A Desert Haunt Part 3-Guest Blogger

Part 3 of guest blogger's Rick haunting is finally here!  You can catch up on Part 1 by clicking here & Part 2 by clicking here

If you'd like become a guest blogger and share your story, we encourage you to do so!  Our goal remains to help others and give them strength.  Sharing your story could help others get the help they need!   Click here to become a guest blogger!

Hope you enjoy reading Part 3 of Rick's story!

Lance & Jennifer

A Desert Haunt, Part 3

With the consensus reached that we were dealing with something (or things) paranormal, Sheri and I decided we had to take action. The only problem was what action could we take?

For my part, I went to my go-to solution for anything I didn't understand: research. I used my standard internet search engine to read up on what to do if your house is haunted. That got some really interesting results. But I went through the list like I was weeding a flower bed. I tried to evaluate the sources and throw out the advice that didn't pass my gut check and spent my time on those that seemed more credible.

I have to say it wasn't an easy task. It wasn't an exact science, either. I went with what made sense to me or resonated with my own experiences. I wasn't wanting mystical, religious, or ritualistic solutions. I wanted something that would work once for all. I was naïve. I know now it doesn't work that way, but that was my starting point on this journey.

For Sheri's part, she was depending on me to come up with a strategy while she was dealing with the strange activity on a near daily basis. She was in the midst of the fight, so to speak, and had no time to develop tactics. Thankfully, she was open to ideas and, like anyone in a fight, quick to grasp anything that might give her the advantage.

My online research soon shifted to television and the massive amount of programming about the paranormal. It had been several years since I had watched Ghost Hunters and I was amazed at how the genre had just exploded. The show I was most drawn to was The Dead Files, because of Amy Allan. To me, she was sincere, gifted, and was working with people dealing with things in their homes like Sheri and me. Steve DiSchiavi's investigations added the validation to Amy's walks.  It didn't take long for me to learn from her that every solution was unique and they also took time. I watched every episode I could. Sheri watched with me, sometimes we got more than a little freaked out about the things Amy would see. I'm sure Sheri thought I was becoming obsessed with watching the show. I guess I was. Finding an answer to our problem kind of drove me to it. We even talked about trying see if she would come to our home.

So what was our problem? I described most of the activity in Part 2, but I wouldn't actually call that the problem. That was just weird stuff that happened. Things to talk about. Stories to tell. To me, the real problem was how living in our home was affecting each of us. Things that are not easily described or measured but the real mental toll it was taking as time went on.

I was dealing with some serious mood issues. I am not normally a moody person, let alone downright angry. But I am here…it's something I struggle with to this day. We had certainly gone through a serious life change after my leaving the military (a part of my identity that was stripped away and now gone). That's a story in itself and anyone having gone through the separation process will know what I mean. I'll just sum it up this way: One day you're a 24/7 contributing member of something that, once it's done with you, revokes your membership, replaces it with papers that show you once belonged, and sends you on your way by moving you one final time to where you want to go. Oh, and thank you for your service. Yeah, it was hard for me after 30 years, 6 months, and 15 days. Maybe that explained my mood changes.

Accompanying the moodiness was the unease. I guess some might argue they are the same, but not me. I do agree they complement one another, like peas and carrots, to borrow from Forrest Gump. Both of us were on eggshells, not from worrying about what kind of mood the other might be in, but from whatever was happening in the house. What would "it" do next; would we do something to set "it" off?

A month into my research and I had got some sage and started cleansing our home about once a week using a combination of techniques I'd read about that seemed appropriate for our situation. I had no idea what I was doing, but intent seemed to be a common theme from what I was reading. So I went with what felt right to me and the intent for spirits to have a one-way path to leave but not come back. Having been raised in a Christian home I also returned to prayer and began meditating to envision God's positive energy surrounding our home and pushing out the negative. This seemed to reduce the activity, but I needed to repeat the sage weekly along with constant prayer and meditation to keep things semi-quiet.

Buddy was my early warning device that activity was ramping back up. He would start avoiding certain areas and keep watch on them. His interest at these times was mostly centered around the heating vents in the floors. The kitchen was not a happy place for Buddy. He would growl low and quiet at it from the entryway, back up and cautiously approach again like he was trying to make sense of something that required extreme caution. Another early warning was the smell of cigarette smoke. That's when I knew it was time to sage and send up prayers again. We would go through every room wafting the smoke into every corner and repeating out loud that this was our home and only for the living. Anything else had to follow the smoke out of our home and off the property.

At least it felt like we were doing something. I think now that we were likely amusing our unseen roommates but they were willing to play along and tone it down for a while.

While this was going on I was bombarded with dreams. Dreams I can't remember other than that I had them and how I felt afterward. The impressions were raw and vivid. I tried keeping a dream journal for a while but gave up after not being able to remember them or put into words the impressions they left on me. These were hazy, confusing feelings of impending doom, of running and hiding from something. I would usually wake myself up from trying to yell or confront whatever was in my dream, but my voice wouldn't work. I would then pray and try to surround our house with my vision of white light descending through the home and pushing the darkness out every window, vent, and pipe until I fell back asleep.

Sheri suffered through this period too. Sometimes my attempts to yell would awaken her and then she would wake me up saying I was having a bad dream. Needless to say I wasn't getting much rest and neither was she. While my fellow commuters slept on the bus to and from work, I used my time to read and watch the paranormal shows, seeking an answer to our predicament.

Sheri was affected more physically than me. Not only was her sleep disturbed because of my dreams, she started having health issues. She began getting terrible migraines and unexplained pinpoint pains throughout her body. Bruises appeared on her legs and arms without any explanation or recollection of bumping into anything. Strange rashes appeared in odd areas and disappeared. Every so often she would have the sensation of being touched. In April 2019 she had a sudden debilitating pain in her abdomen that resulted in an ambulance trip to the emergency room and the urgent removal of her gallbladder. The medical promise of a quick recovery from what was considered a routine procedure took over a year for the pain to subside even though the surgery part healed quickly and without infection. Three years later and that area will sometimes become sensitive to the slightest pressure, resulting in sharp pain.

As things were spiraling downward in 2019, her moods changed too, although not to the extent of mine. It was just enough for our combined moodiness to create conflict, resulting in our snapping at one another over the smallest issue. We would retreat into our own thoughts or activities, not feeling like talking to each other for a while. These were the times to leave the property and go out to dinner or shopping. Once away from the place, we would almost immediately return  to our (previously) normal symbiotic selves with normal conversations and laughter and enjoying each other's company again.

Sheri also saw shapes floating around which would leave her questioning her own eyes. Once while standing by the refrigerator she saw something that looked like a solid black sheet of construction paper appear in the kitchen and float into the utility room and disappear in the wall. Another time she saw something white through the slats of the wood fence that gave the impression of someone coming up the driveway. The horses noticed too, but when the object should have reached the end of the fence and continued in plain sight up the drive, nothing ever emerged. She also saw a gray rectangular shape appear in the desert while riding near the house. It floated across the ground like a magic carpet and then disappeared. The horse was watching it too with pricked ears. At other times, something would slap the bottom of her stirrup hard enough to feel and make a sound. It also spooked the horse. There were no sticks or shrubs high enough to reach the stirrup, which would have hit the horse's chest anyway. If not for the reaction of the animals to these things, Sheri would have thought she was hallucinating.

Speaking of the animals, we believe they were being affected too. They reacted to things seen and unseen. Buddy didn’t have any health issues, but he was reacting to things inside the house we couldn't see. The same cannot be said for the horses. We arrived here in 2018 with two healthy horses and in March 2019 we added a third mare. The first indication was when the horses became unusually lethargic. In June, Sheri took the youngest of the two original mares, Maggie, to the vet who ran a series of tests. The surprising result was she had a heart murmur and beginning stages of heart failure. A condition the vet said was very unusual in horses, especially Arabians. She was given medicine and told to bring Maggie back for a checkup in a few weeks.

Because of that diagnosis, Sheri took the other two mares for a checkup. Our oldest horse, Samantha, was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Again, the vet said this was unusual because thyroid issues in horses usually accompany other health problems that Samantha did not have. The vet called it a standalone thyroid condition and prescribed her a medication to treat it. Our newest and youngest horse, Summer, basically received a clean bill of health.

Over the next couple of weeks Maggie's health continued to worsen. On July 30, 2019, Sheri made the heartbreaking decision to have our sweet mare euthanized. Our last day at home with her was a tearful day outside in our little backyard patch of grass letting her graze while giving her favorite treats of watermelon, cantaloupe, and grapes. I still tear up remembering that day with her.

Shortly after, Summer was found in her corral laying down and unable to get up. She had foundered overnight and her front feet were too sore for her to stand. Sheri worked with her and was able to get her back on her feet for short periods of time. We thought we were going to lose her also. Thankfully, Summer recovered enough to stand and eventually make a partial recovery but she still has bouts of lameness and sore feet.

Samantha has been on the thyroid medicine for three years now. The levels have never returned to normal, so the medicine is the only way we have of controlling it. Other than that, she seems fine and is a great trail and lesson horse for children. Our trusty paint mare is pushing 30 according to vets, a pretty old age for a horse.

Throughout all this, sage-ing, prayer, and meditation were a continual part of our lives. Somewhere during that time, an episode of The Dead Files aired featuring a place from my home state of Missouri. This was my first introduction to the Eberhardts, although I didn't know at the time how important their story would become to us.

This Memorial Day weekend is especially significant because of two events that happened on the same weekend in 2019. They started us on the path to turning our situation around. It's funny how the intersection of these two important events were lost on me until going through my notes to write this. But there they were, staring right in my face. You don't always recognize the importance of something right away.

The first event was an unexpected Saturday visitor from a young lady who lived in this house several years ago as a child. The second was an innocuous one-word reply from Amy Allan's Twitter to a Tweet by Lance about his blog…this blog. Following that link opened a connection to their complete story.

I left the page open in my web browser for 2 or 3 weeks before joining the Eberhardt's on their paranormal journey from the beginning. It took me a while, but I finished reading everything in September. Their story hit me in a way I could never have imagined. After reading that last entry, I posted a comment to Lance and mentioned our current situation. One small part of Lance's reply set me on the path to dealing with our home. He said, "My only suggestion would be to handle it now; head on & without fear."

That short sentence in the midst of Lance's reply had an enormous impact. It said I could handle it. I needed to face it. I did not need to be afraid. Time was not on my side.

I hope you'll forgive me for being flexible with the chronology. Many things were happening simultaneously while I was trying to make sense of them and seek answers. In my next post I'll wrap up our story with the revelation of our 2019 Memorial Day Weekend visitor and the decisions we made to "handle it", thanks to Lance's encouragement.

A Desert Haunt Part 2-Guest Blogger

 Here's part 2 of Guest Blogger Rick's haunting.  If you want to catch up, you can read Part 1 by clicking HERE.

If you like to be a guest blogger, we'd love to hear from you.  Click HERE  to get the information to submit your story!

Hope you enjoy Part 2 of Rick's story!

Lance & Jennifer

A Desert Haunt, Part 2

Well, our little rescue desert dog, Buddy, had just arrived on the scene at our home in the Mojave Desert and strange happenings started picking up in our house. This was now February 2019, right at one year since we moved in. The only odd thing Sheri remembers prior to Buddy moving in was the occasional odor of cigarettes in one area of the house.

I will add here that the week before Buddy showed up, on January 15, 2019, our landlord brought a 10'x16' building from a nearby property. He put the building close to the horse lot so Sheri could use it to store feed and tack. Great! What a nice gesture! Or was it?

I've always been paranormal-curious and was a big fan of Ghost Hunters back in the early 2000s. I also loved watching the early seasons of Supernatural, Medium, and Ghost Whisperer. My interest goes further back than that since I'm a huge Scooby-Doo fan from my childhood to this day. So, taking the step from the strange things happening around our home were just strange to calling them paranormal wasn't a huge leap. What to do about it? That was an entirely different dilemma.

Shortly after Buddy moved in with us the flags started adding up. I worked all day and usually spent the evenings staying busy until bedtime, so I wasn't as aware of these things as Sheri, who rarely left the property except to ride the horses or get feed for them. After Buddy's treat-basket incident, we began talking more about what she was experiencing. This led to me noticing them more and more when I was home.

The first thing was the smell of cigarettes got stronger and moved to other parts of the house. Neither of us smoke. The most common area we smelled it was in the living room where we had put a left-behind loveseat that I usually sit in. The rooms are really tiny in order to accommodate three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, living room, dining room, family/office room, and utility room. So there are only so many ways to configure the living room if you have more than one piece of furniture. I'm sure our setup matched many of the previous tenants over the place's 30-year history. We actually don't know anything about the loveseat other than it was simply here and we asked if we could use it, along with a dining room table that was also left behind by someone. They don't smell like smoke if you put your nose up to them. The other most common area we would smell cigarettes was around the back door leading out to the rear porch and small fenced-in back yard.

If that was all, we could have kept ignoring the signs. But there was more. They mostly happened to Sheri and I got to hear about them later. That was the most frustrating thing for me. She would call me or text me while I was at work freaked out about another experience she'd had and I had absolutely no idea what to do. I needed to protect my family but I didn't know what I was up against.

As Spring wore on, the unexplained stuff just kept ramping up. Below are some of the events. I can't necessarily recall dates or sequence, but they seemed to go from less obvious things that simply made you wonder to more physical stuff that was hard to just shake your head and move on from.

•         At first, things inexplicably fell off shelves, tables, counters. Stuff would also go missing, then show up again later. A pocket knife I'd carried for years went missing and was never seen again to this day. I totally understand these things can be written off to being misplaced. That's exactly what I did at first.

•         Sometimes the computer or phone would start behaving strangely. Especially if you were trying to type something. It would just start adding symbols or random characters. In some cases, the only solution was to restart the device.

•         One weekend afternoon I was in the living room watching TV and a loud commotion came from the bedroom. Buddy lost his mind barking and growling at the sound and all that caused me to jump. I followed him into the bedroom and he went straight to the closet, his hair up and growling. Some of Sheri's shirts had come off the hangers; some of the hangers were swinging and some had come off the rod. Nobody was in the bedroom, and Buddy & I were alone in the living room. That wasn't the only time things in that closet came off the hangers.

•         Sheri started having her bra unsnap while she was working outside. It didn't happen all the time, however over a couple-week period it was rather predictable. Sheri would work all day without any problems with her bra, then, when she finished up her chores for the day and was coming inside for the evening, her bra would come undone right at the base of the steps to our front porch. It almost always happened that way, no matter if she was finishing early or late. Sheri swears, since she's been wearing a bra most of her life, she had never had this kind of trouble with her bras before. It didn't matter if they were new, old, or what. It would come undone at almost the same place as she approached the house to come inside for the evening. It wasn't just confined to her or the house area though. Once it happened to one of her riding lesson students in the middle of a lesson. The young lady was so embarrassed she didn't know how to tell Sheri what happened. It also happened to Sheri once when was getting out of the truck to go into a feed store.

•         Sheri was in the bathroom and saw, through the frosted glass window, the dark shape of a person walking up the front porch steps. It looked like the shadow of a person backlit by the sunlight. She thought it was UPS delivering a package, so she hurried to finish her business and went to the front door to find nothing. No package, no person, no vehicle. There were no sounds of footsteps, knocks, or a vehicle pulling up to the house. Just that unmistakable shape of a human being.

One of my favorite things to do here in the desert is sit outside in the evening around our fire pit. The night air cools down and the warmth of the fire feels really good. The house is surrounded by gravel, put in so the owner could move heavy equipment and trucks around without worrying about them getting buried in the sand. I took advantage of all that graveled space to put out a fire pit and not have to worry about the fire getting away from me. Sitting by that fire in the evening is the best way I've found to relax at the end of a long day. When I lived back east I could only imagine what it would be like to sit outside, drink a cold beverage, and not be attacked by night insects. I can now do that, but after one particular night I have to wonder if something else might deliver a different sort of attack.

The sun had slipped over the horizon 30 or 40 minutes before and I was listening to some music, drinking a beer, and trying to pick out constellations in the darkening sky. Sheri was in the horse lot off to my left finishing up with her evening feeding and I was waiting for her to join me. From behind me, I heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps running through the gravel. I thought I was about to be hit from behind…with what, I didn't know. I jumped up and yelled out a warning to whoever was rushing me. I grabbed the fire poker and pivoted 180 degrees toward the sound of those steps and got in a fighting stance, prepared to defend myself as best I could. With my heart racing and my adrenaline stoking my courage, I tried to locate the threat. Nothing was there. There is easily 10 yards of open space all around where I was sitting. The gray sheet-metal fence that had been to my back was the closest thing and anyone would have been outlined against it. I reached for my flashlight and probed all around in the gathering dark. Nothing. I sidestepped, still facing the perceived danger, until I could see beyond the corner of the sheet-metal fence. Again, nothing. I was all alone.

That experience unnerved me more than anything up to that point and since. Were we in danger? I couldn't be sure. The sound of those footsteps running toward me, crunching in the gravel, haunts me to this day. The menace and purpose in them were apparent. They could not be ignored. Neither can they be forgotten. I don't know what made that sound. My eyes told me there was nothing around that could have made it. My physical reaction to it told me something had to have made it.

I told Sheri what happened when she joined me a little later. She could tell how disturbed I was. We wondered what we could do. I admitted I was scared. She acknowledged she was too.

What do you do when you finally accept you're dealing with a haunting? Where do you turn? In part 3, I'll try and explain how the experiences affected us and how we tried to fight back.

A Desert Haunt Part 1 - Guest Blogger

We'd like to welcome new guest blogger, Rick!  He's sharing the terrifying story of his experiences in the desert.  Here's Part 1 of his story.

The purpose in sharing our story has been to help others; giving them strength and courage to get the help they need to live a normal life.  That purpose has turned into a mission.  

We don't shy away from our experience and neither should anyone else.  No one should suffer in silence out of fear of being judged or ridiculed.

If you'd like to be a guest blogger, click HERE for details.  We'd love to hear from you!

Thanks and enjoy Rick's story.

Lance

A Desert Haunt

So this story has been hard to write. I've made several starts but have never really been able to finish. Maybe it's because we're not truly done with it yet. But reading the Eberhardt's story when I was searching for my own answers helped me get through our experiences and to a place of more peace. I thought this could be one way to show my appreciation for them sharing their experiences and potentially contribute to their mission to help others dealing with strange and scary things in their homes. 

Our story starts in September 2017 when my long-time girlfriend, Sheri, and I moved to the Mojave Desert in California after I got out of the Army. This was a new chapter in our lives, leaving the military life behind and becoming civilians again. I had been hired on to a Federal job, so hopefully you'll understand my not disclosing our exact area. We moved to a place where we had no ties, no family, no friends; just the purpose of starting something new.  

We landed at a short-term rental we found before we left the military and then, in January 2018, we found a more permanent place to rent. This place, where we still live, gave us the opportunity to have our two horses on the same property with us instead of boarding them at another location. Our landlords had moved out of state and we've become caretakers of their property as well as renters. 

"I could never sleep here at night all by myself." 

That's what the wife half of our landlord duo said when my girlfriend told her she would be alone for two weeks while I went to Colorado Springs on my first business trip. Too bad we didn't have the foresight to ask why she would say something like that. Or why the husband, who usually lets nothing go without commentary, had nothing to add to his wife's statement. 

We wrote her remark off as referring to the isolation of the place. Nobody would hear you scream here since the closest neighbors had strategically put up fences and planted trees as visual reminders of their ideology on privacy. No worries. We had a shotgun, a rifle, and almost a 4-wheel drive. Taking inspiration from Hank Jr., we were both country folks; we could survive. 

The property had three structures. The main place was a drab, blue-gray mobile home that more resembled a modular house thanks to the wood panel siding and half-length covered porch. A small back yard with grass and two sweeping mulberry trees were a nice touch. A dead tree pointed like an ominous finger toward the west end of the house. Sheri hung a hummingbird feeder on it. 

Front of house as approach from driveway. 

The other two structures were in a fenced off yard set off from the home place and surrounded by a dark brown sheet-metal fence taller than my 5 feet 9 inches by a head. An all-metal tan shop dominated the area. It was high as a two-story building and boasted two garage-style roll-up doors on the north side. Right next to it was a paint shop that, ironically, was unpainted. It's gray metal walls and decayed wood roof looked like a graveyard mausoleum compared to the nicely painted workshop. Talk about a stark contrast. 

There was only one rule - no painting the inside rooms of the house. All we were told was there was a tenant who painted a room (not sure which) black. The landlords said it took many coats of paint to get back to a light color. We were fine with that, especially since I don't like to paint. Anything. But it begs the question why anyone would paint a room black. In hindsight I can only think of it being a person or people with dark tendencies. No telling what was done in the dark of that room. 

Our interest in the place, however, was strictly for the horses. Right out the front door was a half-acre area that was enclosed on three sides. The owners gave us free reign to finish fencing this part off so Sheri could put the two horses there. For the first time in our 8 years together, we had finally found a place that we could have the horses with us instead of boarding them miles away. It was great! 

That first year our priority was turning our little place into a home for us and the horses. We bought corral fences and shelters, started watering the trees and the grass, and weeded the rose bed out front. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even that couple of weeks Sheri stayed alone was uneventful. Our new life in California was taking on a sense of normal. 

Normal, that is, until Buddy showed up out of the desert in January 2019. Somewhere around a year to the day of our move-in date. I was at work when I got the first text from Sheri about him on January 22. Buddy is a rusty red colored dog about the size of a fox. He has a white patch on his chest and the most soulful brown eyes you can imagine. He found us during a cold spell that had temperatures dropping to the teens at night. I immediately knew I wanted to keep him, but we had to try and see if we could find an owner. We reported him to the local animal shelter's Facebook page and also on another lost and found page. Then we waited. 

First Buddy photo, January 22, 2019 

At first we set up a place for him to sleep on the front porch in a cooler with some towels because of the cold. We put a dish by the steps and bought some dog food. In just a day or two, we moved him inside and he's been inside with us ever since. Nobody ever claimed the little guy. So after waiting the required two weeks, Buddy joined our little family. The vet said he was about a year-and-a-half old. Nobody has been able to identify what type of dog he is. Speculation is mostly on a blend of chihuahua, Pomeranian, dachshund, and even terrier. Only his mom and dad really know. 

Up until that point, nothing was too unusual. I learned after the fact that Sheri would smell cigarette smoke on occasion, but it wasn't anything she felt worth mentioning at the time. 

The month after Buddy moved in, things took a dramatic turn. Not for the best. 

I got a text from Sheri on Wednesday, Feb 13, 2019. We had put a small basket with toys & treats on top of Buddy's kennel in the kitchen. One of them came off the kennel and crashed to the floor. Except it didn't just slide off, the way it landed it looked like it was flung off the crate. As I remember it, this was when we finally started thinking something paranormal was going on. Sheri had actually been having experiences before then, but had not said anything to me about them. 

So this was the start of a journey that, while not "run-out-of-the-house-screaming" level of scary, forced us to accept that something out of the ordinary was going on in our home. We started living in a state of constant dread and the fear slowly built until I started looking for answers which eventually led me to this blog. I am going to stop here for now, as one post is just not enough to tell this story. In future contributions I will highlight some of the experiences that came next as the activity ramped up, our reactions and struggles to deal with what was happening, and ultimately the story of a surprise visitor that shed a ton of light on what was going on.

Dark Sun Rising

 A couple of house cleaning things before I get into this blog entry.  First, if you comment in the comment section of a blog entry, I do see it and I'll respond.  The problem I found out recently is that you may not get a notification of my reply.  You will have to check back for my response.  Second, I've neglected doing blog entries.  It doesn't mean I don't have any to write, because as you'll read in this blog entry, I certainly do.  It comes down to time.  I work full-time in what at times can be a stressful job, still have kiddos at home who are in activities, and still have to work the ranch/farm here.  Hopefully things will start settling down and I can commit to more time doing entries.  I still remain in awe of how many people still read the blog, for that I truly thank you. So, if that many people still are reading, I need to do my part and write!  Lastly, if you want to be a guest blogger we encourage you to do so.  The more people who share their experiences, the better it is for everyone.  Remember, our goal is to help others and give them strength to get the help.  Sharing your story could encourage them to do just that.  If you want to be a guest blogger, just click HERE

Now, back to our story.

Black Sun Rising

When things happen in your life that are traumatic, you tend to be on heightened alert afterwards.  As time passes, that heightened sense of anxiety starts to fade and you are not  as diligent as you once were.  You become laxed on doing the things that ensured that whatever happened wouldn't happened again.  It's just human nature.  You never fully close the door and that slight crack you left open is the only invitation it is needs to come back into your life to reek havoc.

We had recovered nicely from our experiences since we got help from The Dead Files back in 2016.  Things seemed to be normal for us.  We had only dealt with very minor issues and nothing truly malevolent.  We thought that the bad things were behind us, we thought we were safe.   The feelings of past anxiety had faded and we unintentionally let our guard down.  A classic case of "out of sight, out of mind".

The Pandemic changed our lives dramatically.  I was no longer traveling and began working from home 100% of the time.  Heidi and Emi changed to remote learning.   Eating out and any sort of outside entertainment had vanished.  Like many of you, we were stuck in our homes, prisoners somewhat.  It was nice having us all home and spending some time together but as days turned in weeks and weeks turned into months, the reality sunk in that this was not going to end anytime soon.  Needless to say, it began to take its toll and started wearing us down.

If you've been reading our blog, you remember that once you start getting worn down the door to things coming begins to open.  We knew that we still had the "path of dead people" that Amy talked about during out reveal of our Dead Files episode, but we had, up to this point, done a good job of keeping them out.

We started noticing changes in our behavior.  We were not sleeping well,  continuously arguing, depressed, and questioning our self worth.  These things seemed to affect Emi the most.

A quick little back story to provide some clarity for the rest of this story.  Emi had moved to the back bedroom.  It was Londyn's room when we first moved in and Heidi's room during our Dead Files episode.  This is the room where we feel all our problems started.  We have always thought that there was some sort of portal in the room's bathroom but we were fairly confident we had closed it.   However, as you'll read next, we apparently didn't lock it.  

Jennifer was the first to realize that Emi was not acting normal.  She knew that it was something malevolent and that it was attacking her.  She immediately took steps to try get rid of whatever was the source.  She Saged, burned Frankincense and Myrrh incense, and salted.  These steps only worked temporarily as whatever we were dealing with was able to overcome them.

Jennifer had become friends with a woman, Lisa, who had psychic abilities and was studying to become a Reiki.  She is an incredible gifted woman and we're very lucky to know her.  Jennifer asked her to do Reiki on Emi to see if she could see anything in her.  She noticed Emi was being attacked, taking her over and it had something to do with the back bedroom.  Her recommendation was perform Reiki in the back bedroom to determine what was there and to work on getting rid of it by a cleanse.

We decided this was what needed to be done and we needed to do it as soon as possible.  We felt if we didn't, it would it would only continue to feed on Emi and get stronger.  Jennifer didn't want Emi there when it was time to do it because she didn't want to scare her or allow it to jump into her for protection.  Jennifer arranged for Heidi to take Emi out to have some sister fun time.   This would buy us the time we needed.

The first step was preparing the room. Lisa had us draw crosses in all the mirror and light candles in specific locations in the room.  After the room was prepped, we called Lisa using FaceTime.  Lisa began working on finding out what was there.  

"Demon", she said

Our hearts sunk.

"Demon?  There's a Demon in here?", Jennifer asked

"Yes, there's a Demon but it's weak", Lisa answered

"Can we get rid of it?  What can we do?"  Jennifer responded

"We can try but we all need to work together", Lisa said

Now, I'm not a Demonologist but what I do know is that Demons just don't leave because you politely ask.  They are there for some ungodly reason and their mission is to turn good to bad and bad to worse,  They don't rest until they complete that mission and they don't leave without putting up a fight.  Luckily we had an advantage as the Demon hadn't fully entered and was weak.

Without hesitate, we ask Lisa to get to work.   She explains to us the stone pendent she was holding will move a certain way when (and if) we get rid of the Demon.  I am holding one myself and it dangled toward the ground motionless.  Lisa begins to do her thing, praying, chatting, and asking for strength.  She ask Jennifer to repeat the Lord's Prayer.  As she does, Lisa's stone pendent moves left to right, right to left.  The one I'm holding starts to do the same.  As they both continue to speak, the pendants move faster, changing directions multiples times.  The room got heavy and we could feel the angry, the resentment.  

After about 20 mins, the pendants stop.  The air in the room clears and you can feel peace.

"It's gone", Lisa says with a smile.

"It's gone?  Thank you God", Jennifer says.

This episode was a wake up call that we cannot let our guard down and they we need to stay diligent.  

We won't make this mistake again or take our peace for granted going forward.

This time, we closed and locked the door.

Tiffany Spirit Story-Guest Blogger

I'd like to tell you all of my most recent spirit encounter!  I joined a FB support group in October of '19 for a diagnosis I received in that past July. i combed through this support group and got so much wonderful advice.  I had a major 9-hour operation in January '20.  I barely remember my 4-day hospital stay because I was heavily medicated, but I do know I had spirit visitors--a woman and two men.  I didn't see them with my physical eyes, but I sensed them.  I knew where they stood.  I knew the men were doctors that were possibly affiliated with this particular hospital and were checking up on me.  The woman made herself very known by waking me up in a least desirable way--she made me wake up in sheer panic, shortness of breath and chest pain.  At first, I thought it was the pain meds and maybe I had stopped breathing but even in my drug induced state I knew it was how she was feeling.  She wasn't mean or trying to scare me, but she was just scared to death.  Fast forward--she hitchhiked home with me!  I was tapering off my pain meds when I returned home except taking them at night to help me sleep since I was limited to only being on my back.  Each time she awoke me I'd sense her bouncing around the room in a panic. It was as if I could see her but not physically with my eyes.  She'd bounce from behind my door to the ceiling then I'd feel her try to get on my bed. I told her she couldn't get on my bed.  I'd at least learned to not allow spirits to lie down with you. After a couple of weeks of this I told her to stop coming to me this was because she had my attention.  I didn't appreciate being waken up in a sheer panic. So that night I awoke to a sweet and gentle voice whispering "Alisa?" and I thanked her for that approach. That night she showed me what she looked like. I paid very close attention to the details of her face and hair. I didn't recognize her as anyone I'd known. I tried counseling her and tried crossing her, but I was unable so a friend of mine helped. Another night i was awaken by a loud banging noise coming from the front porch and I knew it was my spirit woman and my friend. I dreamt of both of them that night and i knew my friend took her even though she didn't tell me.  She laughed the next day when I asked her about it.  She told me she'd astral travelled and made a point of telling me she didn't come into the house just the front porch.  She said the spirit met her on the front porch and she took her hand and led her off.  She said it took a couple of days to cross her, but she saw her cross and knew she was good.  Over the phone she told me she didn't understand but this spirit and I had some kind of connection between us.  And when she said that it clicked.  I felt like I knew but I also question myself and my abilities.  I also felt like I was grabbing at straws but somehow, I just figured this has to be it.  I asked my friend if she saw her because the spirit had shown me what she looked like in great detail from the shoulders up.  I'd seen her all in my mind (3rd eye). My friend also saw her so we both texted at the same time on speaker phone and hit send at the same time to compare notes.  It was nearly identical to my description except her hair.  It was amazing!  So, then I jumped on my Facebook support group while we were talking and combed through the month of October-December because I'd seen this woman post and remember responding to some posts, but we never had a verbal exchange.  I couldn't remember her name and I was frantically searching.  She had announced she had metastatic brain cancer and the next thing I know someone posted of her death.  All of this happened in a matter of weeks.  Once I had her name, I searched all of her photos and posts and came across the photo of how she'd shown herself to me. Then I found a photo of how she showed herself to my friend.  I sent her pictures to my friend and we compared notes. I broke down, I couldn't stop crying.  I mourned her death for a couple of days.  She was only 39 and I knew she didn't want to die.  She wanted children.  She hadn't expected she would die, and this shocked her. She wanted to live. Because of this she was stuck in her panicky death state.  My friend reassured me that she had crossed, and this spirit knew I could help her.  She waited for my surgery in the hospital to come to me.  She also said it was a good thing I was there, or she would have been trapped in her death state.  So, rest in peace my sweet sister, Tiffany, I will never forget you!  

Oh, and just a little side note on the two doctors who visited me at the hospital, they also made house calls. They never interacted with me but woke me up talking amongst themselves about my status and progress as "their" patient.  They visited me a few nights a week for the first three weeks of my recovery.

Sarah

 

This has “Sarah” written on it several times like she was learning how to write her name.  She was the child orphan spirit we all saw usually with Lance or Maya.  

We first noticed her when toys began moving through the house on their own and the musical buttons being played on a Little Peoples toy airplane.  We had video of it at one time. After it happened Lance said “ It’s ok if you play with it.”  Then he put it back in the bedroom and a moment later she rolled it into the kitchen again.  It landed close to his ball cap on the floor .  When he reached down to pick up his hat, she rolled it real fast over his hat which scared him.  It was cute and playful.  

She was a very sweet girl and had a friend Margaret with her.  Emi saw her in the kitchen once.  We put out a ball and a babydoll in a lawn chair for them to play with at night. The next day both were in a different location.  It was by the same tree I saw her petting Maya at.  I could always tell when she was in the yard because Maya wouldn’t leave the tree.  She was about 7 years old and we told her she could stay if she wanted to.  

Lance could hear many spirits, but this little girl was special to us.  She called him Daddy.  We heard her laugh sometimes and she liked to play with Heidi’s hair.  She even left feathers on Lance’s pillow once in the shape of a heart when he was having a hard time.  I also know she played with the puppies.  I would find tiny bird feathers in their boxes when she was around.  It was very sad for us when we were forced to clear the house of spirits.  Sarah was very afraid and crying and Lance broke down knowing how afraid she was at having to leave.  We assured her that her Mommy and Daddy were waiting for her in Heaven.  

Still, it was a very sad day for both of us having to say goodbye.

Unsettling experiences from a loving wife & mother

 Walking on Pins and Needles

The findings of odd objects is a common occurrence in and around our home.  During times when activity is high I often find nails all over the walkways outside.  Lance is not really a builder of things, so dropping numerous nails in the dog area is not something He might do by accident.  He also knows how pissed I would be if he were to make this mistake, and he doesn’t like Angry Jennifer.  These are either really old antique looking nails, or shiny silver nails I don’t recognize.  I feel pretty certain they were dropped by a spirit who dropped by to cause harm just for fun.

Just recently, Lance steps on a sewing needle right out of bed and then finds a rustic old square nail in the horses water trough.

2019

Master bedroom

I once found a large amount of sewing pins on the floor by our closet.  Moving a comforter to see if I had picked them all up, I found an even larger amount inside he folded comforter.  This comforter was being used as a dog bed and had no reason to have needles all in it.

Pranks of fear

When my daughter Londyn was around 12 she used to suffer from ghosty pranks in the bathtub.  The bathroom is a tiny one from 1969, with old wooden vanity drawers.  She would have the drawer open to hold her cellphone, and on occasion it would slam shut on her hand if she reach into it.  Needless to say it was not funny nor pleasant for her.  She always felt someone staring at her as she bathed which is never a good feeling.  We always had a clear shower curtain to help all of us feel safer while in the bath.  

Naked and Afraid

I remember clearly feeling a presence standing in my shower while I showered.  I recall these times clearly, as it was after we had scheduled Amy Allen to investigate our home.  It was very trying, with many angry and scared spirits showing themselves, trying to deter our decision to clear out the spirit world.  

When you have a spirit in your space there is no mistaking it.  I too never felt alone in the shower or bedroom.  I remember feeling vulnerable and pushing through my fears knowing there was nothing I could do.  It made intimate moments very difficult.  No one wants an audience during sex, especially when you’re already fighting to find private moments between your kids busting in the room or banging on your door when they need something.  

The time I told Lance about my feeling in the shower, I found him very distraught.  He then told me an angry back man stood in his face demanding he give him his wife  back and tell him where she was.  Then followed that threat by telling him that he had a nice looking wife and if he didn’t return his wife that he would take me.  There was no mistaking his anger and the fear he instilled in Lance.  If you watched the show, you heard Amy state that she saw a lot of people walking up and down our sidewalk just outside out home.  This man was just one of the many who wandered into our home, lost and confused as we were, as to why they were stuck-in our house, and not knowing how to find their way home.

No Calm Before The Storm

During the 8 years of struggling before Amy’s arrival at our home, we lived in the whirlwind of visiting spirits, some pleasant(beautiful women peeking in windows), some friendly(little Sarah, an orphan who followed Lance around and called him Daddy, and played with Heidi’s hair while she sat in bed), some relatives(my father and Lance’s),some played with toys and giggled(children), some cried tears of sadness, begging to go home(young teen boy), screams of horror(female victim of a violent ritual), some violently resentful(the jealous Etta Davis who wanted my man for herself, and the rest of us dead) and some with heavy boots stomping through our kitchen at all hours of the night.  There was rarely a day without some sort of unexpected guest/intruder.

Before the Dead Files arrival we had to clear the property of all animals but the horse.  We had 30 dogs.  So the day before they arrived, we piled all of our tiny herd of schnauzers and two big dogs in the truck, and headed off to Grandma’s house.  The storm that hit was dark and scary, just like the angry outlaw spirits who lived on our ranch.  Maya and Ashby can vouch that it was bad, because they had to ride in the truck bed and they were None too happy!!!  The spirit world’s fury was growing by the minute and the storm was raging.  

Being that we knew our property had issues with spirits, we went out to dinner to escape the stress of it all.  Your probably thinking Oh Yeah, that would give you a break.  You’d be wrong!  One night we decided to eat out in Kearney, at a little cafe called JJ’s.  The food was great and the people were friendly.  During our dinner, Lance looks down at his lap, and then shakes his head looking very angry.  I asked him what was wrong.  He couldn’t say in front of the kids.  I could see he was extremely upset.  Later he told me that he heard the voice of an angry outlaw demanding he stop Amy Allen from coming or we would be suffering some very painful consequences.  This was Cole Younger, a member of the famous Younger Gang, speaking loud and clear to Lance.  It was clear to us that a war was imminent. It probably didn’t help our case that we were native Texans living in The Hometown of The Outlaw Jesse James.  

Angelic Soul Reboot

I haven't posted in a while as life has gotten in the way.  The holidays, work, raising kids, and just general all around daily life keeps me from doing things.  Anyway, that's neither here or there.

It can be hard to write about things now that the main issues are no longer issues.   The activity now is mild and tame compared to the hell we experienced.  That's a good thing because it is not something I ever want to experience again.

I tend to think that the post-haunting storm things are trivial and somewhat boring.  So, I don't write about them because I think all the blog readers might find it dull to read about a piece of paper just floating from a countertop to a desk.  

I will still always write about major things.   Things that scare us and make us feel unsafe will always be a blog topic.

This brings me to today's blog post.  A realization of sorts, call it a spiritual awakening, rebirth, divine intervention, or whatever.  I lean towards an  Angelic Soul Reboot.

My life has always been in somewhat of flux.  It was a constant struggle to distinguish reality versus illusion. For the longest time I didn't really understand why but, now I firmly believe it was influenced by some sort of paranormal activity.   I want to be clear that I am not using this as an excuse for all the terrible things I have done in the past.  At the end of the day, it was, and still is, my responsibility to control my actions.  In some ways I did, in others I did not.  However, I now have come to realize that there may have been something whispering in my ear.  I should have acknowledged it and dealt with it however I really wasn't aware of  it until after our haunting experiences.  Once you realize what is happening you can fix it and get the "good guys" to help you instead of the evil ones.  You just need the weapons for the battle.

Over the past month or so, I've started meditating.  Clearing my mind of negativity and evil influences; opening myself up more.  As I got better on focusing my energy, I started hearing someone talking to me.  Sometimes in my head, sometimes through my ears.  It started as a whisper, one I could barely hear, but over time it became clearer and more distinct.  It is a calm loving voice. I can't tell you if it was male or female because it really doesn't seem to have a human form.  I would describe it as musical in nature.  Best example I can come up with is when you hear someone playing a piano.  You recognize the words of the song coming through the piano but you don't actually hear them, you just feel them.  Terrible example so I hope you understand.

It's a teaching voice, a spiritual guide.  The first lesson was encouraging me to stop thinking I'm perfect, because I'm not.  Learn from others, accept their guidance.  Even if I disagree, I was told to take the pieces that would help me improve.   Love unconditionally without the expectation of something in return and ease the burden of others, even if it's just a kind word or a smile.

I was told I was in a safe place.  That the negative influencers were being held at bay by the guiding voice.  It said it would eventfully overrun them, pushing them out, as long as I continued to listen to the guidance.   

After awhile I completely opened up, absorbing every word. It's teaching me to overcome the spirits that want to do intentional  harm as well as those who unknowingly cause harm by just being here.

Angel, positive spirit, or my imagination?  Who knows what is it, I don't question it.  I just believe in it.   I do know this, that I would have never gotten to this point unless I opened myself up and accepted the abilities I have.  I also acknowledge the haunting experiences we had, although terrifying,  contributed to this awaking.

Accept the fact that your life can be better but also accept that it is a journey with no final destination.  

Spousal Experiences

I got some Facebook questions from longtime blog reader Jessica McNear regarding the blog post Puzzle Pieces

"Has your wife had experiences in her past? And when you’re traveling for work, has she had experiences at home like the one you had with the basement door and footsteps up and down?"

Yes, Jennifer has had past experiences.  She was raised in a much more open and accepting environment than I was. Her mother and aunt would use Ouija Boards and have sceances which lead to her hearing voices and seeing unexplained things.  Jennifer is also very sensitive to smells and will smelled things when others don't.

One particular incident happened when her aunt passed away a few years ago.  Jennifer went to Texas for the funeral.  During the service, she said that she was overwhelmed with the smell of her aunt's perfume; like she was sitting right next to her.  She said she could actually feel her presence.

Jennifer will also smell her father at times.  Either cigarette smoke or his after-shave.  

As for her experiencing things while I'm traveling, yes, there has been incidences.  Lights have turned on and off, things go missing, things will move on their own.

While I was out of town one time, she said that the blinds in the living room started to rattle and then would open and close.  She felt like it was someone trying to look outside the window.

She has also seen shadow figures walking around the outside of the house.  She saw one that walked past the living room windows and then around to the front side walk.  When she went outside to see who it was, no one was there. 

These are just a few of the things that she has experienced.  I will get her to write about her experiences and also elaborate on the ones that I mentioned.

"Have you ever been paralyzed by fear?"

I got the comment below to the most recent post, Puzzle Pieces.   I decided to respond with a blog entry since it was going to be an answer longer than just a few sentences.

"That is crazy! Have you ever been paralyzed by fear? You can't move, talk or anything! When my aunt was dying of cancer in 1978, I was the only person she would let get her up to go to the bathroom or whatever she needed. I lived in the country ( that house I told you about earlier). My son was 4 at the time, and he was the only child she would let on the bed with her, she wouldn't even let her own grandkids on the bed. After a few months, we list my aunt to the cancer. My aunt was old school, always wearing dresses with the full apron that you had to put over your head to get on. Shortly after her funeral, I awoke at about 3am for no reason. When I opened my eyes, my aunt was standing in my bedroom doorway! I know this might sound crazy, but she had a white aura all around her body!! As I said, I was paralyzed with fear knowing that she had passed away, yet there she was in my bedroom doorway!!! I don't know if she had a message for me, or came to me to let me know she was now at peace. I am thinking she sensed my fear, and the next thing I knew, she was gone. I wish I hadn't been so fearful, because now I will never know why she came to me. My husband thinks to this day I am crazy and was dreaming. What, if anything do you think? I would really like your opinion if you have one."

I always feel I should add the disclaimer that I am not a paranormal expert.  My opinion is based solely on my experiences and what I have learned over the years. 

First off, I don't think you're crazy at all.  There are things that we just don't understand how or why they happen.  I believe that there's a world out there beyond ours and even though we know exists, we have yet to discover it.  For us as human beings, living souls, to think there is nothing beyond what we see in front of us is nonsensical.   So, crazy?  No.  Sensitive?  Yes

I have been frozen in fear many times over the years.  It was paralyzing.  I couldn't move, speak, or even react to what was happening.  My whole body would become numb and my brain would shut down.  It was like hitting the pause button. 

Now that I understand and accept who I am, I don't find myself experiencing fear paralysis as much when things happen around me. I touched on this somewhat in "Continuous Adventures Journey".  It's all about understanding  you can still control your surrounding environment despite what happens.  It comes down to three things.

• Acceptance
• Understanding
• Action

I may touch on these more in a future blog post but for now, back to this entry.

Over the course of our lifetime we develop strong relationships with others.  Those relationships center around love, hope, happiness, caring, and tragedy.  Sharing these events and emotions with others builds very strong emotional ties.  These don't go away when someone passes, they remain.  Some people continue to feel the person with them but some feel nothing at all.

In your case, you had a bond with your aunt that transcends dimensions. It's was, and still is, a extremely strong and emotional connection.  Her visiting you was her way of continuing that relationship; strengthening it.  Maybe now it's her turn to take care of you.

You mentioned you saw a white aura around her.  To me, white is angelic, it symbolizes purity and peace. So when you thought her message was that she was at peace, that could have very well been the case.

As I mentioned, your bond with aunt is strong.  She's probably still looks in on you from time to time.  Open yourself up and you may see her again.

Puzzle Pieces

Ever since I accepted the fact that I have abilities, things have started to come together.  It is like finding the missing pieces to my life's jigsaw puzzle.  The missing pieces are those that I locked away deep inside my mind, not wanting to accept them for what they were and what they meant.

Sometimes, I feel as if I wasted a part of life by denying what had happened.  I pushed aside my abilities instead of embracing them and then, over time, learned to suppress them.   Looking back, I guess I was scared of being different or labeled as a freak.  

When I was growing up, paranormal experiences were not as accepted as they are today.  Stories of ghost and demons were told in Hollywood movies and parents would tell their children, 'oh, it's not real, there's not such things as ghost'. 

I am now able to reconcile several unexplained experiences from my youth.  It's a good feeling, those "aha moments" which gives me some closure in the form of a missing puzzle piece.

A couple of experiences from when I was growing up are now pieces that I'm finally able to fit into the puzzle.

Window To The Other Side

My father was in the Air Force which meant we moved around, but I was more fortunate than other Military Brats as we didn't move around a lot. We did however move and that's hard on a child growing up, especially for me as I was an only child.  Having no siblings meant that I didn't have that support that others had; I was, at times, my only friend.

Being an only child in a new place caused me to withdraw and keep to myself.  To compensate, I'd open up in other ways.  My mind would become open and things would come forward.  I was very fortunately that fear would close my mind when things got a little too frightening.  On the flip side, my curiosity would allow things that gave me some peace to hang around.  I recall countless spirits of children that kept me company until I made real friends.  It was a new twist to imaginary friends.

I have never slept well, I always seem to wake up for some reason or another.  This was true even as I was growing up.  I would wake  up in the middle of night and lay in bed; trying hard to go back to sleep.  If I couldn't fall back to sleep, I would get up and look out my window.  I found it peaceful and relaxing because everything was so calm.

One night I woke up because a thunderstorm was moving through.  I couldn't fall back to sleep because each lighting strike would light up my room like a camera flash.  I went to the window to watch the lighting in sky.  It was amazing to watch the streaks of lighting move through the clouds.  The bolts were so strong that it literally turned the night into day.   There was one bolt that stuck close to the house and it lite up the whole street.  It was then I noticed someone standing in the street.  I thought why would someone be outside in this storm.  Then there was another strike and I could see clear as day that it was a woman.  She was wearing a long black flowing dress, like an evening dress as if she was going to formal party.  

My eyes were glued to her.  She was just standing in the middle of the road, her back to me.  Even with the lighting all around her, she didn't flinch.  It was as if she didn't even realize there was a storm at all.

After watching her for what seemed like an eternity, she finally moved.  She didn't seem to walk but glide, I saw nothing that resembled a walking motion. The storm had passed and the thunder & lighting were far away in the distance.  The night time sky had cleared and I could see the stars.  Suddenly, out of nowhere,  there was a blinding bolt of lighting along with a loud clamp of thunder.  I could see the bolt strike close to her.  She appeared to grab it and then she was gone.  It was like she used it to carry herself away.

I recall not being scared at all.  I remember a peaceful feeling after she left.  It was like I knew everything was fine.  I went back to bed and as I was laid there I kept asking myself, who was she?  Was she from another dimension?  Was she a spirit?  Did she use the energy of the storm to travel?

After all these years, I finally realize she WAS the storm. She controlled it.

Now, I find myself looking for her in every storm that passes.

Up A Creek

All teenagers have that one local urban myth.  Be it abandoned house that was the scene of some horrifying crime that is now haunted or something that lives in the woods and comes out when called by a certain name.

But what if the myth was actually more fact than fiction?

When I was in high school we had such a myth.  It was a small church on a dark country road that was close to a creek.   The myth was that it was a "Devil Church" and that a cult would do human sacrifices there.  In order to hide their victims, the cult would bury them under an assumed name with made up dates in a cemetery across from the church.  Myself and some buddies would always find our way there to scare our girlfriends.

The creek that ran close to the cemetery was called Bull Creek and the road by the church didn't have a bridge over it at the time.  It had a dip in the road with a culvert and had a flood gauge post on each side.  If you stop at the flat part of the culvert, you could see far down each of side of the creek.

One night,  my best friend and I, along with two girls from school, decided to take trip to the church.  Once we got there, we decided to park and get out and do a little ghostly sightseeing.  My friend and I took turns at scaring the girls as we walk around the church and cemetery.

My buddy went around the back of the church with the rest of us staying close to the front.  All the sudden he came running back towards us, scared out of his mind.

"Let's get out of here!"  he screamed as he ran by us heading for the car.

I remember that was enough encouragement the rest us of to join him.

He was pale white, like something has scared the life out of him.   I asked what happened, what did he see.

"Someone...something is in..the back of church...inside"  He said, struggling to put a sentence together.

By this time we all freaking out.  My friend is fumbling for his keys as the girls are screaming for us to get out of there.  Just as he starts the car, we hear screaming coming from the church.  My buddy floors it and we speed down the road.  He had to slow down as we got to dip in the road where it goes over the creek.  By this time, we had calmed down  and we all start to give my buddy some grief about what happened.  Maybe he saw an animal, maybe the scream was owl or something else, maybe he just imagined it.

"I swear it was someone in the church.  It scared the shit out of me." he said defending himself.

As we got to the flat part of dip, we could see down creek.  Suddenly the all the lights on the car went out and as we looked down the creek bed, we saw two red glowing eyes flash at us. They were hovering about 10 to 12 feet off the top of the creek and were about the size of basketballs.

I screamed, the girls screamed, my friend floors the accelerator and we speed off.  Thankfully, this was a road that we were familiar with because we drove without headlights for about a quarter of a mile.  As we got closer to a main road, all the lights in the car came back on all on their own.

"Do we want to talk about what just happened?"  my friend asked us.

"No" one of the girls said softly.

"I don't either" I replied.

As I look back on this experience I've learned that every myth or legend is rooted in some sort of real event.

The trick is to distinguish the fact from fiction.

  

Continuous Adventurous Journey

Navigating our new lives has been many things; challenging, painful, enlightening, wonderful, and scary.  It has meant not only changing who we are, but accepting what we are as well as what happens around us. 

One of the major things we had to change was accepting the fact that regardless how hard we try to protect ourselves, something will always sneak by us.  Despite all our best efforts, things still happen in our house and, sometimes, even the places we go.  The key to acceptance is understanding that we can still control our environment.  

Something recently happened that put this philosophy to the test.  

I usually wake  up before everyone else on Saturdays. With no phone calls or meetings, it's a great chance for me to catch up on work tasks that I didn't get a chance to finish up during the week.   It's just a relaxing time that also gives me chance to relax and breath a little.  This particular Saturday was no different.  I enjoyed some coffee, answered a few work emails, and caught up on the news of the week.  I had some plans to do some things outside because it was such a beautiful day.  I knew I need to take advantage of the nice weather as snow was in the forecast for the next week.

I was sitting on the couch reading some news articles when I heard a door open in the back part of the house and footsteps walking towards the living room.  I didn't give it much thought as I figured it was just someone waking up. I went back to doing what I was doing when I noticed the door leading to the basement was opening and shutting.  I would open slightly, then slam shut. 

Before I accepted this as something paranormal, I needed to think logically.  Were the footsteps related to the basement door opening and shutting?  Was there something material causing the door to do what it was doing?  A draft?  A dog?

I realized that everyone was still asleep and if Jennifer had gotten up for any reason the dogs would have gone bananas.  Heidi and Emi were still sound asleep so it wasn't either of them.  

Our basement is unfinished and does not have a walk out like the newer homes do.  It has three port hole type of windows in the back, away from the entrance.  All the windows were shut and there was no breeze at all coming from them.   The basement entrance has two doors.  The first door leads to the stairway and there is another door at the bottom of the stairs that leads into the basement.  I made sure that both doors were shut tightly and didn't open when pulled or pushed.

From Left to Right.  The door leading from the living room to the stairway, the door to the basement, the stairway down to the basement.

At this point, I decided everything was just my imagination as I had been overly sensitive lately to things in my environment.  I dismissed it all and went back to my reading.

After five minutes, I heard a door open again in the back of the house and footsteps walking toward the living room.  I jumped up and went into the kitchen to see if anyone was there.  Nothing, no one.  I checked again and everyone was still asleep.  As I went back to the couch, I notice the door leading the basement was cracked open.  I knew I shut it and double checked it to make sure it was tightly closed. I looked down the stair way to make sure the other door was still closed.  I closed the stairway door and pushed it firmly a few times just to make sure.  I even made sure I couldn't pull it open.

By this time, I was a little freaked out. I had no idea what was going on or what was going to happen next.  I regained my composure and reminded myself that things just happen to us.  It doesn't necessary mean bad things.

"You're welcome here as long as you behave and don't cause any trouble.  If cannot abide by these conditions then you must move on.  If you want to go in the basement, you can but, I would be very careful as it's a mess and I wouldn't want you to get hurt", I said with a calm confidence.

I felt this allowed me to regain control of the environment as well as set hard ground rules.  At the first sign of any sort of distress or discomfort on my part, I would take the steps to remove whatever it was roaming the house.

I stood in the kitchen entry for a little while just to see if I could hear the footsteps or doors opening and closing.  After about 5 minute of nothing, I figured whatever it was decided to leave or take a break.  Either way, I was fine with it and went back and sat down on the couch.

After a few minutes, I heard a door in the back the house, then footsteps coming into the living room and finally the door to the basement stairway started again.  I didn't say anything or react but I did decide to record video of the door.

At this point, I'd had enough.  I was starting to feel a little panic set it and my fear level was starting to rise. I had this feeling that, whatever it was was either trapped in the basement and trying to get out or was trying to go into the basement.  Without warning, an overwhelming anxiety rushed through me.  I knew I needed to get away from it and decided to go outside for a while.

"Time to go", I said as started to head my way outside.

I stopped at the back door and said, "This means you too, time for you to get out the fuck out of my house!"

Even though I was scared to death and my heart was pounding, I said it with a firm level of confidence and without hesitation.

Once outside, I walked down the drive and opened the gate.

"Bye, hope you find what you're looking for because it's not here.  Don't come back!", I said as I slammed the gate shut.

As you can see, life remains an adventurous journey for us.  Thanks to Amy Allan, the entire Dead Files crew, and a long list of some many others who have helped along the way, it's a journey we're able to navigate now because we have the map.

What About Those Who Lived There Before you?

The comment below to our most recent blog entry really made me think.  

"It's interesting to realize you were always OPEN to the paranormal. I too had a few small things that happened to me in the past. Nothing big like seeing someone, like you. I had just heard my name called in my ear a couple of times, but it showed me, as I look back, that I was OPEN for the experience I had when I moved into the house I live in now that came with it's own ghost! Do you think people who have never had any experiences, don't believe in such things, are TOTALLY closed minded, would have any such experience with the paranormal if they weren't open to it? Could they have lived in your house or mine and NEVER seen or heard ANYTHING? Hmmm. Great post, Love reading everything you write!"

First, I have to says thanks for the compliment.  I do not consider myself a writer at all and it always makes me smile when someone enjoys reading what I write.  At the end of the day, I'm just telling our story; hoping that it will continue to help in our recovery but also help others who are experiencing something similar.

When our experiences where at it's heights, I often wondered if the people who lived in our house/land before us ever experience anything.  I thought to myself they had to have something happen because what was going on was so obvious to us.

The owners previous to us lived in the house for 15 years.  I was certain that if they lived here that long that they had to have witnessed something.  The previous owner is actually our insurance agent so one day I reached out to him.   It was difficult for me to start the conversation because, let's face it, it sounded crazy and insane.  However we have a good relationship so I was able to bring it up fairly easily.  Surprisingly he didn't think I was crazy and was open minded.  He said they never experienced anything out of the ordinary.  He thought long and hard about it before he answered completely.  I could tell he was really trying to remember.   That gave me some solace that at least he was willing to dig through his memories to try to help.  In the end, he couldn't recall anything.  He told me he would ask his wife and daughters if they had any weird things happened but unfortunately a few days later he let me know that they hadn't.  Since the owners before them had passed away,  I couldn't talk to them and was left with more questions than answers.  

I continued trying to rationalize what was happening.  Given that we seemed to be the only ones who had ever experienced paranormal activity here left me questioning our mental health.  Were we just crazy or was their something else causing our meltdown?  The logical next step was to check for something material that could cause this nightmare;  mold, radon, carbon monoxide, etc?  I read back through the home inspection, nothing...nothing that would explain what was happening.  No mold.  No radon.  No carbon monoxide. No lead.  Nothing that would explain our mental health decline or deterioration of our physical health.   

I was out of logical explanations options at this point  How could we see things that others could not?  How is that possible?

We are different

I finally accepted that what were experiencing was real.  I began to realize that we were "different", not crazy.  We saw the world differently than others.  Not only were we different than others, we are also different within our family unit.  Some of us are Empaths.  Some, Sensitives. Some, Mediums.  Also, we all have some sort of Psychic Ability with each one being different.  We were the perfect recipe for the paranormal.

The problem with this is we didn't understand what we were which meant we had no clue why things were happening to us.  It was similar to being on a runaway horse.  Since we absolutely no understand of why we were paranormal targets, we couldn't stop it. 

We finally began to realized who and what we were.  It took being on The Dead Files to finally get the answers we needed to understand.  Without Amy Allan's help and guidance during our episodes reveal, I often think that we were heading down path of destruction.   (You can read about the full story of our episode's reveal in these blog entries.  The Reveal:  Part One, The Reveal:  Part Two, The Reveal:  Part Three, The Reveal:  Part Four.)

I think everyone has abilities but they have to realize and accept them in order to experience things.  It's all because people are closed minded. I feel there are 3 types of closed minded people.

• Those who are closed minded because they refuse to believe.

These folks cannot see beyond their own beliefs; be it religious or scientific.  Until they accept the possibility that there are other realms or dimensions they will continue to deny everything.

• Those who are closed without realizing their closed.

These folks believe but they don't fully believe.  They feel that nothing will ever happen to them but they believe some of the things that happen to others.  They may experience small things from time to time but rationalize a way to dismiss it.   If they would just fully commit to the belief that there is more out there than just us, their world would open up.  I think this is where most people fall.  If you feel you're in this category; embrace your belief.  It's in the back of your mind don't suppress it.  Embrace it.

• Those that unintentionally close themselves.

There are those out there who believe so deeply and passionately.   They want so badly to experience something; anything.  They push themselves so hard mentally that they shut themselves off and their  high emotions act as spiritual repellents.  They just need to relax, clear their minds and center themselves.  It will happen if they just observe and don't force the action.

Now, keep in mind, this is just my opinion.  I only base it off our experiences and observations.   There are a lot of wonderful people out there who are experts in the paranormal field who may have different opinions.  

Even though we are not experts, we are survivors.  That should account for something.