A friend of mine and many others passed away quite suddenly at the end of 2014. I was in my final year at university and was in the midst of dissertation research. Needless to say, his passing had a pretty strong effect on me - and it still does today.
A few weeks later I went home for the Christmas break to see my family and pick up some extra work. Unfortunately, this meant I wasn't around for my friend's funeral. I wanted to be there to say goodbye but could not afford to travel so far more than was absolutely necessary. I had led a toast to his memory just before we left for Christmas which I saw as sort of saying goodbye but being at the funeral would have felt more real, more like I cared.
I don't know whether this all happened because I was feeling guilty about not being able to go but here is where my story turns to the ghostly...
I was in bed, at my parents' house. It wasn't that late, probably around 11pm. My room is fairly light because there's a streetlamp opposite my window and it's only recently been turned off at night. As I lay there trying to relax, I saw something by my window. As I looked properly, it took the outline of a very tall man. This was my friend. I am certain. He had a very unique look that was instantly identifiable, even in a dark club across the room.
I was so frightened I shut my eyes very tightly and asked him to please not visit me while I was awake. I didn't feel like I could cope with that and wouldn't be much use but I wanted to know he was okay so I asked him to visit in my dreams. I wouldn't be scared if he did that and he could tell me what he wanted.
Later that night, I dreamed about him and he told me he was doing fine. We hugged and I said goodbye properly.
One year on I was on his Facebook page reading wonderful messages from his friends. I noticed his mother had written that she knew he was okay because he had told her. Another friend said he had visited them in their dreams. Looks like he got my message about it being less scary, and he knows how important it is that people know he's all right.