By Janine Barlow:
This is not a wild or frightening experience, but it is a true one. When I was 17 years old, I saw my father's ghost walk across the floor of our living room in our home in Texas. I was eleven when he passed away from an embolism.
I had just exited the hallway about 10:30-11:00 at night and entered the living/dining area, which was indirectly lighted from the kitchen. It was not really dark, as the kitchen light was bright and the opening was large, and you could see all the furniture and everything, but as I focused on the living room, I saw my Dad right in front of me. I wasn't scared, since I knew him, and as I had always wondered if ghosts really existed, I told myself mentally to pay attention and get all the details, as this might never happen to me again.
He was fully dressed in what he used to wear at home when he was alive (this is unusual to me because he died in a hospital in another city, and I assume he was wearing a hospital gown at the time). He was looking straight ahead and even though he passed within three feet of me, he never saw me. He was staring straight ahead. I could make out his features very clearly, and he walked about 3-4 steps, passing right in front of me, and then dissipated. He was almost semi-solid, like a hologram. You could see him clearly, but I was also aware of a sort of transparency to him, as if you could see things on the other side of him if you tried to.
I was pretty shocked, and I went to the kitchen, where my mother was finishing drying the dishes, and choked out that I had just seen Dad walking in the living room. She didn't say anything for a few moments, then she said, "I've seen him, too." -- Which, I have to say, shocked me probably every bit as much as me seeing him. My mother was a practical, strait-forward woman, and she wasn't the type to believe in anything fanciful. It shut me up, and we didn't discuss it after that.
If I had to say what surprised me the most, after reflection on it, it would probably be that he was so clear and detailed, not as much wraith-like. And the fact that he seemed unaware that I was even present.
I wish now I had discussed it with my mother and heard her accounts, but she is deceased now and that is no longer possible. I recently wondered if there is a website where people who have truly experienced these things can go to compare their experiences and see if what they have in common. With people with like experiences, you at least wouldn't be worried that they would have doubts that it could even happen. If you know of such a website, I would appreciate your input. Thank you.
