Unexpected Guest (May - July 2022)

Since my dad's spirit left my house, I continued to have paranormal activity happen that started to make me suspect that something was still residing with us. 

It started when I got my REM-Pod and I was curious if my animals were reacting to paranormal activity down our hallway or just being furry dummies. So I put up my REM-Pod in my living room and started asking questions. I was excited when I started getting beeps, but they were sporadic-- rare really. Then they just stopped altogether after that first day. At the time I thought I had some vibes about a young girl, related to my neighbors 2 doors down and her name began with a J. So I used that as I went forward, but we still got nothing on our REM-Pod downstairs beyond that first day.

I then decided to bring the REM-Pod up to bed with me at night to see if we had any activity in my room. I set it up on the other side of the room from where I sleep and hoped for the best. We didn't get any beeps, unless our cat slipped into our room to play with it.

There was unusual activity, though. One night I woke up around 2:30AM and I heard a knock on our window. I wasn't sure if I was hearing it right, so I waited again and another knock came. I woke my husband up and he checked for anything that might be causing it and we were left without answers. I was a little shaken and didn't want to fall back asleep. During that same time I felt like I had started hearing rustling near our chair in the corner. Again, it couldn't be explained. 

As I thought about the knock and the chair, I started to wonder if the activity was located in that corner of my room. So that night I moved my stool and REM-Pod to that spot. I turned it on and after a few moments got several beeps. I was so excited, I immediately started asking questions. Unfortunately, I received no responses to any of them and was again left wanting. I was disappointed and wondered if the REM-Pod had malfunctioned when it originally went off, but I left the REM-Pod on just in case something wanted to later reach out to us. 

My husband also did an EMF sweep of the room with our equipment, but he only found my fan and alarm clock to provide notable energy spikes.

After this initial realization, I started turning the REM-Pod on in the corner every night that I'd go to bed. I started getting fairly consistent beeps most nights. They would occur from a few seconds up to two minutes after turning the device on, but only one initial burst. Sometimes it was just one beep. Sometimes it felt like a frantic barrage of beeps. But it was almost always just that one time after turning the device on and walking away. It was during this time I also noticed that goosebumps or tingles would cover my arms and back when I would walk into my room and would typically grow greater the closer I got to the REM-Pod. If that happened, the REM-Pod definitely went off. If I didn't get the sensations, the REM-Pod usually remained quiet.

For multiple nights this continued to happen with the REM-Pod. One night, though, something different happened. My husband and our dog made it up to the bedroom before I did. My husband got into the bed and as he laid there he looked at the windows on the right side of the room. All of a sudden his mind registered a 3-4inch ball of yellow light. As if it had been caught, the ball of light shot to the left of our room and right out the way by the window where the REM-Pod sits in the corner. As it exited the wall, my husband said it made a loud bang. I arrived in the room within minutes of the episode and when I turned on the REM-Pod, we got no responses. 

It was still hit and miss for the REM-Pod to go off. One night, though, around June 26th, things became a little more intense. The REM-Pod had gone off. I had felt all the tingles and goosebumps. And my husband and I laid in bed talking and I asked him to ask some questions, because maybe the spirit was tired of hearing from me. We got on the topic of the spirit just being scared and not wanting anything to do with us and we talked about ignoring the spirit and just letting it be, since it didn't want to use the REM-Pod to talk to us. It was classic "cut off communication" talk from ghost hunting scenarios. But nothing happened. So I turned off the REM-Pod and got comfy-cozy in bed. As I laid there attempting to quiet my mind of all the anxiety attacks assailing it, I felt a burning sensation run down the left inner side of my back. It went from about my armpit to my waist. I didn't dare move, but I instinctively knew that it was a ghost scratch. We had angered whatever was in my room.

The next morning I told my husband about the burning sensation. I pulled my shirt up for him to take a look and there was a scabbed-over scratch running down the left side of my back. I know it wasn't me or the dog, because of the amount of blankets and pajamas. My husband took a picture and we estimated the scratch to be about six inches long if not longer. I'd share the picture, but it has mysteriously gone missing from my phone (seriously... I'm pretty upset about it). But what mattered to me was that even my husband was taken aback by the scratch. He confessed to me that he thought he would check and nothing would be there. I bet if we had checked the previous night, it would have been red and nastier-looking.

I went upstairs that morning and had a talk with the spirit that was in my room. I put the REM-Pod on first to make sure they were in the room and it beeped once. I then used a compassionate voice to try to explain to the spirit that they don't have to stay in our house if they didn't like the way we do things. If they didn't like that we put the REM-Pod out every night, then they didn't need to stay. If they didn't like the conversations we have, they didn't need to stay. I explained that we were more than happy to let them stay and we welcomed them and the only reason we were doing these things is because we want to know who they are, since they're staying in our house. I also said that causing physical harm or harm of any kind was not acceptable if they wanted to stay. Nothing happened during the conversation.

My husband had us take a break from the REM-Pod for a night or two and then it was back on. It still made the noises. I was starting to get frustrated, because I couldn't figure out what it was, but I had convinced myself it was a tween-aged girl. There was no room in my mind for it being someone else.

When I woke up on the morning of June 29th, though, something new had happened. I had gotten up really early, around 4:30AM. I had to go to the bathroom. When I came back, I settled back into bed to fall asleep and I heard someone say my name. I thought it was my mom. Then I felt someone sit at the foot of my bed and kind of rock a little bit. Like a parent would do on their child's bed. I was too sleepy to tackle the issue, but when I got up, I was worried it was my mom and that she had passed away in the night. Luckily, she hadn't and I told her about the situation. Mainly because this was becoming a bigger and bigger issue for me. I needed to figure out who this spirit was.

I was going to see Adam Berry that weekend and wanted to tell him about the situation and get some advice on how to proceed with things, but there weren't any opportunities to do that. I had hoped maybe I could e-mail him and my friend who is his cousin was going to ask, but I never got a response. Then I realized all I needed to do was ask myself "What Would Adam Berry and Amy Bruni Do?" (WWAB2D? or WWAB&ABD?... work in progress). If you're not getting the answers you want using a REM-Pod, start using other equipment! I had become fixated on my new toy and forgot basic good investigating methods. I also wanted to stick to more "scientifically grounded" equipment, as opposed to my divining rods. Nevertheless, it was time to take another approach.

So on July 4, I went upstairs during the afternoon and used my divining rods to ask some questions. First I turned the REM-Pod on and got a beep, so I knew the spirit was there. Then I prepared to dive in to seeing if this would work.

"Is someone here?" Crossed/Yes

"Did you live in this house?" Did Not Cross/No

"Are you from a house in our complex? Started to cross, but stopped. Did Not Cross/No

"Are you related to our neighbors?" Did Not Cross/No

"Are you related to us?" Crossed/Yes

I was totally at a loss, because I had just written about all my family members and whether they were around or not, but I asked, "Are you my grandma Clara?" Crossed/Yes

"Did you scratch me?" Crossed/Yes

"Were you angry at me?" Crossed/Yes

"Is it because of the REM-Pod?" Crossed/Yes

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to to use scientific equipment that's easier to communicate on. I just want to tell you that I love you. I hope you know that." Crossed/Yes

Then I ended my questions, because I wanted to process the fact that this was apparently my grandma. I was just so excited that it was my grandma. I missed her and it felt good that she was here.

Tuesday, July 5 rolled around and it was a horrible day for me. I had a major meltdown with my anxiety over some things going on in my life. When I went to bed that night, I was alone and I just broke down and talked to the room, as if my grandma was really there with me. At some point it felt like she was holding and cradling my head. It was tingly goosebumps running up my neck and around my scalp. And I cried as I imagined her holding me. I thanked her and told her how much I miss her and that I love her. Then I went to bed. 

The next day went on as normal and I chatted to my grandma whenever I was in the room with her. But things got real crazy after that.

On Thursday, July 7 I was sitting in the living room with my husband talking. My husband, while not a skeptic, was a bit more skeptical about this particular spirit encounter. He felt that something about her presence should be showing up on a K2 or EMF detector. Then we talked about how my Grandpa Fritz and my dad didn't want to set off equipment. They just wanted to use the divining rods, which I felt was weird for my dad, who was kind of really into technology stuff like computers, CD players, and DVD players. I pointed out to my husband, though, that I also get "the feels" when they're around. So for example, when I walk into my bedroom I know when my grandma is there, because I get waves of goosebumps on my body. These goosebumps run from my head to my thighs and are almost pulsating in nature. They intensify as I get closer to the stool when I first enter my room. Then they go away and only return if I start talking to my grandma. I went on to explain to my husband that previous night where I was breaking down crying and I came upstairs to talk to my grandma. I described the incident, highlighting the head-cradling sensation I had gotten. 

In that moment I started crying. I was sitting forward on the couch and I bent my head so I could wipe the tears from my eyes. As I lifted my head up, putting my glasses back on, I let out a yell of shock. To the left of me, about four feet away, appeared a grayish figure with some pink highlights running through it. I recognized that hair. I recognized that shirt. In the split second I had to acknowledge the spirit, I knew it was my grandma. My husband did not see this spirit, but he very much did see my reaction which shocked and freaked him out. He said the fright (I was surprised!) on my face was visceral and real.

I cried more and spent my evening in shock that this was my grandma. I had a short talk with her in the bedroom before bed where she did confirm it was her who appeared to me. I cried again.

Friday, July 8 I wasn't getting much of anything from my grandma. It was weak interaction to nothing. When I talked to my mom the next day she said she was performing a pendulum question-and-answer session and said that my grandma was with her that moment. That evening I asked my grandma if she was with my mom on Friday and she said yes. So clearly there is some travel ability for spirits. I just wish I could understand how they travel. 

This is a selection of questions that I talked to my grandma about that evening when she returned to my home from maybe being with my mom. 

"Are you here?" Crossed/Yes

"Were you with Mom yesterday?" Crossed/Yes

"Are you still mad at me?" Started to Cross and Stopped/Maybe? No?

"Is this about mom?" Crossed/Yes

"You just don't like my decision?" Crossed/Yes (I had previously explained to my grandmother why I wasn't visiting my mother as much as some people thought I should have-- my mental health issues.)

"This is just the way things need to be for now. Can you try some of this other equipment to talk to us? It's easier to have a conversation. All you have to do is move in front of it. Can you do that?" Crossed/Yes

We waited a few minutes, but nothing happened and my husband postulated that maybe her spiritual frequency made interacting with the REM-Pod difficult. 

"Thank you for trying if you did. Do you just make the REM-Pod go off the one time to let me know you're here with me?" Crossed/Yes

"Thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it. Do you like when I come in and just talk to the room, sharing stories about the animals or talk about pictures or things like that?" Crossed/Yes

"Would you prefer I do that more than I do the divining rods?" Crossed/Yes

I explained to her how a 2-way conversation is so meaningful. I told her I have so many questions to ask her about things that I wish we had a better way to communicate, but I'm just of the belief that she doesn't want to really 2-way communicate. I then folded down the rods and told her I would try to come in more and storytell for her. I told her I love her and Grandpa Frank and that I miss them very much. Then I put everything away, got ready for bed, and settled in for the night.

Shortly after that, my husband and I heard a huge bang in the corner where the stool is. We couldn't tell if it was the stool or the wall that the sound was made on, but we both agreed it was probably my grandma.  Maybe saying goodnight?