Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Haunted

My mother sat down at the kitchen table to have her morning tea. She was having a rough start of the day and decided to sit in my father's spot at the table that faced the back window. My dad had been dead for a few months and my mother would occasionally find comfort in his chair. She sipped her tea recalling a conversation they had just a few weeks before he died, before the cancer took over his brain, about how my mom never sees any rabbits in the yard anymore. My dad told her it was probably due to the groundhog living under the shed as well as the neighbors dog that was keeping away the rabbits. As these thoughts ran through her mind a brown Cottontail Rabbit hopped into her view through the window. The windows in my mother's kitchen run almost floor to ceiling and only sit 2 feet above the outside ground. My mother watched the rabbit hop closer to the window and seemingly stare inside. Mom stared back for what she said seemed like 10 to 15 minutes. My mom took the rabbit as a sign from my dad saying everything was going to be okay.

Ray, my wife's father, passed away just a few weeks before my dad. Just a a few days before Christmas actually. I remember the week after Christmas, right around Ray's birthday, Lauren and I were laying in bed enjoying a rare afternoon quiet rest, when a bug flew against the window over and over again. Lauren got up to investigate to find a Lady Bug hanging out on the curtains. A few days later we learned that Lauren's mom had a similar experience at the same time. Max, who missed his Pop-Pop very much, also had a Ladybug experience during that week. We began to call Ladybugs Ray.

Some people believe that the spirits or ghosts of deceased loved ones try to communicate with the living through signs. These sightings or symbols are called after-death-communications; ADC for short.

In 2005 when my grandmother died (my mom's mom) there was a butterfly ADC phenomena going around amongst her siblings. When a family friend, Jeff Toz, died in Iraq there were many deer sightings (my mom used to babysit Jeff before and after school everyday for three to four years. Jeff and my youngest brother Jim became very tight friends. Jeff was an avid hunter and a deer showed up at his funeral which the Arlington guards were very wary and suspicious about a wild animal being on the grounds. When my mom came home the next day from the funeral her next door neighbor told her there was deer on her front yard at the exact same time of Jeff's funeral, doo-doo-doo-doo-dood-doo-doo-dooo-dooooooo. *) ADC.

A couple of weeks after my mom told me her rabbit story I had three rabbit sightings/signs.

1- A rabbit was sitting in my driveway when I came home from Steve G's mother's funeral. Steve G and I were childhood friends. So after a night of thinking about dead parents I see a rabbit.
2- I took my mother-in-law to see Lisa Williams, the entertainer/medium, perform at the Keswick theater. After an evening talking about dead loved ones I pulled into my mother-in-law's driveway and there on her front walk was a rabbit.
3- The third time I saw a rabbit (after my mom's ADC story) was when our family was leaving for one of our cousins/nieces first holy communions (which was the first big family event without my father). I was in the car waiting for Lauren to come out when a rabbit appeared from under a bush, hopped towards the car and just sat there staring at me. Again another doo-doo-doo-doo dood-doo-doo dooooo*moment. We began to call rabbits Skip.

We have also have had many other ladybug encounters. For a while after Ray died wherever Max and Wyatt went they would find ladybugs. Wyatt who usually screams at the sight of bugs would have no problem picking up and carrying ladybugs. There was a time right around Max's birthday where there were 5 ladybugs in his bedroom. ADC? I don't know. Strange and weird? Yes. Last week I was cleaning out the garage and a ladybug landed on the workbench. I said "Hello Ray."

Lately, as rabbits are known (and actually so was Skip) to do, they have procreated. There has been so much procreation, my backyard is becoming overrun by Skips. On any given morning there are at least 5 or 6 rabbits in my backyard grazing on the grass or eating our garden. They are everywhere. They have set up a den behind my shed. There are piles of rabbit poop all over the place. Every morning I sit on my back porch sip my coffee and watch rabbits chew up my lawn and I say "Good morning Skip."

My house is haunted. Haunted by ladybugs and bunnies.

Do you have any ADC stories? Is your house haunted?



* The doo-doo-doo is supposed to sound like the theme to the Twilight Zone but every time I read it it sounds like the spaceship tones from Close Encounters. I am sorry for any confusion this may have caused if you "heard"the same thing in your head.

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Foxes... During the first meeting of the year for Cub Scouts I had to run out to my car to grab something... across the street on the corner sat a fox... just staring at the school... I know it was my mom (who passed away 7 years ago) approving of the fact my son was in scouts... When there are times that I'm missing my mom a few days later I will see a fox appear

Michelle said...

My grandfather sends change. We find dimes and quarters and know they are from him. He was an accountant and very big on saving your change. Wish he'd send some hundreds or something.

eclectic said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

I actually heard the song from the Police Da DOO DOO do Da daa daa da.

Anonymous said...

I have been waiting for the connection for Skip. I have actually longed for it. It is strange because I do not think I have ever "longed" for anything before.

Tela said...

My Dad died in Nov. 2009. Shortly thereafter I began to hear owls "hooing" in my backyard. He was an educator and scholar (therefore the owl reference) He knew I'd get it. Every time I'm worried about something, I'll hear the owl "hoo" and know it's my Dad thinking about me.

Lauren said...

What do you think all the dead ladybugs mean? I just found like, 10 of them in a windowsill....

Smug said...

On the one year anniversary of my grandmother's passing, I awoke very early with the sense that she was telling me to take a pregnancy test. My husband and I had been trying for two years and only succeeded in a miscarriage. It was too early to test, but the feeling was so strong that I finally gave in and dog out the test. It popped pink within seconds! We had decided when she died to name our first daughter after her, so I knew right then that our baby would be a girl. A few weeks later, the weekend we told our family the news, my dad had a dream that the baby was a girl and her name was Mary. I hadn't told him about our plan to name the baby after his mother. Talk about your doo doo doo doo moment!!

Anonymous said...

My grandma died several years ago, in the hospital unit that I worked on. I took it very hard. Still to this day when things start to bother, a monarch butterfly will appear and just land and stay where I am sitting. When I was a girl there used to be clouds of monarchs where she lived. So still, all monarchs, when I see them, they land, I say "hi Grandma" and then we chat for a few minutes.
cheri

Anonymous said...

Whoever is longing....wait no longer ...your connection will happen. I will speak to Skip and he will connect. He probably already has given you a sign, you must have been looking the other way. Give him a little more time. Before this Halloween you will have it. "You Gotta Believe".

Anonymous said...

To the one who is longing.....He's in your baby child's eyes....your middle child's smile ...and your older child's disposition...you don't have to look far....if you have more kids, then I guessed wrong....who you are, that is... Be patient....or maybe he knows you don't need a sign or connection, only we weirdos do.

Mommycosm said...

My husband's grandfather died before we were married. He liked to watch birds. Our ceremony was outside on a lake. A bird flew on a rock nearby and watched the whole ceremony. A number of family members commented on it. I thought it was kinda sweet.

Kate said...

I think my dad's a butterfly. My mom thinks he's a cardinal. Maybe he's just confused? Great post -- I know EXACTLY the feeling. It's as comforting as it is freakish.

Bogart said...

Nope...wish I had...but Nope.

Maybe I should be looking harder or something...although, it is kinda funny that I was smiling yesterday, remembering something my Gramps used to do.

Karen said...

Yes...shortly after my dad passed away, I told my young adult son I needed a sign. "Like what?" he asked. "A bright red cardinal would be perfect," was my reply. "Look over at the fence. Mom...that beautiful cardinal has been there for awhile, just checking everything out."

Thanks, Dad...

Opus said...

At my grandmother's funeral, the church windows were open. The minister got to a certain part in his eulogy and the birds started singing so loud it almost drowned him out. Grandma had loved nature and birds and we're all pretty sure that was her.

Anonymous said...

This makes me wonder what my dad's ADC will be...

Heidi said...

My grandfather's favorite Cincinnati Reds swept the Series the summer he died. We knew he had a hand in it.

Papa K said...

I told my wife if, God Forbid, she were to leave this Earth before her time DO NOT literally come back in ghostly form and tell me everything is okay. It'll scare me to death. I guess haunting me with ladybugs would be okay though

Anonymous said...

I used to think that girl from the Munsters was hot.

Michael from dadcation.com said...

My house is not haunted, but Heather at http://coalminersgd.blogspot.com/
is a paranormal investigator, so if you really want to know for sure, see if she and her team can come investigate!

April said...

My Grandma visited me from Utah 8 years ago. The whole time she was here in AZ, she oohed and aahed over the colorful shrubs and bushes in our neighborhood.

Now I am not a fan of the Arizona landscape, I think this is the brownest place on earth. But I did see it a little differently after Grandma kept pointing out the pretty plants I took for granted. Especially the Mexican Bird of Paradise tree.

We moved into our new house a year after she passed away. My husband planted a Mexican Bird of Paradise Tree in the front yard as a surprise to me, in memory of my beloved grandmother.

Six months later, on my Grandma's birthday, the tree bloomed. One orange and yellow bloom as bright as the sun blooming comepletely out of season in December.

We knew she was smiling at us and was thankful for the tree. It's still my favorite part of the front yard.