Something nice, I think, but a little eerie happened

[boston bean]

while we were having Thanksgiving Dinner.

We have all been going through some stage of grief this year, due to the sudden passing of my father back in March.

Me, my son, my husband and my mother were sitting down having our dinner. We were probably about 10 mins into our feast and the strangest thing happened.

Now, I'm not one to believe in hokus pokus... but this sort of got to me.

While we were eating in the dining room, which is connected to the kitchen, the fan on the over the stove microwave/convection oven started all by itself, and we could not turn it off until we unplugged it.

It's working fine now, and this has never happened before.

My mom thinks it was my dad. I'm going to tell you the hairs on my neck stood up, and my husband and son were a little taken back as well.

I don't know. But I guess it does no harm to think he may have been with us today and was thinking about us as much as we think of him.......

[elleng]

1. Thank you.

Reminded me specifically to think of Dad today, who also passed earlier this year. I'm home alone at the moment, won't be with family until tomorrow, when I'm sure we'll think of him. Listening to music we shared over the years, all day today.

[southernyankeebelle]

2. Sure sounds like it was your dad. He wanted to let you know he was with you. That is neat.

[Frustratedlady]

3. Unless you've been through it, it is hard to explain...

We have had SO many instances like that, since my husband died, I've lost count.

I had the same thing happen with my vacuum cleaner. My granddaughter was helping me move a cedar chest from one bedroom to another. The vac was in the hallway...a room away...when it suddenly started running. I turned it off and we started to move the chest again, the vac started running. We were the only two people in the house.

It is not a scary feeling, it is a nice feeling. Enjoy those times.

[roguevalley]

7. you and me both. You either know it because you had it happen

or you don't. The night my mom passed ten months after dad, I dropped a tie for my curtain and was too tired to pick it up. The next day I looked for it on the floor but it wasn't there. It was in the kitchen on the bar. I live alone.

My bear on the rocker was moved to the bed the other day and no one was home. I hear and see things all the time. You were lucky to see this, my friend. Your dad came to T-giving dinner with you, Boston Bean.

[NoOneMan]

4. This happens in 38700 homes every Thanksgiving

You only hear about it from the homes where someone recently died. Everyone else chalks it up to cheap Chinese labor.

[uppityperson]

9. And you just couldn't resist. eom

[lbrtbell]

38. Keep telling yourself that

Everybody knows that cheap Chinese labor makes it a lot more likely that a fan will stop working completely.

[Science Geek]

52. Some hoods have an optical sensor...

...to detect smoke particles in the air. Smoke attenuates a light beam which shines on a photoreceptor. When the photoreceptor notices that the light has been attenuated by smoke particles, it turns on the exhaust fan even when the switch is in the off position, the fan ceases when the air has cleared.

[Cleita]

56. Sure, so why not the day before or the day after?

Even spirits need to use the law of physics to make their presence known because they are still occupying this universe with its protocols.

[madamesilverspurs]

5. Thanks for sharing a very sweet story.

We had an unusually loud thunderstorm a few days after Dad's passing. After the first really loud thunderclap we decided it was Dad, that he'd found something to remodel just like always. But wherever we are, the thing that always brings a memory of Dad is duct tape. We'll always believe that he lived as long as he did because he duct taped himself together...


-

[lumpy]

19. My husbands mother was startled and upset when her wall clock suddenly fell of the wall

startling us all; it had hung there for many years. She made a comment then that she was sure her time was up. Sure enough 6 months later she passed away.
Clocks tell us more than just time.

[felix_numinous]

49. A wall clock fell off the wall

into the sink across the bathroom and turned on the water, at the moment of my friend's death. I was on the phone with my brother. The clock stopped at the time of her passing, and I kept it for awhile. The house was at least 100 years old.

[LibDemAlways]

6. During my dad's funeral service the priest was

speaking about how he would always be with us. As he was speaking, a plant near the altar suddenly started shedding berries and a few rolled toward us in the front row. The priest stopped, picked them up, and without another word, handed them to my mother and brother. It was odd but comforting.

[CindyinIndy]

8. Believe whatever gets you through....

The last gift from my brother, before he died, was a Christmas Cactus. It did not bloom @ Christmas. It bloomed on the anniversary of his death, in April, the next year. Sorry for your loss.

[lumpy]

17. Another Christmas Cactus story.

My mother, for many years, had a huge Christmas Cactus that simpy refused to bloom. After her death my father faithfully looked after the plant. The following Christmas after her passing the Christmas Cactus had the most beautiful display one could ever imagine. We always thought it sent a wonderfully beautiful message.
I have heard of similar Christmas Cactus stories.

[Melissa G]

10. Glad your Dad said hello.

My father hung around for six months after his passing. I needed him.

My best friend stayed about six weeks with similar teasing things.

It's good to feel love and the continuation of love even into the after life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[eggplant]

11. Not to make this seem ordinary, but...

many of those hoods have a temperature switch to automatically turn on if the stove or oven get excessively hot. Ours does it every time we cook a big pot of spaghetti or steam corn.

[boston bean]

25. I looked for an ordinary reason to.....

But the stove was off and had been off atleast 1/2 hour maybe longer.

The oven was off as well. It's never happened before and we do a lot of cooking.

[Left coast liberal]

12. I think it was your dad too. Very nice for him to say hi on Thanksgiving!

[boston bean]

27. Thanks LCL. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

[live love laugh]

13. When my cousin died my family went to his home to clear things out. We were all standing by the

double windows in living room and they flew open out of nowhere--there was no storm, no high winds.

Everybody was talking and there was, of course, silence. I knew that it was him but nobody every said anything. They just picked up the conversation and went on as if nothing happened.

Before reading this I thought about him and that incident today.

[boston bean]

28. I can understand the silence. There was a few long moments of silence

around the table for us too.

[KoKo]

14. Transplanted Gardenias from grafted cuttings my father did by hand..

An interesting thing that happened to me.

My father died five years ago on November 9th. We live in the South and we have gardenia plants he grew from grafted cuttings all his life.

Every time we visited him he gave us a 10 inch tall little gardenia plant he had grafted from one of his own plants that grew individually. Through the years I'd accumulated maybe 10 of these and they thrived even though I live about 400 miles North of him.

The gardenias grew into bushes and got almost 5 feet tall through the years in different parts of the garden. Three years before he died we had them all transplanted into one spot by the deck on our house where they were protected but got good light. They were all different sizes but eventually they seemed to miraculously grow to the same height.

He died on November 9th and a week later my husband brought in a gardenia bloom to me and said "Hon, isn't this strange?" Gardenia's only bloom in late May in my part of the South...and there was one perfect bloom that appeared out of nowhere on one bush out of the plants he grafted by hand all those years ago.

It was incredibly strange. And, in later years the plants never had a bloom after their traditional late May blooming.

There are interesting things that happen after people close to us die. Maybe the dead who were close to us only speak to some of us who are sensitive and observing...

Thanks for sharing that:

[dixiegrrrrl]

15. After my mother died

I was visiting her sister, my aunt, to discuss giving her some of my mother's possessions.
We were the only two people in the house.

I smoked at the time but did not light up in my aunt's house, she and her family were non-smokers,
and she was a meticulous housekeeper, the kind of woman who would grab and empty your ashtray after the first flick of ash.
One of the things we were talking about was how my mother would smoke while in the bathroom, and always left a trail of ash, and sometimes a mark of nicotine from her cig, on the bathroom sink. The aunt had mentioned how that used to drive her crazy when she visited my Mom.
A bit later, I used the guest bath.
And there, on the sink, was a trail of fresh cigarette ash.

[bluemarkers]

16. My mother spoke to me after she died

although I had been at her side for most of the day, I went home at about 10:30, Crawled in bed. Another 5 minutes and I hear "Hallelujah I am free, Hallelujah". I told my husband she had died - a few minutes later I got the call. Mom had a very difficult and painful cancer and was looking forward to ending the pain.

I love your story and the others posted here. We should all keep an open mind about things, don't you think?

[dixiegrrrrl]

18. Indeed.

I come from a large extended family of mostly Irish extraction.
The stories my great aunts used to tell of "knowings" were fascinating.

[flying_wahini]

20. I had a similar experience

Several weeks after my Dad died unexpectedly I "borrowed' his truck for some hauling chores. I ended up keeping the truck and parked it way up on the driveway to keep it out of the way so we wouldn't have to fuss with moving it too often.
It was parked up there for a couple of weeks before this incident.
I was talking to my husband about how I was going to pick up some soil and I would be taking Dad's truck. (my Dad loved
to garden, too)
I suddenly noticed that Dad's truck was rolling down the (curved) driveway (!) and went backing up thru my port-a couche.
It slowed down and I thought that it would stop - but instead - kept going!
Moving fast, I ran outside and jumped in to put the brake on to keep it from sailing down the slight hill we lived on.

My husband, who had been right there, shook his head in amazement. We both knew Dad was ready to go with me, too.
Part of our amazement was that the truck managed to back up on a narrow driveway - maneuver between 4 square
pillars of the port a couche without hitting anything.

I know damn well his spirit was in that truck waiting for me.

[Riverman100]

21. Perhaps not as touching as a relative saying hi

but after my 15 year old american eskimo Buddy (aka Butthead) had to be put down I think he stopped by a few times. Once after getting up in the morning I swore I heard his various collar tags jingle just like they did whenever he'd raise his head when hearing me leave my room. Several days later I found a tuft of his white hair sitting on the middle of the living room floor (his biggest talent had always been shedding). About a week after that I was watching tv with my girlfriend when she looked at me and said that I should go let Buddy in as he was barking incessantly to come in. As soon as she realized what she had said, she couldn't hear him anymore.

[GoCubsGo]

22. My microwave turned itself on once.

I am glad I was home when it happened, or it would have eventually started itself--and the house on fire. Needless to say, it was unplugged and immediately replaced. I don't think I had any unseen visitors that day. That being said, I still catch glimpses of my departed kitty cats out of the corner of my eye, strolling down the hallway every once in a while.

[a la izquierda]

23. The day of my father-in-law's wake my husband and I...

went to sleep on the floor in his sister's living room. I awoke in the middle of the night, looked toward the kitchen, and saw my FiL standing there, gazing into the dining room. It was freaky, but kind of calming. In that room was the photo and military arrangements that the kids had all made.
At the second set of wakes the next day, my niece, who was three, walked up to the closed casket and hi-fived it. Nobody had really told her he was in there. She had also known before my FIL passed-she said to my SIL, "mom, it's okay, Grandpa's in Heaven." My SIL got the call a few minutes later.

[erinlough]

24. When my sister died a good friend gave us a rememberence bell.

We hung it out in a sheltered area. It gives off a deep toll which is very wonderful. This morning while walking the dog, the bell rang and, as I always do, I said Hi to my sister. Then it rang again and I greeted my mother who passed two years after my sister. I waited knowing what was coming and sure enough there was one more quick clang which was my dad who passed 6 months after my mom. I greeted them all and I know they were saying hello and happy Thanksgiving. The bell did not ring again all day. Call me crazy, but we have many other instances when the bell has been a communication tool, especially the night my father fell in his house and we were called by the life alert company. That bell rang non stop as I ran to his house (which is next door).

[MFM008]

26. oh he was there

my dad has been "gone" since 2000. He comes back frequently, we always get strange anomalies on the camera, one time his face was in an orb, I kid you not. He is there.

[DesertFlower]

29. my husband passed 6 months ago.

he's around me a lot. one night i was watching tv and crying. i kept having the vision of him dead. i got there 20 minutes after he passed. i didn't like that image. all of a sudden he appeared to me -- full face with a smile and a little tuft of hair sticking up. his hair tended to do that. i could go on and on with things that have happened.

[Mother Of Four]

30. Here's the thing..,

No one knows what happens after we pass, it's the last great mystery and our final adventure.

I've lost many people in my life I loved, because of that we set two places at our table for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. One place is for our people who are a long way away, the other is for the ones that are departed.

My kids all know to place a single handmade dinner roll on each plate. We've had odd looks from friends before, followed by smiles and explaining. So this year my eldest said "Well, what if someone shows up?" I said "Let them sit and eat the roll for our family, that's what its there for." It might be quirky, but it's our way of thinking of them.

The amazing thing about the world we live in is everything has a beginning middle and end. Everything around us changes every day in tiny little ways we may not notice until we clean house or pack for a trip. Our entire planet is breathing bit by bit, even down to the stones under our feet as time weathers them to pebbles and then eventually sand or dirt. Who knows what fantastic things wait for us when we shed the shell we live in now? It's breathtaking, to simply look into the sky and know you're part of something so huge. We are a part of this world, and we are ALSO full of that energy...what will we become? Do we stay or go? Do we have a choice?

I've come close to death, almost touching it twice in my life. I'm not afraid of it although I am afraid of the pain that may come or the sadness I might feel, but not what comes after. Whether it's a fading into a velvet darkness of quiet and sleep, or a step along the path of stardust that is inside us all neither are a bad thing I don't think.

Somewhere out there are my mother and father, my uncles and my first love. My friends, and one or two teachers. There are a couple of dearly loved and missed pets, that I wept over until I felt my heart break. They are either in what some call heaven, or here on this earth brought back into the never ending cycle of life. Perhaps they are drifting in peace, or maybe they are playing chess with Shakespeare on another plane. Wherever they are, parts of them are still in my heart and that's where they find their immortality in my life. We won't know until that time comes for us, as it comes for everyone.

Until that time, accept what your heart tells you to accept. If you feel them around you, hold that close and let it warm you. It's by no means "Hokus pokus" ... It's what you needed, when you needed it. That speaks volumes all by itself.

[Raine]

31. That is very cool, I think it was your father. I've gotten

messages like that from family and friends that are gone.

[northoftheborder]

32. Pet/human vibes....

My son was in the country with his old German Shepherd, who was just barely hanging on, ill with various maladies. That dog was very attached to his daughter, who was back at home. Since son and dog hadn't been gone over about half a day, my grandaughter hadn't missed her Jeffie, since they left when she was in school and dog was usually outside; but suddenly out of the blue she realized he was missing, and asked her mother where he was. Five minutes later my son called saying that Jeff had passed. Strange coincidence? We all thought not...some kind of communication there......

[Douglas Carpenter]

33. strange things do happen

Who has not experienced things that are beyond the rigid explanations of established strict scientific orthodoxy?

Of course, it may very well be that thoughts of afterlife are only the wishful thoughts of comforting fairy tales. But then again - strange things do happen. The Skeptic may very well say that it is so desirable to believe in an afterlife - not only for our sake -but for the sake of all those we love - that we cannot help but make up excuses to justify this belief. But still just as the fact that such a thought is so desirable does not make it true - it does not make it untrue either. Truth is not necessarily sad anymore than truth is necessarily happy. The very notion of existence and of time and of space is so mind blowing -a true free thinker must conclude that such things are within the realm of reasonable possibility. What we may call for lack of better words - spiritual may actually be no more spiritual than electricity. But no more understood in today's world than electricity was understood a couple centuries ago.

[NJCher]

34. Happy Father's Day

I've enjoyed reading the stories on this thread and I am happy so many people are attuned to the fact that it's really their relatives and not just an anomaly with electricity. Of course, it could be an anomaly, but when it's accompanied by that "knowing" feeling, it's unlikely.

Here's my story:

Two years ago in May, dad crossed over from just plain old age.

A few weeks later, it was the day before Father's Day. I had pulled into my driveway with dog treats for my neighbor's dog. I was looking forward to giving them to her, so I locked my car and headed for the pup-dog next door.

Treats dispensed, and on my way back to my house, I passed my car and I heard the radio going. How could it be going, I asked, as I looked at the keys in my hand. I had turned the car off, locked it, and yet the radio was playing.

I unlocked the car to shut off the radio and the announcer on the radio station said, "It's Dad!"

She was talking about Father's Day, but oh how timely it was that I should open the car door at that precise moment. I just stood there and laughed and said, "Hi, dad, and Happy Father's Day."


Cher

[Le Taz Hot]

35. The year after my father-in-law passed,

my husband was using the electric knife to carve the turkey. He set it aside when he was finished and we were sat down eating dinner when it turned on all by itself. We got up, turned it off, started eating, and it did it again. The next year, the very same thing happened. Weird.

[Hekate]

36. Sometimes it's good to set an extra place, in memoriam

to all who are grieving at the holidays.

Hekate

[arthritisR_US]

37. One of the first laws of physics is that energy

can neither be created nor destroyed. So, I believe he was with you all, in love. JMO

[glowing]

41. Yes, it can only change "shape". Its quite amazing how much we don't know and how

much there is to still discover.. That the journey is continuing on.

It really frustrates me to think of the short time we have in our bodies on this earth and in this time and that we spend so much of our lives and our intended purposes for being in our bodies and in this time is for us to learn and create and be... and so much of the human spirit is trapped by history, country, gender, family in which one is born to.

When I see people lining up like sheep or camping outside of a big box store for an entire week just to buy a TV or some such item. AND the reason they are lining up for the "said" item, is because they don't have the means to buy at the regular over inflated chain price. They literally hand more of their Freedoms into the hands of the few who control more and more.

Its been getting more and more insane every year with this crap. It really seems to me that many so-claimed Christians take Christ out of the Christmas spirit. I used to love Christmas. It was my favorite holiday for the music, cutting down the 3 x-mas trees for my house, my aunts house and my grandparent's house with my Grandpa (using his work horses and the sled to head into the woods where he kept his "trained" pine's for x-mas for our 3 homes). I loved the foods and the parties and seeing people who I hadn't for an entire year. I love the lights on the homes and the snow (which I now don't have due to living in FL and no longer in VT). And Black Friday was never our cup of tea ever... many people used to do it because most people had the day off, and after doing Thanksgiving and stuffing oneself to the brim, it was something to do for people to do to get out of the house and stretch their legs.

There were sales and such, but it wasn't the mad rush that it is now. I literally saw very large, overweight Red Co. district Walmart TV report a few minutes ago.... The people ran thru the doors like they had just won a marathon; fists pumping into the air and huffing and puffing along the aisles. The whole thing is ridiculous. How do you wake those people up to the idea that if they had an enjoyable job that paid wages that allowed them to save up over the year, then they could pay the price on the tag without any of the gimmicks. Also, this isn't the cheapest time of the season for sales for many items. The electronics and a few toys seem to be the better of the deals, and if you don't need those items, then there is no reason to be lining up outside of best buy a week before the big sale day. On top of that, there is Small Business Saturday (which I like much better since the money spent stays mainly in the community and depending on the community, can offer some really unique, special thought of gifts), and Cyber Monday, where the prices are discounted and normally shipping is free. Why even partake in the madness?

Anyway, I wish more people would realize their energy and their life's potential. We only have so long to do and be what purpose we came into being here for. And I do believe that we choose to put our energy into life on this earth. Having so few sociopaths at the top of the food chain trying to control people for their own amusement as if it were a game makes it seem like there is very little free will that our energy and spirit is supposed to be allowed. More people need to look inside and find their own way and path within our world community. I think it would make for a better looking world if more would follow the golden rule along with being able to impart their talented gifts into the world.

[arthritisR_US]

47. I've been dead twice and so have no illusions

of my mortality. I have told my daughter I want to go mesquite over the coals, in my rattiest pj's (i believe in comfort). We come in this world with nothing and leave taking nothing. Any clothes she doesn't want she is to give to "Women in Need", same goes with any possessions. I don't want any jewelry on me and the things that aren't her cup of tea, melt them down into something befitting herself.

I had a great niece over recently and she began crying that the ice in her water was gone. I explained to her that it wasn't gone, it had just changed form and she could tell because of how cold the water was and the volume had gone up. We then boiled some water in a small pot so she could see and feel it around us. We then replenished her ice. She asked if it's the same for her kitty Raskly who had recently passed. I told her I believed so and that I often feel my furry mate Seri lying next to my back when I am lying in bed. She was totally at peace and gave me then biggest, warmest and longest hug.

Call me crazy but this is how I see things.

[callous taoboy]

39. Back in college I worked the graveyard shift at a gas station.

I'd get home at 7:00 a.m. and hit the sack, wake up around 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. (Those sleeps were always deep and full of weird dreams). During this time my step-mom's mom, Jimmie, was dying of cancer about 170 miles away. Jimmie was really fond of me and I of her, thought she was a great character. We didn't know how long she had, but not long. So I had done my shift at the gas station and was in a very deep sleep when all of a sudden I sat bolt upright, wide awake, and immediately thought of Jimmie. I noted the time on the clock which was 1:45. I went back to sleep and around mid-afternoon I was awoken by the phone. It was dad telling me that Jimmie had passed at 1:45 that day. This is the only interesting experience of this kind that I have had, but I welcome any other.

[fasttense]

40. One thing I learned from reading up on string theory and

quantum mechanics.

Anything is possible given enough time.

[LaydeeBug]

42. HOLY CRAP, THIS **EXACT** SAME THING HAPPENED TO MY BESTIE AFTER HER FATHER DIED...

This was like 3 or 4 weeks ago, and it was the EXACT same thing.

The Admiral (her Dad) was being kept until his burial at Arlington National could be arranged, and that was very stressful for her and her family. We had gathered at her house for a pot luck girl's night (she's a new Mommy, so they are very rare)

This happened **EXACTLY**:

While we were eating in the dining room, which is connected to the kitchen, the fan on the over the stove microwave/convection oven started all by itself, and we could not turn it off until we unplugged it.

It's working fine now, and this has never happened before.

[spinbaby]

43. Election eve, 2008

We were watching the returns on TV and the moment the race was called for Obama, the kitchen window exploded. At first we thought someone had shot out the window, but the outside pane was still intact--the inside pane had exploded inward, spraying bits of glass across the kitchen.

The window guy said that happens sometimes with double-paned windows when the house settles, but our house isn't settling--it's 80 years old. My husband swears it was his grandfather that exploded the window in reaction to Obama's election. He's been dead for 40 years but was a notorious and vocal racist.

[Fix The Stupid]

44. My nice but eerie story :)

My Dad died of cancer in 2010... it was a long drawn out affair.

He was diagnosed in 2009. He was 6'4" tall and weighed 275 lbs.

When he died he was 165 lbs. Cancer is an atrocity.

So, about a month before he passed, my Mom pulled a few strings and got him into a very private, amazing respite home for Cancer patients - approx 1 hour away from where we lived - an amazing place...can't say enough about these true heroes who work there everyday.

So...it was 3:00am on May 26th, 2010. I was sleeping alone in my bed, when I hear a VERY loud "BANG"...

I'm telling you, this sounded like a 12 gauge shotgun going off in my house. I jump out of bed ' "wTF was that!!??"....I run around the house looking for something, anything...can't find the source of this noise.

So, I walk into the bathroom and this is what I see: Shaving cream everywhere. A can of Gillette Shaving cream EXPLODED. The top of the can was lifted about 1/2" off the base and the shaving cream was everywhere...It was an unreal sight.

1 hour later, I get the call from my mother - dad died at 3:00am that very morning.

I have been shaving for a long time - never had a can just randomly explode...

Spooky? You bet your ass.

[Catlover827]

45. I think it was your dad making his presence felt!

It seems to me that our lost loved ones do try to contact us. Several odd things happened to my sister in my presence after she lost her husband, Larry, in October 2007. She arranged a banquet in his honor in December 2007, and my husband and I flew to CA for it, and then my husband went home and I stayed for a while to help her go through Larry's things. Here's what happened:

1. We were going through stuff in her bedroom when a radio in a jacket pocket in the closet suddenly started playing. We hadn't touched the jacket, and the radio hadn't been played for months.

2. After a shower, while I was getting ready to go out a hair flew onto the vanity and arranged itself into a perfect cursive capital L.

3. When my sister and I were crossing the street while out shopping, her phone suddenly rang with the ringtone she and I had assigned to each other, JFK's "And so, my fellow Americans..." speech. I looked at my call log to see if I'd accidentally "purse-dialed" her - no call showed up. She looked at her phone to see if she'd accidentally hit her list of ringtones and played it - she hadn't.

4. We were walking at a local lake when a seldom-seen flock of pelicans flew overhead. Larry loved pelicans.

Another thing - her daughter was driving somewhere alone shortly after Larry's death when something hit her in the back of her head.

I choose to believe that your father was contacting you and letting you know he's still around. Hugs to you!

[GoneOffShore]

46. Nice thought about your dad - But.....

Get the switch and circuit breaker checked. Maybe replace the microwave.
And soon.
Heat, grease and moisture do things to circuit boards and switches.

Lucky there was somebody in the house when this happened. Had it occurred when no one was at home, you could have come home to a smoking ruin.

"Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?" Douglas Adams

[tavernier]

60. Oh, Mr. Adams...

Don't Piss Off The Fairies

[elehhhhna]

48. about a year after my FIL died,

we were up in Wisconsin visting my MIL, who was planning to remarry a sweetheart neighbor (they were in their late 70's) who we met that weekend.

Late at night I went outside alone. Every star inthe sky was ablaze. I asked my FIL if this remarriage was okay with him.

A HUGE shooting star streaked all the way across the sky at that exact moment.

When I told my husband he said "So Dad wants to shoot Bill?"

Smartass.

[Honeycombe8]

50. Some of them turn on when it gets to a certain temp. & won't turn off until it cools off

or you unplug it.

[Matariki]

51. Nice. Love when that happens

During my grandfather's funeral a phone that was supposed to be turned off rang once just as the priest said "let us pray". Then during a very boring and wordy part of the service front door opened by itself and I had the district impression of my rather tricksterish granddad leaving the place - kind of letting us know what he thought about the religious mumbo jumbo

[Matariki]

53. I know you don't believe in 'hokus pokus'

But it's nice to put out a candle and glass of water sometimes for your departed. They'll appreciate it

[sabrina 1]

54. I think it is very nice to feel that someone you love who has

left 'this mortal plain' is not so far away and every once in a while, lets you know they are close by.

If your mom believes that it is very comforting for her. I can understand it. One of my friends who is American Indian totally believes that this is possible. She has the most beautiful attitude towards death as she believes people have just gone to 'another plain' and can and do visit her from time to time. I really love her spirituality and belief that death is not an ending, but a 'moving forward' to the next stage of existence.

I'm sorry about your dad but I'm glad you had that experience and hope it helped comfort all of you a little. Holidays are the hardest when we lose someone. Seems your dad made it a little easier this year.

[SoapBox]

55. No harm...No foul.

Well, maybe that makes some kind of sense?!?

I say...who knows!

I too am not into any mumbo jumbo, hocus pocus, Eneey-Meany-Chiley-Beany stuff...but, who are we to know. Period.

A few weeks after my Dad passed away, I had a "dream" that was so vivid. Well, needless to say, I woke from that sleep blubbering like a baby...he just stood in a room (I think it was a room in Mom and Dad's place but it was "disjointed&quot , smiling, and only said...I have to go now.

*lump in throat*

That was 15 years ago and that "dream" is as vivid today, as it was then...however, it did give me most of the closure that I think I needed.

You folks believe whatever you want!

[laruemtt]

57. right after poppa passed in the spring of 1997

ma's microwave, which had been broken for months, all of a sudden started working again. i knew it was pa.

[Ilsa]

58. I'm going with

"your dad", also.
It isn't scientific, but I've heard too many stories about electrical gadgets starting/stopping when other worldly events might be involved.

[tavernier]

59. I can't even begin to count the ways loved ones have communicated

with me after passing, while in my 66 years on this planet, and I have never ever had any kind of special "gifts" or psychic abilities.

I won't bore you with my long list, but there is one thing that particularly sticks with me. A year or so after my mother passed, I had a dream that she was in the hospital awaiting a baby. I was standing next to her. The doctor came in and told me that I had to leave because I was a male and she was about to go into labor. I argued and said that I was a girl but the baseball cap I was wearing must have made him think I was male. He repeated it so I left, at the same time awaking suddenly. I pondered the VERY VIVID dream and suddenly wondered if mom wasn't telling me that someone in the family was expecting. The only one at that time whom I could think of who were sort of/kind of trying for a family was my daughter and son in law. I called daughter and said, "I just saw grandma and she tells me you're pregnant." Of course she asked me what I was smoking, ha ha, and said no, she was not pregnant.

An hour later she called me and told me that she took an early preg test, just for a lark, and guess what??

We still laugh about how grandma was the first to know and I was the second, before even the parents.

And p.s. ... HE was (and is) a MALE child.

[H2O Man]

61. It was your Dad.