Now that brings into question one's spiritual and religious convictions about the afterlife. Really, I have no idea how ghosts fit into any of the proposals about what happens to us when we die. There are lots of things I don't understand, but I'm open to experiencing the unknown.
In thinking about ghosts, though, I realized that we all experience ghosts every day. I am fortunate to the live on the same street where I lived as a little girl. The other day, as I strolled down the street so Micah could play with my childhood friend's little girl, ghosts whirled around us dancing down the street. I saw that young, innocent wide-eyed shadow of myself sneaking down the road with my tow-headed little brother to check out the fish camp we deemed "haunted". I watched as we stopped to pick honey suckles alongside my own beautiful little blond Micah. Those children are gone, but their ghosts remain here, and they come when I least expect it sometimes.
The other night, a torrential rainstorm brought water back into my home, and I experienced the ghost of my husband's former self. He came to me in panic and uncertainty about what to do. And, I remembered Katrina and coming home after the storm. I looked around as the water creeped across the floor and saw the look on Dan and Sarah's faces after we returned to our home turning upside down. Their ghostly little eyes searching mine for assurance that everything would be alright...
Today, Tiffany is getting married. Tiffany. The good hearted little girl that kept Dan on the straight and narrow during middle school band camp is getting married. Trick-or-treating. Movies. Slumber parties. The ghosts of those little girls have floated around me on the days leading up to this day. And, I am certain that today, when she walks down the aisle, with Dan as her maid of honor, the ghosts will be there beside me, holding my hand, comforting me as they move into adulthood.
Ghosts are real. I have no doubt.
