I would like to begin with my story dating back to the day I was born in the summer of 1981. I would be the third child to be born in my family and the unlucky odd one to be stuck in the middle having two older siblings and two younger brothers & the only left handed one at that. When I was born I was told that my hair was platinum white and the whole one side of my body was shaking. Naturally my Mother was deeply worried & thought something was physically wrong with me. The Doctors shrugged it off & made the comment that I was just "timid" and scared.
Personally & I know people will laugh it off and disbelieve me but I have bits and pieces of when I was a baby. I remember staring at a blue tile wall for what seemed like an eternity. I can remember the warm fuzzy faces that looked into my face smiling and baby-talking me. I also have disconnected ones that don't add up. There is one memory that I have to this day of an old black man holding me and looking down at me smiling. He's either smoking a cigar or a cigarette and placing his ashes in a golden ashtray. I could really sense an overwhelming blanket of love and a positive vibe from this memory. I always wondered why this memory stuck with me to this day & I'm really not sure what it means.
Late 80's... Growing up in a haunted house
My family & I lived in an old Victorian style house which when I think about the house itself it was pretty cool and it was very surreal. I remember down on the first level there was a trapped door and there were times when we found old bottles down in there.
I have to tell you though there was more to that house than just old woodwork and fancy trim. I remember nights were I was the only one awake,sweating, anxiously waiting for something bad to happen. I watched them across the dim lit room. They were shadows-like. I watched it form into the shape of a human and after a while I was suddenly struck in a violent flash of light. I remember hitting the floor in our bedroom and within a second jumping back into bed. I hid under the covers and tried waking up my older brother.
I could never remember if I had ever told my Mother about that particular horrible experience or if I did what she said or did about it but I know it happened. I remember my Mother being scared in that house. Most of the time it was when my Father was at work. We could hear footsteps all over the house. Mom use to think it was an intruder breaking into our house and remember her calling the police a few times. My Father's job would eventually transfer him to another state & so our family moved away from that old place and we moved out to Pennsylvania from New Jersey.
Early to mid-90's... The Dream
Moving from New Jersey to Pennsylvania was tough at first because our family was from Jersey but my Brothers and my Sister and I were excited living out into the country and plus we had our own swimming pool. Years went by and we adjusted to country life and spent countless summers having a great time in that swimming pool. The last summer we would have that pool I remember clear as day having somewhat of a distorted dream which I didn't connect until after the tradgedy. The dream was like watching a movie or a film, better yet it was like my eyes were the camera. I remember it just showing me the pool from the perspective you would be standing at the front angle of the pool out in the grass. There was a ambulance with its lights on flashing, red and white. No sound, no people around. Several weeks passed on from that odd dream & on a hot July afternoon my Sister dove into the pool & shattered her neck & spine instantly. She would have drowned and died if my Brother's and I were not there that day. I would be spending the rest of the Summer at a medical center and then at a rehab center to support my Sister.
Months went by until it hit me that before she actually had the accident I had a dream of an ambulance near the pool! The day of that tragedy an ambulance pulled up through our front yard into the grass right near the pool. It was incredible that I had this experience but sometimes I get down on myself because I wish I could have prevented it from happening. I should be thankful that God saved her life that afternoon. I still remember the first time I saw her at the medical center, I broke down & cried. I guess for an 11 year boy I was a bit sensitive but I cried my eyes out. The halo instrument they have to screw in a victims skull was enough to break a young man down, let alone realizing a family member you love dearly will never walk again...
Strange Coincidence... 1995-98
A "Big Brother" type of friend came into my life after my Sister had her accident and what a good time to have a great and dear friend such as this guy. His name was Jeff and he taught at a local nearby High School near my town. We had met through each others Mothers. I guess after my Sister's accident and the upcoming divorce of my parents I was beginning to hate life and slip into a deep, dark depression and I was isolating myself. I can honestly say I would probably not be here if it were not for this friend that God had sent into my life. He always encouraged me and I always had a great friend who always listened to me, I guess sometimes that is all we need. A good friend.
Jeff & I did anything two guys would do, go for long adventurous bike rides, explore nature & go hiking. I began taking an interest in the ladies and he gave me some really good advice. Jeff, in so many ways was like the best friend anyone could have. A big Brother & a Father all in one. One day I stopped out to visit my good friend & when I saw him he had asked me if I grew up in New Jersey, in a town called Phillipsburg. I replied "yes." Jeff began to smile and pulled out an envelope with a picture and a thank you note. Jeff was into various organizations that were charity related and I knew of this at the time. His charitable related pen pals were from all over the world but this was a first, someone from my hometown. He held up the picture & my jaw dropped. It was a picture of one of my childhood buddies who lived down the block. It was crazy! Jeff's smile shrank as he questioned me if I knew the kid in the picture. "Yeah, his names Arther!" I exclaimed. Jeff smiled still but I could tell he was a bit stunned. I mean what are the odds? I move from my hometown in the Summer of '88 and all but ten years later in another state (2.5 hrs. Away) I see a childhood friend I have had no contact with since and then I see a picture of him through another friend?
It was one of those things where I was just dazed with amazement. What are the odds? Two troubled teens who were childhood friends, one moves over two hours away to another state. No contact is involved during almost a ten year span & "WAM" our troubled lives bring us to a very good and dear friend as Jeff. I'm a guy but I get the chills when I think about it...
The exploding glass...
This happened a few years back when my Wife was pregnant with my first child. Her Mother and my Wife & I were in the kitchen having a comfortable conversation on a nice clear sunny day when all of the sudden a glass bowl-dish shattered up in the cabinet. Upon investigating we had noticed that there was glass all over the kitchen floor and inside the cabinet. The three of us soon could find no explanation to why this glass bowl shattered. The glass bowl was part of a group of biggest to smallest stack-able bowls and nothing fell over to hit it. To my amazement I found fragments of glass outside the kitchen all the way down some steps near the front door! It was really bizarre. Right before it happened there was NO sound of anything giving way all falling, just the sound of exploding glass.
Dark presence...
While my Wife & I lived with her parents we had our own room down in the lower level of their bi-level house. Outside the room to ours was a door to the garage & another one to a downstairs living room area. There were also steps that would take you to the upper level of the home but anyways. Most nights when her Father was not working nights he would be in that living room downstairs watching TV. On this particular night he was not home and the Wife and I can both sit down with anybody right now & tell them there was an evil presence in that house on that night. It began with me waking up suddenly like I was aware of something. It was a calm awakening but I would soon find myself feeling uneasy. I laid there and glanced at our alarm clock which was blinking and flashing. We always set the right time on it and used the alarm for when I worked mornings. I thought to myself "We must have lost power temporarily?" For a moment I had thought I had heard someone nudge on the door to our room. I sat there and listened carefully. As I listened I took notice that the room felt heavy, like the air was stale & the room itself appeared and felt darker than usual.
We always kept our bedroom door locked for privacy reasons. If anybody reading this has ever lived with their in-laws you should know were I'm coming from. There it was again, another nudge on the door knob, this time I was certain. I knew her Father was at work so I was prepared to defend against an intruder. At that moment after the sound of the door knob turning I felt my Wife grip up on me and hold me tighter. I whispered her name and she immediately told me she was scared. My Wife must have been awake that whole time I was awake and feeling something odd without me noticing. We laid in bed for another moment and then I had asked her to check things out,lol. At first she said "NO!" My idea was if anybody had indeed broken into our home and decided to attack my wife I would surely make them pay. "I'm right here,watching..." I told her. She checked & I joined in after a few brief moments but there was nothing. No sign of an intruder.
The accident...
This happened a year or two after we had bought and settled into our new house. My Wife and I were both excited about buying our first home but we would soon find there would be some issues with the house that would put a damper on things. By the first two or three years in our first house we would be dishing out over $7,000 dollars, including buying a new vehicle. I'm not going to get into the details of the financial problems that came along with us buying this home but I am going to tell you our first dark experience while living there.
One early morning I was having a dreadful nightmare about someone in my family suffering in agonizing pain. It was truly vivid and horrible. I was suddenly awakened by the nightmare only to be hearing my 2 year old son screaming bloody murder. My wife and I checked on him immediately & all was fine after we calmed him down. Even though I was disturbed by the nightmare and the fact my little boy was screaming to the top of his lungs, I was still tired and decided to try and go back to sleep. My Wife stayed up & took care of our son. My Wife decided to make a quick run down to a store & pick somethings up for breakfast. While I slept my Wife drove about 30-40 ft from our house and wrecked her vehicle, flipping her car upside down. My Wife and my son were trapped in the vehicle momentarily before a neighbor helped them out. I'll never forget I was woke up again that same morning by more screams! I was shocked when I looked down our alley to see her Chevy flipped upside down in the middle of the street.
It was very strange, the fastest one could go from our house to accident site was maybe 25-30mph. The cops made a report and said she swiped a parked jeep and kind of ramped one off one of the tires of the jeep. I was skeptical but took it into consideration. Even to this day She tells me she doesn't remember hitting anything. She said she just lost control and flipped the vehicle. I guess this is just one of those things were you just had to be there and see it for yourself, a car flipped on its roof in the middle of a one-way alley 30-40 ft from were it was parked. I am very grateful to God he protected my Wife & Son that morning. I guess I'm just curious what those nightmares were all about earlier that morning? Did my Son pick up some of the bad vibes I was feeling before I woke up? I guess what bothers me the most is this question: "If I did not have that vivid nightmare & if my Son wouldn't have woke up screaming bloody murder-would that accident have happened?" Possibly not because we would have slept in a little longer...
The sleep horrors...
I've had this sleeping disorder off and on since I was a teen but sometimes I wonder what they actually are. Just when I think "they" are gone it comes back again and again. I'm going to tell you a couple of them because they are important to understand what I actually think "they" are.
Falling to sleep. Sleeping away. Suddenly, I'm awake but yet unable to move. There is a pulsing sound in my head & I feel like my head is going to explode from all the pressure building. "Help,shiat!I'm going to die in my sleep!" My body is paralyzed but yet I'm able to think and reason. I'm aware that my Wife is right there beside me yet I can do nothing to let her know what I'm experiencing. Finally I snap out of this "grip" I was in moments ago & I come through.
After years of talking to people I have found a small number of people suffer from this type of sleeping disorder. I'm going to let it go and tell you this one story.
I felt it, I was aware of it. It has me in its grip, it was like something invading my body, keeping still as it takes me over. Suddenly there is kicking and violent pounding on the downstairs front door. It's terrible that I can hear from all the way up here. "Oh my God, they are in my house!" I hear multiple footsteps rush up the steps. They are in the hallway coming into our bedroom! Suddenly I am able to move & I sit up in bed and stare deeply in the hallway near the steps. Nothing...
Another incident...
I'm sleeping & suddenly I'm being possessed. I can feel my eyes rolling in my head as I try to move but can't. Paralysis has me in its powerful grip. This time there is a presence in the room. What the hell is it doing, I ask myself. I can see a blurred pale white hand over my eyes. Then out of no-wheres there is this electronic bleep sound. It later reminded me of the dial up sound you use to hear when you were signing on AOL. It was loud and audibly annoying. I soon woke up with no sign of anything in the room.
This one time I was being taking over, invaded & I prayed to Jesus & rebuked it in his holy name. I literally felt this thing lift off me and out of my body and I remember feeling tingly sensations as the paralysis was gone.
Recently I had one of these episodes and remembered trying not to show this thing fear but it was too difficult. I prayed & felt it get worse. When I say worse it felt like my heart was going to explode in my chest and that I was going to die in my sleep. This was the same night I had like 8-10 episodes... Every time I went into a sleep pattern these evil spirits or demons would torment me...
I have to give my opinion on this last section of my long story. I personally believe that one day this thing could possibly kill me in my sleep. Sometimes it feels like if I don't lay still & allow it to do whatever its trying to do that its going to get far worse. I'm scared because I am a loving Father of soon to be three children & I have a beautiful Wife. My two younger Brother's have experienced these things but not as severe as I have. Honestly, I know for a fact that these things attack me when I am overly tired and drained, which makes sense for someone or something to attack a victim when they are drained. Sometimes I feel its all in my head but that one time I prayed and it left me I felt so relieved and felt peace that night. There was something special about that night, in a sense it was beautiful...
I'll quickly list some other symptoms of feelings if anyone else has experienced these please let me know.
*Awake in the mind & you can think but your are physically paralyzed.
*Feel a strange presence in the room.
*Hear audible electronic sounds, kind of like retro Nintendo video game sound effects or like AOL dial up sounds.
*Extreme pressure in the head or fast heart rate.
*I get these once in a blue moon, a loud explosion sound or gunshot sound right before you fall to sleep & it wakes you up!
I know everyone born on this planet is special in their own way and that we were all created for a purpose. What a strange world this is. Thank you for taking the time for reading into my life, feel free to give me some input...
Tim