes and stared in shock at the screen  I called for my husband to see it and we tried to figure out what we were looking at and what did it mean.  My friend lived alone and there was no one who could get on her account.  There had to be an explanation, but we never came up with one. And the numbers, well, we have never figured a meaning to those either. 

  -  Then there was that incident 12 years ago, shortly after my parents passed away (within 7 months of each other).   My sister  lived in their house and one night, as she lay sleeping, she heard my mother's voice call her name over and over.  It was so loud in her head that it woke her up.  She then heard a noise in the kitchen and quickly ran to it.  A fire had just started in the old heater.  She was able to get it out quickly but had it been a few moments later, it would have been too late. 

  -  My mother would often say that if there was such a thing as reincarnation, she would want to come back as a large bird and fly over all who annoyed her in life and poop on their heads.  After her funeral, the family gathered at her home.  As we all sat out in her garden speaking of memories and times gone by, Hubby came walking from the backyard and yelled that some big dirty bird let it all go on his head.  Funny, I always thought Mom liked him.

I will leave you with this one last tale.

  - A story was told on radio news last week about a British lady who had passed away.  This woman was known to be a phonoholic and so when she was being laid to rest, loved ones put her cellphone in her casket. Her granddaughter, seeking comfort, would, on occasion, send her texts.  One day, she was shocked when she received a reply.  It said, "I am watching over you".  Before you strike up the theme of The Twilight Zone in your head, I will tell you it was not the deceased who came a'calling.  Her batteries were definitely out. What it was is that relatives had closed her account  after her demise and the phone number was put back into circulation. The new owner had received these messages from the distraught survivor and decided to answer, thinking someone was pranking him.  The family was upset, but I do hope they all had a good laugh afterwards.  It certainly gave a lot of people a chuckle, including me.

Voices from beyond?  Nah, they were just computer glitches and coincidences. I do not believe in ghosts or poltergeists or things that go bump in the night.  Nope, not me.  I am sensible and believe there is a reason for everything.  Practical Arleen, that is who I am.





50 comments:

  1. Well I think there are things that happen that we can't explain for sure. I don't believe in ghosts either. Hope you have a nice week!

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  2. On the day of my fathers funeral (I did not attend) I had a phone call with no on the other end..just the feeling of talking down a long tunnel and the door bell rang the minute I hung up...no one there. Dad always said he would try to let me know if there was a life after death.

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    1. I won't ask you why you did not go, but I know your dad was with you that day.

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  3. For my younger brother's funeral, years and years ago, my mother had her minister preside. My brother had no use for religion. Thus, we stood in a circle around his grave and watched rain fall only on us. Most of us backed up, out of the circle of rain, which continued, on the minister.
    And more, but you get the gist.
    Have a fun trick or treat with the little ones.

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  4. There is too much I don't know. Keeping an open mind, and a wary eye out here.

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    1. I only believe what I can see, but I am open to many possibilities.

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  5. Loved these stories, Arleen - especially the one about the bird. I keep an open mind and my hat on:)

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    1. The Incident with the bird is one of our favorite family stories. It almost made me believe.

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  6. Love those kind of stories. Have missed you on my blog.

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  7. Thank you, Jody. I have been busy and have not been on Blogger regularly lately. I will go check out your posts.

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  8. I read that last story in the paper here the other day.

    There are things that we can't explain. I've had them happen to me...but they're not scary...just part of who and what we are, I guess.

    Happy Halloween! :)

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    1. People love being scared. Authors have made fortunes writing about the unknown forever.

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  9. Of course ghosts, pixies, or goblins don't exist. They were all invented by scoundrels.

    My mother told me that, if it was possible, she would let me know she wanted to tell me something by appearing as a four-leafed-clover. I have still yet to find one!

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    1. I found a four leaf clover awhile ago. Your mom told me to tell you, "hi".

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  10. Dear Arlene, I did have one strange experience in my 1870 home in Stillwater, MInnesota. One night I woke to a voice calling my name. The voice said, "Dee" several times from the bottom of the stairs that led up to the second floor where I was sleeping. I felt afraid and did not answer.

    A friend later suggested that if this happened again, I should answer, "Here I am," as the prophet Samuel did in Chapter 3 of his first book in the Hebrew Testament. It never happened again, but it certainly made me determined to answer if that ever happened again. Peace.

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    1. Could it have been a dream and you thought you were awake? That has happened to me.

      The good news is that the voice was never heard again.

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  11. Me too, but still, you wouldn't catch me in the churchyard after dusk!

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  12. I don't believe in ghosts either or coincidences but I do believe God works in mysterious ways. : )

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    1. I do believe in coincidence. There are things that the average person can't explain. However, there are scientists out there that can.

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  13. I believe in spirits, as Christ called up the spirits of Elijah and Moses. Saul persuaded a witch to call the spirit of Samuel. Ghosts? Are they spirits? Are they demons? These are big questions in the church.

    ps: I love your new header. It is brilliant.

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    1. Thanks, Susan. I took it at a local churchyard that has graves that date back to the 18th century.

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  14. I don't really believe in spirits either, but there are a few mediums I think really have a connection to something (like Theresa Caputo and James van Praagh). Your sister sure was lucky she woke up before the fire got bad. Have a great Halloween, Arleen!! :)

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    1. I am very skeptical about mediums but if they help people have comfort, that is not so bad.

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  15. Haha! But there certainly are some funny things that happen, practical or not! :)

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    1. Yes, there are. I get shivery when I feel that I am reliving a moment.

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  16. These were all great stories! I especially like how the bird went after your husband! Sorry you never found out what the ten numbers meant.

    Julie

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    1. That is one of my favorite family stories. It brought a lot of laughter to that difficult day.

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  17. Just don't let the things that go bump in the night sneak up on you and startle you. Happy Samhain, or Hallowe'en, or whatever.

    Blessings and Bear hugs, Arleen!

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  18. Hey Arleen,

    Spooky, eerie, or logical explanations? It's good to stay practical. I'm practically here and practically, finally commenting on your site after a lengthy absence. Then again, maybe it's not me but a certain famous dog :)

    Gary

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  19. I'm like you Arleen but have had similar weird experiences. One day my young daughter had an ear-ache and the doctor came to our house and shone a light into her ear. Thirty minutes later my brother-in-law turned up saying "I had the strange feeling, while driving here that a light was being shone into my ear!"
    CLICK HERE for Bazza’s fabulous Blog ‘To Discover Ice’

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    1. A doctor came to your house - OMG, that is strange in itself. if a doctor showed up at my house, I would have to believe he came from the spirit world.

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  20. I LOVED this post. Great stories, practical Arleen. I don't believe in ghosts, toooooo...

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  21. Your stories entertained me just now. But I probably have to postpone taking shower until morning, it's still all Souls day and I'm afraid to feel something while I'm alone in the bathroom. :)

    I always tell myself that I do not believe in ghosts or whatsoever but whenever someobe tells a story, I just somehow feel creepy. Whoo

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  22. nice blog here! i saw you thrue other blogger...will visit more..blessings ❤

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  23. Well, I finally added you to my blog roll and find out that you are not going to believe in ghosts....here it is Halloween an all. Just wait..........

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  24. Sensible or not, these were some wonderful examples of things that cannot be explained, except the last one, of course.

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  25. Doo do doo do (theme from Twiliite Zone) And yes to your comment on my blog, I am possessed....anthing to avoid cooking or housework...even dressing up a dog for a Pet Costume Contest. Wait till you see what I did next to the 13 yr old.

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  26. I really enjoyed your post. I am open to these experiences – I don’t say I believe in them or don’t believe in them – I just don’t know. You remember my post of last November 2013 about our walk in Allatoona Pass when I took a photo of that Confederate soldier grave and there was a shadow in the photo? I could never explain it.

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  27. A few years ago, a friend passed away. Several days later, I had a voice mail on my answering machine. I listened to it, and it was my friend who had just died, telling me she was home now and to give her a call. This was on old message from before my friend died, and I thought I'd deleted it. I never did figure out why it showed as a new message. And no matter how many times I tried, the message would not delete!

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  28. I so enjoyed reading this. The thing is, I do believe in some entities because I've experienced too many weird happening and occurrences that I probably should have my own reality tv show. Needless to say, I don't talk about any of them often. There is one thing that happened when we lived in a renovated funeral home that hugged a mountainside. My first two very young children (2 & 4) were playing under some stairs within my sight. I was reading a book and thought a hair was caught in the sunlight and had settled with all its prism glory across my eye. No amount of me trying to remove it from in front of my eye helped. As I looked at my children, my 4 year old daughter grabbed her little brother's hand and shouted, "Mommy, what is that light? It's so cold." Well, I made it to them before they made it to me. The "prism" of light was really glowing under the stairs, but disappeared quickly. Talk about creepy. I had never liked that house anyway and a friend of ours said it gave off bad vibes. My daughter is 40 now and still remembers that evening. So...Anyway, I enjoy your posts on your blog.

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  29. Yes, me too, sensible to a fault. Absolutely.

    Yet I swear that my dad spoke to me most urgently from beyond the grave, telling me something I should have done ages ago. He was just sending me moral courage.

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  30. Oh my! Some things can never really be explained. These things happen.

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  31. I loves me some ghost stories! That was good.

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  32. I'm practical, too, and not one for ghosts and such. I did go on a ghost tour with friends in Savannah and the real stories, not the tour ones, were spookier and sadder.

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  33. Well practical Arleen you had me laughing out loud about the bird poop on your hubbys head. Sorry that was just too funny. (I thought she liked him)
    Everyone loves a good ghost story. My Aunt Dorothy could tell them endlessly. haha
    Hope your are doing well. I finally got a new laptop and am trying to catch up with my friends in this amazing world of blogging.
    Happy Thanksgiving
    Love
    Maggie

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