To Believe or Not to Believe

Ever since I was a child, my mother would tell me of our family's experiences with ghosts or run-ins with spirits. My grandpa, for example, have had his fare share of run-ins since he was a child in the Philippines. When he was about 6yrs or 7yrs, he would accompany his father to the local church at 1am in the morning for prayers. (Why they would go at an unearthly hour, I could never understand).

Whilst they were there, his father would explain to him that no matter what he sees or hears, he must not make a sound or be afraid. As they would kneel at one of the pews in church and bow their heads, my grandpa's father would begin his prayers. Not long after, my grandpa would look up at the alter and in the dark he could make out some glow in forms of people appearing out from the wall of the alter and heading down the aisle and out towards the graveyard next to the church. He would hear some whimper sounds, and swooshing as these so called spirits would walk past.

As a child, I was fascinated by these fairytales. These stories that my mother would tell me, I would just pass them off as bedtime stories. My mother has also had her own experiences in a way that she sees the dead. When I say, "sees the dead" I mean literally, she would see the deceased as though they were live people, in their live form. She would see them crying or going about their chores as though they have no idea that they had already passed this living world. Of course, again, I would just pass these stories on as another bedtime story. I mean, c'mon, what child would boast that their family history has ways of communicating with spirits?

As I grew older, the stories became a part of my growing up and I didn't think twice about them... Until my first encounter...

I remember back in 1993, I had just moved into a unit with my boyfriend, and at that time, he was a hard worker and worked day shift, then come home to eat dinner and shoot off to study at TAFE College until 9pm or 10pm. On this one particular day, around 2pm, I felt tired and thought to have an afternoon nap before my boyfriend would come home at 3pm to eat and go off to classes. So I laid down on our bed, and, you know that state when you're resting but your mind is still conscious to your surroundings? Well, I was in that state, when I felt someone lay down next to me on the bed and lean against my back. So, here we were, back to back and all the while, I was thinking it was my boyfriend.

Unusual though, my boyfriend usually kisses me on the cheek and hug me, so feeling more conscious now, I opened my eyes and turned round to hug my boyfriend only to find nothing, and no one on the bed, but me, yet I felt as though there had been a presence there. It freaked me out but nothing else happened since that moment...

We moved from that unit after a year, and now my boyfriend has become my faithful husband and we have children of own. We just celebrated 14yrs of married bliss and I still get experiences that just cannot be explained.

The most recent, it was about 7am in the morning and the house was quiet and we were all still in bed, of course I had to get up to pee, walking into the hall way I glanced up and could see our TV in the lounge from where I was standing and saw a girl with long straight, black hair sitting in a chair right in front of the TV. Thinking it was my eldest girl, I thought it odd that she would be sitting in front of the TV with it off. So I glanced up into the lounge again and the girl was gone. I was standing right next to the girl's bedroom door and opened it only to find my eldest daughter still in her bed, fast asleep.

Again, thinking I was going crazy, I quickly went to the loo to do my business, then went back to the bedroom to wake up hubby and tell him what happened. In his sleepy state, he just murmured, "Perhaps they want to contact you for some reason!" then rolled over and slept some more... This story is just part of what happens in my life, and still I am unable to understand why it happens or what is it that these spirits want from me.

Although, it happens, I keep thinking I'm going crazy or I've lost my mind, but then when I tell closest friends about these experiences, they would either say, it's kool or be repulsed by the idea of me seeing the dead. Perhaps, some other readers might have had same or similar experiences as I have had and can shed some light as to how I can deal with them.

I have only had one experience where I've felt a very bad presence around, if you want to know about it, by all means, drop me a line and ask about it. I feel I'm trapped between sanity and insane... To believe or not to believe... What path do I take? Or should I take?