My “Ghost” Story by Jennifer Maggiore

In the past few months, especially around the end of my pregnancy with my 2^nd son, Joey, I kept seeing flashes and motion- always at home, usually in our master bathroom or in our front room. I also kept experiencing the sensation of someone gently tapping my shoulder, or gently hugging me when I was snuggling on my bed with my first son.

I went to the only person I knew to talk to about it- I mentioned it to Lynn over lunch one day, who simply said “Grandpa Joe?”. It just kind of fell out of her mouth, like she didn’t quite know what it meant herself (at first she was thinking of my husband, also named Joe- I hadn’t ever told her that I had a Grandpa Joe). Apparently Grandpa Joe had been hanging around the house waiting to help little Joey with his transition into the world.  I’m not a skeptic, I think of skeptics as actively disbelieving and looking to disprove. I’m more an open mind with a need for proof. Ok, I thought, true or not, it’s a nice idea. I took it at face value and left it at that.

So, fast forward 6 months- I’m seeing flashes again, but my experience is becoming more like sensing a presence, like when I know my husband has walked into the kitchen even though my back is turned while I’m cooking. I keep expecting to look up from my laptop and see someone standing in my living room, for instance. Well, I don’t see anyone, but I sense someone is around. I was getting a distinct feeling that my Grandpa Joe and his wife, Grandma Laura (both deceased) had been hanging around the house. I felt silly for asking- because I don’t really believe in this sort of thing- but I spoke to Lynn who confirmed that they were indeed around, and that I could relax, it was nothing bad. They have unresolved business with my dad (who is still living) but that he isn’t being receptive at the moment, so they’re hanging around at my house. I didn’t think there was much more to do with it, so I didn’t put a lot more thought into it.

Three nights ago my 4 year old son had a rough night. He kept coming into our room ALL night and telling us things like “I’m scared”, “my room is creepy” and wanting to sleep in our bed.  We also have a baby, so its not like we sleep much as it is; this got old fast. We patiently returned him to his room and tucked him in several times. All I wanted desperately was sleep. On his umpteenth visit to our room, I finally lost it- “Ok, this is ridiculous! Would you pleeaaasseee go to bed IN YOUR BED and let me go to sleep already?!!”. If you’ve ever met my son, well, he’s headstrong like his mom and can be very persistent. I sent him away, thinking “he will do anything to sleep in here tonight!” and that he was being stubborn as usual.

I told Lynn about it the next day and then it all clicked- my son didn’t want to be alone that night because he is also sensing my dad’s parents. In the days before, our son had been telling us things like he’d been hearing voices in his room, seeing “ghosts” and “monsters” and didn’t want to be alone. I can’t begin to describe the guilt I felt at being so annoyed with him and not helping him through the situation. Despite all I’d been experiencing to this point, I still wasn’t allowing this to be real, but it was all amounting to… something.

Lynn and I had a lengthy discussion- she helped me determine how I wanted to address my son and his fears.  I drove straight home and hugged him, and apologized to him for being aggravated and sending him back to his room the night before. He is your typical, fidgety 4 year old, but I did my best to get him to focus. I told him that I do believe him about seeing ghosts, but that they aren’t monsters, and they can’t hurt him. They are people like us who sometimes have messages to share. He suddenly sat perfectly still, looked at me and asked “like a message for Poppy?” Poppy is his name for my dad. That night we sat in his room and I explained that there were new rules- no more “ghosts”, or as we call them now, “visitors” were allowed in his room, and no visiting at night. I also set the rule that the communications should be coming to me, not my children. He didn’t wake up at all that night. The next morning I asked if he’d had any problems, and he said “no problems Mommy!”

In the last 2 days since accepting this all as true (that all these strange sensations and experiences aren’t coincidental, and my child isn’t just letting his imagination run wild about monsters under his bed) I’ve had more experiences. To be honest, this experience is still new to me and I’m still figuring it all out, but I’m also feeling full of gratitude that this unfolding mystery is potentially a gift that could help others.

Jennifer Maggiore
President and CEO
MCM
Maggiore Consulting & Marketing