Laura from Tennessee wrote to tell of her bizarre encounter:
“My mom and dad divorced when I was ten years old. We lost our home, but all in all my sister and I were very happy children and always tried to show support to our mom by saying it's just a new adventure replacing our old lives with God and each other. We knew it would all work out for the best.
There was an older farm located on a dead end road that belonged to distant family members and was offered up to us to live in rent free, so we could get back on our feet and save a little money. This dead end street was also home to nothing but relatives. Eight different homes in all and the support they gave us was phenomenal. My favorite new past-time was coming home from school and walking over to my Grandma Gigi's house to help clean in exchange for wonderful company and non-stop laughter with her, her husband Robert, brother-in-law Michael, brother Lucas, and his wife Amy. The years ticked by and I could fondly remember our conversations and time together. Grandma Gigi also had this Teacup Poodle she named Andy from The Andy Griffith Show and he was never more than a few inches from her feet at all times. Like everything, it all came to an end one day.
I came home after school one day to quickly do my homework and then head back up to Grandma Gigi's house like I always did. But this time my mom's car was in our driveway. My mom had to work two jobs to make ends meet and my sister and I never got to see her before 10:00 PM on week days. She was seated at the table with my sister. They both had clearly been talking but went silent as soon as I walked into the kitchen. As delicately as my mother could, she told me the tragic news that my grandmother had passed away in her sleep this morning. I was devastated. Gigi was everything to me. I started crying thinking about all those things we could never be able to do together again. Grandma Gigi loved baking sugar cookies so we could sit and spoil our appetites before dinner. Her husband Robert was a huge muscularly built old farmer that was strong and silent but all I could picture was him on his knees mourning the loss of his life's true love. My next thought landed on her brother and his wife. They were at the house every single day, all these years and I knew they would need whatever comfort I could provide. I thought about Papa's brother Michael doing everything he could for everyone in their awkward ways. Suddenly everything in my head started screaming that I had to get to them as soon as possible and make sure they were okay.
I stood up and tried to run back out of the kitchen, down the hall and out the door to get to them but my mom was a spry little thing when she was younger and managed to grab me by the hand, stopping me. She knew where I was going and she just pulled me into her tiny frame leaving me free to just cry and scream that I had to go check on everyone. Suddenly her face took an entirely confused look. She asked me, 'Exactly why do you need to go and check in on everyone? I just told you, Mama Gigi passed away this morning. Her home is empty. There's no one there to check on anymore.' I was frustrated and angry that she wasn't even considering anyone else in that house and how devastated they may be. I knew if I wanted to make her let me go, I would have to tell her who I was talking about and so I did. She just stood there with her eyes huge. My sister walked up beside her with the same confused and shocked look on her face. At this point, alarms were going off in my head that something was wrong. I kept telling her that they need me! They need me!
I told her every detail I could about everyone, what they talked about, the stories they all told and how they looked and what clothes they wore. Complete silence followed save for a few grumbled, 'Huhs?' that my mom managed to get out. Finally my mom flatly told me, 'Baby girl, Grandma Gigi lived alone after her husband died 23 years ago in a car wreck with his brother Michael. Her brother passed away 8 years ago before you were born from a heart attack while working with his horses out in the field and his wife Amy died in her sleep a few months after. You couldn't have met them.... EVER! Nothing she said made sense, so I jerked my hand away and ran to my Grandma Gigi's house. I ran into Gigi's house only to find it dark, cold, empty... No one was there. There was no Andy. Even the furniture that everyone sat on in the living-room was different. There used to be a couch and two floral printed love seats but now someone had replaced them with one newer electric dark lazy boy and a small modern television. Her bedroom used to have a large oak queen-sized bed with matching dressers and side tables but in its place now was a hospital-style bed with guard rails and monitors. I don't know how long Grandma Gigi was sick or how I missed the medical equipment. She always looked healthy, happy and energetic when I would to visit her. I will always love her and remember everyone and the things they told me. I spent years after these events seeing a child psychiatrist to make my family feel like I was coping like a normal kid.”
Source: Darkness Radio – July 25, 2016
Beyond Creepy
The Wild Unknown Animal Spirit Deck and Guidebook (Official Keepsake Box Set)
The Graveyard Book
Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories
Haunted: On Ghosts, Witches, Vampires, Zombies, and Other Monsters of the Natural and Supernatural Worlds
Lon's Suggested Reading List - Books & Films / DVDs
