Falling Photos And The White Teddy Bear

On the morning of 17th February 2014, I received mail from our eldest daughter Nicky. The header to the email was "Strange..." I read with interest; this is the story that emerged.

Shenay, our nine-year-old granddaughter had just spent a weekend with us - nothing unusual in that. We had fetched Shenay directly from school on Friday afternoon. Nicky, her aunt and guardian, came to fetch the little one from us on Sunday afternoon, to take her back home. On their arrival at home, Nicky stayed in the kitchen to pack out frozen food, which we had given her, while Shenay scooted to her bedroom to put away her school bag etc.

Next minute, Shenay comes haring out of her room, with a framed photo in her hand - a photo which had been in a group of three, quite high on her bedroom wall. Shenay was upset and anxious not to be blamed for the incident. (Nicky says she immediately knew that Shenay had nothing to do with the removal of the picture.) She had found the photo of her and her mother, lying on her dressing table, and another photo from the group was missing. Strangely, the other photo including another child was still in place. Shenay has never been one to fiddle with things like that; besides, the photos were up high and not easily accessible. Nicky immediately went with Shenay to hunt for the missing photo. They found it behind the dressing table. Okay, one would say that there is nothing too unusual about pictures falling off the wall. However, it was not just string and a nail securing the pictures to the wall. The photo frames had metal pieces with a hole for a hook to fit through. The hook was still securely anchored in the brick wall. My husband had hung the pictures. He says that there was just no way that the pictures could just "fall" off the wall. They would have to be lifted off the hooks; plus, the bottom corners were stuck down with presstick.

Upon reading said mail, my hubby and I both came to the same conclusion. Angel (our deceased daughter's name) came to visit and leave a sign for her daughter. Why else would it be in Shenay's room and only pictures of her and her young daughter?

Later that day, Nicky phoned me with another interesting piece of information. Earlier in the week, Nicky had been listening to the radio. John Edward had been on, giving someone a "reading". During the reading, the person got a message from the other side, saying "The picture that fell off the wall, well, that was me." Nicky remembers thinking, "Hmm, so spirits can mess with things like pictures too". The memory of the radio program only struck her nearly twenty-four hours after the incident in the bedroom.

On Saturday, 1st March, Shenay came to our house for an unplanned sleepover. We had started laying synthetic lawn in Nicky's postage-stamp sized garden, but the rains came and put an end to the endeavours. Nicky was very frustrated and out of sorts, so we brought Shenay home with us, in the hopes that Sunday would bring better weather and the job could be finished. (No such luck though.)

After supper, we each sat at our respective PC's, amusing ourselves until 9pm. Shenay and I tootled off to bed, while my hubby continued to play his war games. Shenay went straight to sleep, while I lay reading for about an hour. I could still hear the low rattle and bangs of the (somewhat) muted sounds of a battlefield coming from the PC room - hubby was still fervently waging war.

I had to use the loo before snuggling down for the night, but decided to use the bathroom in the granny flat so that I would not have Zeus (my dog) coming to investigate. As I walked around our double bed to exit our room, I switched on hubby's bedside lamp. When I returned to our bedroom, there, neatly balanced on a fold of sheet in the middle of the bed, was a small white teddy bear. Now this little teddy bear had belonged to our deceased daughter; she had always kept it wedged behind the railing of her headboard - we now kept it wedged behind ours. This teddy does not sit very easily: it has to be propped up; otherwise, it falls onto its back. I stood looking at this sight in amazement for a few seconds before a big smile spread across my face.

I whispered, "Thank you Angel", and gave the teddy a hug before replacing it behind the headboard and climbing into bed. My hubby was ever so slightly annoyed with me the next morning when I related the previous night's experience. He wanted to know why I did not call him to see for himself.

Wednesday 2nd April was pretty hectic. Hubby was rushing me to get ready to go shopping as he had planned a trip to another town to buy a part for my PC. I rushed off before making our bed, and we stayed away most of the day. Later that evening, Ray went to make up our bed, but I never entered our bedroom before retiring for the night.

I decided to retire quite early that night, as I was tired from the long day. I snuggled down after reading a page or so of my book. As I squirmed for a moment or two, trying to get comfortable, I discovered a lump in the bed, under the covers. I stretched out my hand, found the offending lump, and pulled it out. It was that white teddy again! It was buried about twelve inches below the top of the bed covers.

I questioned Ray about it the next morning. He swears that he did not put it there and that the teddy was still safely ensconced behind the headboard when he left the bedroom.

Monday 21st April: Shenay had spent the long Easter weekend with us again. We returned her to Nicky and stayed to have a braai (BBQ). We got home, amidst heavy traffic, before dusk.

After checking my mail on my PC and playing a game, I decided to turn in. I glanced at the white teddy wedged behind the headboard, noting that it was almost dead centre between Ray's side and mine, and then propped up my continental pillow for my head, as I intended to read a page or two of my book. (I can never settle for the night unless I read for a bit.) After I finished reading, I leaned forward and grabbed the pillow from my left side, pulling it out so that I could lie flat. Guess who peeped at me from the side of the bed... Yes, it was that teddy again. It was virtually under my bedside lamp at the side of the bed. I had quite a shock, as I know that I had not touched it, not even with the pillow.

I think I am seeing a "pattern" emerging from these experiences. Call me crazy, but I think Shenay is somehow the link. She was, or had been at our house when these things happened. Could it be that her mommy was visiting too? What is your opinion?