You may disagree, but I believe in spirits. Maybe there is some scientific reason that some people see them and others don't: Maybe some people give off certain energy that others don't or maybe it's the mind playing tricks on you. Who knows? It could be anything. But when you lose someone, sometimes it's a great comfort to believe that a noise or a familiar smell is your loved one coming back for a quick visit. For a while, I thought about pursuing parapsychology in college, but I decided I wasn't smart enough for that and there are so few schools that offer studies in that field that it just wasn't worth it to pursue. But I've been on a ghost hunt before and it was a ton of fun! I also have a ouija board that my mom won't let me use.
So, here is one of my experiences (I have a few so I will just share one for now). I was about twelve or so when this first happened. I had recently been diagnosed with scoliosis (a curvature of the spine for which I had been fitted for a back brace that I wore for about two years or so) and I had also recently been to a girl scout camp where we had been discussing people we lost in the past. My grandmother had passed away when I was young...I think I was about six or so. I didn't really understand what my aging grandparents were going through and my brother and I always kind of avoided going to their house. I remember being very disturbed and distressed at the funeral, so they took my brother and I to my other grandmother's house (he was like four so he probably doesn't remember any of this) until everything was done. When I was explaining all of this to the other girl scouts, I remember saying something about feeling guilty for not being closer to her and not enjoying what little time we had together.
Anyway, I had been sleeping one night when I was inexplicablly awakened from my sleep. I lay in bed for a few seconds before I caught a faint scent of something minty. The smell grew stronger after a few moments and then slowly began to disappear. It was almost as though someone was chewing a minty flavored gum and walked into my room and then turned around and walked away down the hall. Now, I will be the first to admit that I did have Winterfresh gum in my room, but it was in a drawer across the room covered up by a bunch of junk. There is no way I smelled it through the drawer, through the stuff that was on top of it and from all the way across the room! No one else in my family typically chews gum, so I had no explanation for this.
The next morning, I described the event to my mom who explained that her mother (my grandmother who had passed away when I was six) always chewed Freedent gum which had a minty scent to it. She was really just messing with me...I mean, it was true what she said, but she wasn't inclined to believe it was my grandmother come back from the grave. That was until I came home from school that day. On the walk home from the bus stop, I found a gum wrapper along the edge of my lawn....the brand of gum was Freedent....the same brand my grandmother used to chew. My mom freaked out when I told her.
Was it really my grandmother visiting me? Who knows? But it seemed to have come just when I needed some comfort....right after being diagnosed with scoliosis and right after admitting out loud for the first time that I felt guilty for not being more supportive and understanding of what she was going through towards the end of her life. It was almost as if she was letting me know there was nothing to feel guilty about and that everything would be okay. It has happeend several times since then and each time the smell wakes me up at night and I always quietly whisper: "Thanks for visiting, Nanny! I've missed you!" I'd like to think it is her coming to visit. I don't remember much about my grandmother and I wish I had been closer to her.
Now, my mom always kind of shrugged off the story as me either dreaming or trying to scare her. That was until I left for college. One day she called me and told me that SHE smelled the winterfresh gum smell just like I described....faint like someone was walking towards her chewing it, then real strong like whoever it was just stood there a while, and then growing more and more faint like they were walking away.
Like I said, I have more experiences, but I'll wait on those. It's your turn now!!
