Things That Go Bump In The Night

I have hesitated to write this post, even though many of my readers have asked me too, for many reasons, the most prominent one being most people are programmed from children to believe that things we can't see or feel aren't real. We are all born with this gift, but life and people change that for us, tell us it is wrong and to stop being silly. People go through life thinking those of us that feel, see or hear things are crazy. Ok, I will give you all the crazy part, but I am not crazy because I can see, hear and feel things that aren't there in your world. I can't see a micro organism but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I can't see grief, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Yes, I know many of you are going to say "You only see these things because you want too". I can promise you that some of the things I  have seen are not something I want to see.


I belong to a professional ghost hunting team and have for many years. We have been interviewed, done clips and have had our work published. This is not a hobby for us, if it was we wouldn't have thousands of dollars in expensive equipment. I am certified and can also teach the paranormal. I even have a PhD in Metaphysics from a respected university. I am not a fortune teller so please don't write and ask me if Aunt Sally is going to get married someday.  I can at times see future events, just not predict them. Your guess is as good as mine, and mine would only be a guess. I don't do spells, I'm not a witch. I am not a demon from hell here to suck out your soul, although a few of my children may disagree with that one.

My very first experience, that I can remember, was at age 3 when I described in great detail to my parents a car accident that happened in front of a Florida gas station. According to my mother I was rather gory in details. A few days later this accident, exactly as I had described was all over the television and the newspapers.

At 4 yrs old the night a favorite uncle died my mother said I was agitated for hours and kept begging her to call my aunt to see if he was alright. Since he wasn't sick she thought I was just not wanting to go to bed and put me off. At 3am our phone rang, it was my aunt telling us my uncle had a major heart attack and died in his sleep. I told her he wasn't going to be alone. Two weeks later my grandfather died also.

I use to play with little girl named Robin, she always came outside and played in my sandbox with me. I always thought it strange that she chose to play in the sandbox in a dress while I wore shorts but I was only 6 so things like that are fleeting thoughts you quickly ignore. I kept telling my parents about my new friend. As we were new in the neighborhood they were very happy I had made a new friend so quickly. Until the day my mother had a conversation with Robin's mother and found out that Robin had been dead for 10 years. They showed me pictures of Robin, her two sisters and some cousins but didn't tell me who was who, I easily picked out Robin as my new friend.

This is very confusing for a small child, I was never sure who was real. But as small kids do I worked out a system. I just ask up front "Are you dead or alive", didn't matter to me, I played with anyone but I had learned not to talk about the dead ones to anyone. Those I kept to myself. This is what society does, it suppresses those natural gifts that children have.

I was a stubborn child, and I admit one that didn't always listen to what I was told so I kept my gift. I liked it and wasn't going to let anyone take it away from me. I was a happy bubbly kid and no one would have ever known by looking at me that I could see, hear and talk to the dead. The only regret I ever had was that I never developed the ability to make one appear when I wanted them to, still can't, I have to wait until they come to me. Sometimes they come at the most inopportune times. Sometimes they don't come alone, they bring others, they have a great desire to be heard and if they find someone who can hear them they can ramble like crazy. I have learned over the years to tune them in when I want and tune them out when I want.

Do they scare me? Not in the least. At least not the good ones. I have encountered very few "bad" ones over the years. As a matter of fact our team is dealing with one right now. My ghosts are usually just happy, just want to tell their story, pass a message on to someone they loved or just extremely nosy. As a rule they are not allowed to stay in my house for long, I send them away, they can come back and visit but not live here. I have made an exception for two of them. Johnny and Emma. Johnny talks from time to time but usually just likes hanging out with us. He also loves going for rides in the car with us. Emma has never talked except to tell me her name, and never leaves the house, but she is totally in love with my pug and I suspect the pug is the only reason she is here. Whatever room the pug is in that is where you will find Emma.

A little about our team. We have 14 members, all certified except three who are in training. Three of us are qualified to teach. We have investigated churches, businesses, private residences, battlefields, cemetery's, hospitals, asylums (yeah, I really don't like doing those!), abandoned buildings, police departments, fire halls, open fields and some of the famous "murder houses" you have all probably read about. All investigations are confidential, we never disclose where we are going or when, onlookers can impede the investigation and it's for our safety as well.  All clients sign contracts before an investigation, just as we do. We never charge for an investigation but we do ask for expenses if we have to travel more than 50 miles from our home office. Two members of our team are Police Officers, one member is a Federal Marshal(so yes, we are always highly armed when working), one member is a Paramedic, I am an RN, one member is a Priest, one member is Film Producer and one member is a Sound Engineer. My son just got his certification this past fall, his gifts are similar to mine. We also have three other teenagers in training who have about another year before they will certify. Each one of our gifts are a little different, but as a whole it works for us. At this time we do not advertise, it is all word of mouth. That may change in the future as we are considering putting up a web site.

Now a little about this weeks ghosts.

 I have a lady, someone's grandmother who will not leave me alone, she keeps wanting me to give messages to her grandson. The problem is she won't tell me who her grandson is and tells me to stop being stupid when I ask her.

I have a 16-20 yr old, sometimes age can be hard to determine, who has very obviously been in some kind of accident that keeps repeating "I'm sorry", over and over again. I don't know who she is or what she is sorry about and can't get her to say anything else.

I have one named Betty, who wants me to tell my nephew's wife she needs to do her dishes and to pick up the boots from in front of the doorway, that her house is a mess. I love this one and find her highly amusing.

My favorite at the moment are Edith and Carolina, they fight with each other like two old sore tailed cats. They fight about the proper way to plant roses, the proper way to iron shirts, who makes the best pies and on and on and on.

I have a little girl, about 8 yrs old, looking for her mother, she breaks my heart. I can't  help her because I don't know who her mother is. Strangely enough, my chihuahua, who hates every thing but me, loves her and gets so excited when she shows up.

I have a young woman who was a murder victim who wants to tell me all about the crime and the guy who did it.  A search of old newspapers in my town verified this murder, the man was caught and executed for the crime many years ago.

As I write this I have one chattering in my ear, sometimes I see them, sometimes I only hear them. I can see and hear her. She wants me to tell you about her, so I will just to shut her up. She is about 5'7" tall, wearing a blue flower print dress I'm guessing from the 40's or 50's, she has two children, both good students and her husband mows the grass every week (sometimes they tell the dumbest things but I guess to them it is important), she has a blue car but really wanted a flashy red one. She likes to bake brownies. She wants to know if I think her new bedspread is pretty (which by the way, I can't see) and she has a cat that sheds a lot but the kids like it so they keep it. She also says one of you readers know her and she wants you to know she is sorry she threw your book away.

So there you have it, I am crazy, but did you really doubt it?