This story a part of the True Ghost Stories page on Obiwan's UFO-Free Paranormal Page. Please do not copy or distribute without permission from Obiwan and/or the original author!
From: Ice Queen (ebaker@email.unc.edu)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.ghost-stories
Subject: Dad's ghost?
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 1997 11:41:08 -0400
Hello,
I've been lurking on this group for quite sometime. I decided to turn off Lurk Mode to post a story that my friend Jeanne told me yesterday. I have, unfortunately, had no paranormal experiences of my own (except for being slightly psychic and sensitive to others' emotions), but I find the stories of others fascinating.
Anyway, Jeanne's dad died of cancer about six years ago. They took him into the hospital to operate for a tumor, and his body decided it couldn't take it anymore and just shut down. It was an unexpected death, and, in Jeanne's words, "He wasn't ready to die."
The day after the funeral, Jeanne was in the house alone, in the kitchen doing dishes, and she heard a heavy sigh coming from the hall outside the doorway to the kitchen. At first she thought she was imagining things, but she heard it again that day. Other times over the next few weeks, she would hear the sighing, whether in the house alone or with others. It sounded heavy and sad. She just shrugged, thinking it was her father's ghost.
Before he died, her dad built a pond in back of their house, and he used to love to sit down there. Friends of his and even family members have told Jeanne that, up until a year after his death, they felt a hand touch their shoulders in a comforting sort of way when they were down there. They came to accept the ghost's presence, but after a year, he just went away.
Or did he? Jeanne swears to me that, up until this day, she still has dreams of talking with her father. They are incredibly lucid and vivid. They talk about her life, current boyfriends, etc., and her dad gives her his advice just like he did when he was alive. She says that he looks older, with more gray hair when he appears to her. Now maybe this is just her subconscious conjuring up these dreams, but she believes that he is appearing to her. Based on the run-ins that people reported with his ghost, I tend to agree with her. Perhaps his increasing age is done for comfort, to make it appear that he is alive in her dream to give her security.
Sorry this was so long and poorly written. After a year in France, I can't seem to write in English any more. *grin* Any thoughts?
Brightest blessings,
Ice Queen