I know people have told many ghost stories and most people will not believe them. Frankly, I was one of those non-believers when I was younger. Yeah my family would watch paranormal movies and out of this world kind of things. But who would think that something like that could possibly be real? Watching these shows do not help you when someone you love dearly passes away. I am the 2nd oldest in my family and I never would have imagined the feeling of losing a close relative so soon, let alone my own father.
A few days after my 12th birthday in December 2002, my father became very ill (he had suffered 2 heart attacks within a year). We had just visited him in the hospital because it was Christmas eve. All of my siblings and my mother were sitting by his bed and he was sitting there, stoic. Of course, we gave him hugs and kisses but he whispered in my ear to stay behind for a minute, so I did. After everyone left the room, all he said was 'I love you so much my girl, stay strong for them okay?' and I nodded.
The next morning, Mother went to visit Father in the hospital. In my mind I was thinking, YES! Dad is going to be home for Christmas! I looked at the clock, 5:30a, right on the dot. Phone rings, no name and no number listed. Still, a curious child, I answered the phone even though I was told not to. It was Dad! He was laughing, he said, 'My girl, I love you! I love sisters and brother, and of course your mother. Tell them that my girl. Love you and I'll see you later' and he hung up. I never got to even say one word, he talked, I listened, and that was that.
Mom walked in, holding a bag, crying so hard her face was red. She said that Dad passed away this morning. Everyone started crying right away, I didn't. I said 'No he didn't, I just talked to him!'. She explained to me he did and what had happened, even down to when he took his last breath, which was at exactly 5:30a. It took me weeks to comprehend what had happened. I couldn't tell my mother, again, about the phone call from him; it was beyond too devastating for her.
I sat with my Father on the last night of his wake. I talked to him and asked him why he left, why he called home and told me what he told me, and last, why didn't he let me say 'See you later' back. I know he would never be able to answer me, but still, I had to ask him. I adjusted the items we all put in his casket. His favorite Minnesota Vikings cap, his sunglasses, pictures we drew for him and pictures of us, and of course, my mothers letter she sent with him, propped neatly in his casket.
The next Christmas, my mother had went all out. She bought everything we asked for, even though I had told her I didn't want anything. I opened all my gifts except for one, admiring the bow, the paper and how neatly it was wrapped. My mom anxiously said, 'Just open it already!'. I did, and it was a camera, kind of odd because I just told her the day before that I wished I had a camera to take more family pictures. I put the battery and memory card in it, made it ready for picture taking time. At that exact moment, I remembered that TV show we watched when Dad was still here. He laughed at the episode because they were taking pictures at turned off electronic devices that had screens on them. He said it was the dumbest thing he had ever seen. I told him it was cool because of the little dots and the shadows they were getting. But when they uploaded these pictures onto the computer, it would turn the whole thing off and it would no longer work. Its fake, he said.
I thought about trying it, because it was exactly one year from Dad's passing. I turned the TV off and everyone was looking at me and getting mad because they were watching a Christmas movie. I pointed the camera at the tree and TV, one flash, orbs were everywhere in the picture. No shadows or anything that I could see on the camera screen nothing that looked like father, just orbs. Second picture, I pointed the camera at the TV screen, like I said it was already turned off. All you can see on the camera screen is a flash on the TV and that was it. All my siblings and even my mother told me it was a dumb idea and turn the TV back on, so I did.
The next day I wanted to see the pictures on the computer. Blow up the pictures to see if I caught anything. I sat down and plugged my camera in, and to my surprise, the first picture I caught a shadow behind the tree along with the orbs that were floating around the tree. I showed my mom and siblings, they laughed and said it was fake. The 2nd picture, I magnified the pic on accident and it zoomed into the middle of the picture, under the flash. I jumped out of my chair and ran to grab my mom. She came to the computer and she saw it. Right when she got close enough to the computer, she started crying. I caught a perfect picture of my fathers face, right under the flash on the TV screen. I showed my siblings this picture and they all had tears in their eyes. And that was when I reminded them of that phone call from him, exactly one year before. I said that now they can believe me, I don't have to hide this secret anymore. They hugged me and said it was the best Christmas gift I had ever given.
Of course, the next morning, our computer had broke before I had even gotten time to email it to my other family members. I went to look at my camera and it was hot, batteries were taken out and the memory card was literally fried. I couldn't believe it. Brand new computer and camera, broken in a day.
To this very day, my siblings and I remember and talk about it as if it were just the best thing, which in our case, it is. We no longer have our mother as well and more stories will be written about them both. (Trust me there is more)
My parents always told me that when someone passes away, they never die, they rest. And your not ever supposed to say goodbye, its always see you later.
RIP To my wonderful father, this one will always be his story, but ours to share.
Loading comments....
