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My Dad's Story

 

As a little girl growing up in the 1970s, I had a pet guinea pig. My two sisters and I each had our own guinea pigs and we loved these little guys. Mine, unfortunately, got sick and passed away. I was devastated. My Dad got a shoe box, which we decorated, and placed the deceased guinea pig in. Dad even made a little cross for the grave and we staged a little funeral in our backyard. After the funeral, I stood there alone staring at the new grave with tears rolling down my cheeks. All of the sudden, something popped up out of the ground where the guinea pig was buried and ran towards the woods before vanishing before my eyes. I couldn't believe what I was seeing.

It was in the shape of my guinea pig and while part appeared solid, another part of it was transparent. It almost looked gelatinous, if that makes sense. A small sprout, near the makeshift grave, actually moved as this 'shape' moved by it. I knew what I had seen. My heart beat fast as I stood there, unsure what to do. I grew up in a Catholic household and we were taught that animals don't have souls. I knew that wasn't true based on this experience (and others that were to come later on in life).

The first person I told was my younger sister who told me to stop lying. I remember trying hard to convince her through my tears that this had really happened. We are both in our 50s now and to this day, I don't think she still believes this.

Later on that day, my Dad was out front mowing the lawn. When he saw me crying, he shut the mower off and came over to me to see how I was doing. I relayed what had happened to him with some reluctance. Much to my surprise, he believed me.

He relayed the following story to me.

As a young boy growing up in southern Connecticut (we lived in Massachusetts at the time), he and his older brother were camping in a makeshift tent in the backyard of my grandparent's home during the summer. This happened in the 1950s. The house was built on a hill and was the only one in the area for quite some time. My grandfather built the house with the garage built facing the backyard. When more houses went in, the street was placed to the other side of the house so it was an odd spot for a garage door. The point of these details is to describe how rural the area was at the time.

As my Dad and Uncle slept in this tent, which was most likely a large blanket draped over rope, my Dad said a bright light appeared outside. He woke up, rubbed his eyes, and then peered outside. There stood a very old man in robes, with a long white beard, and holding a staff. The light he saw from inside the tent was actually emanating from this entity. My Dad said he was frozen in fear. The man just stood there watching him. He didn't speak or make a sound. When Dad finally got the courage, he scrambled back into his bed. He tried to wake my Uncle up but to no avail. He burrowed under the covers and closed his eyes, willing the apparition to leave.

In the morning he told my Uncle what had happened, as well as his parents, and of course, no one believed him! To this day, he swears this happened and I believe him. What is interesting to me is wondering what the entity wanted or what it's purpose was. Was it a guardian of some sort? What throws me is the robes and the staff. Almost sounds biblical and not something historically seen in what was once a rural area of Connecticut.

My Dad is now in his late 70s and has only been given a few more months to live, due to cancer and an advanced stage of Parkinson's disease. I like to think that this spirit is a guardian, or maybe an angel, that will help him over to the other side when that time comes.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, DreamBird, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Arturo (10 posts)
 
5 months ago (2024-05-06)
Thanks for sharing and I am sorry to hear about your dad not being well. All the best.
lwgrn4real66 (6 stories) (51 posts)
 
6 months ago (2024-04-23)
My late wife told me a house she used to live in was haunted. She'd see an old lady AND A CAT! Both transparent, quiet often.

...your dad's experience, I believe a protector of his. That's why only he saw it. And the guinea pig? Possible! The skeptics never believe us, only because they've yet to have a personal unexplained experiences of their own! Thanks for sharing! 😁
DreamBird (8 stories) (27 posts)
+1
6 months ago (2024-04-15)
Hi Rajine and Tweed,
Thank you both for your comments. From what I've learned, the ancient belief of animals not having souls is because they believe animals couldn't praise God. I read somewhere that the current Pope is trying to change that.

Yes, what my Dad saw was crazy. It didn't sound connected to the land either so I would have to say it was some type of guardian watching over two young boys during their camp-out. Thanks for the well wishes,too!

-DreamBird
Tweed (36 stories) (2529 posts)
 
6 months ago (2024-04-14)
Hi DreamBird,

I really loved reading yours and your dad's experiences, thanks for sharing! I wasn't raised religious but one of my uncles married into the catholic faith. I was really upset to learn that a lot of catholics don't believe animals have souls when I was a kid, still don't understand it today. Well, I don't mean to throw shade on other faiths, I just love animals is all and I think they're a lot more intelligent than us most of the time. When you said the apparition looked gelatinous it did make sense but I don't know why. That was an amazing thing to have happen. It must have been maddening to have your sister not believe you and WOW how your dad surprised you with the most amazing experience! Honestly, I'm gobsmacked at his apparition. I too would like to think of this man as some kind of guardian.

Thanks again for sharing, wishing you and your dad all the best. ❤
Rajine (14 stories) (884 posts)
+1
6 months ago (2024-04-13)
Hi DreamBird

I personally believe that every living being, from humans to the tiniest of creatures all have souls, that's my belief and I understand that not everyone will have the same opinion.

I remember when I was a teenager and I had this pet maltese/poodle and she unexpectedly passed away, it was very tragic and I was not fine at all, and a few days after that happened I saw an apparition of her (height, size, tail length, everything) just walk past me, it happened in the blink of an eye, but I know what I definitely saw and I stood frozen in the spot for a few minutes looking at the spot she walked to and vanished.

It's interesting what your dad had experienced, from the way you describe it, it doesn't seem bad, more like a guiding spirit rather.

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