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Original poster

Something really strange just happened

519 replies

InSwamTiddler · 10/12/2018 06:08

I’ve NC for this as I’m not sure what to make of it and I’m really confused.
Back story - I was raised Catholic, but I’m atheist now. I work in a science based field and for as long as I can remember I have believed in the factual, empirically provable reality of things. I don’t believe in God or the afterlife, or ghosts / paranormal stuff.

Nearly 9 years ago my dad died. He died very suddenly and unexpectedly at a young age in my childhood family home.

Due to some circumstantial things, I’m currently living back in my family home.
My mum has mentioned a few times over the years that she’s felt my dad’s presence here and I’ve always been openly kind to her about it, but thinking “nope. Your imagination is going crazy because you’re grieving”. She’s mentioned she’s felt pressure on the bed as if someone has sat down on it next to her for example.

Anyway, this morning DP has left for work and I was still in bed. I was listening to him brushing his teeth, then popping the kettle on so I was definitely awake, but a little drowsy.

I felt him get back into bed with me and thought “what’s he doing?”... it’s not unusual for him to pop back into the bedroom and give me a hug or kiss before leaving the house.

I felt the heaviness of him pressed against my back and his arms wrapped around me. There was a heat between my shoulder blades I have never felt before but I wasn’t scared but I knew it wasn’t DP then. I heard the front door open so DP was leaving the house. Then my whole back went tingly a bit like pins and needles but not in an unpleasant way.

When it was happened I felt calm and warm but I’m freaking out now and can’t stop crying. Sounds silly but I feel like it may have been my dad.

I was 100% awake, not dreaming. I leant over and flicked the lamp on straight after.

Does anyone believe in this stuff? I never have but now I’m questioning everything.

OP posts:
TheOxymoron · 10/12/2018 07:14

You won’t find an answer or true confirmation of anything, just lots of possible explanations.

Scientifically energy cannot die, it can only transform.
Yes, the mind can play very powerful tricks.

I don’t think people can advise you solidly either way.
If it felt special, whether it was real or not perhaps just accept it for how it felt. Smile

TheChickenOfTruth · 10/12/2018 07:15

My mum is a pretty rational person and has no beliefs really, but she swears blind that one evening when she was watching TV she felt her great aunt came and say goodbye. She didn't know her great aunt would die that night and only had it confirmed the next day. Her boyfriend at the time was there and backs up her story and he's not a believer either.

TSSDNCOP · 10/12/2018 07:20

OP I’m about as disbelieving of this stuff as a person can be, until i experienced it. My episode was slightly different, but left me with an overwhelming sense of rightness and calm.

If I wrote down what happened or said it out loud it simply would look either mad or like a bit from Take A Break so it’s a secret I keep. All I can say is it happened.

MarkingTimeIm59 · 10/12/2018 07:23

There will never be a proven answer to what you experienced OP, but if it was a comfort to you and you want to believe it was your Dad - then just accept it happened and have a chat with your Mum about it.

brizzledrizzle · 10/12/2018 07:23

I think that you probably dozed off again and were dreaming. I have weird kind of semi awake-semi asleep 'dreams' where things can't possibly be happening - this morning I was 'listening to my daughter talking' but she's not in the house; this was after I told my son to get in the shower and had a conversation with him.

PumpkinKitty82 · 10/12/2018 07:26

I had something incredibly similar some years back but could never explain it and still not willing to say it was paranormal though as it just seems so far fetched

Magicstar1 · 10/12/2018 07:34

I get sleep paralysis a lot, and this is one of the forms of it.
I often wake up, hear DH coming upstairs and feel him get into bed behind me. Then I realise it’s not him and wake up. He then “really” gets into bed and snuggles in....then I wake up again! And he’s not there. It’s dreams within dreams and I am convinced I’m awake each time.

Lindy2 · 10/12/2018 07:42

It can't be explained but many people do believe loved ones' spirits remain close.
If it gives you comfort then believing you had a hug from your dad is lovely. You don't need to think it through any more than that.
A few days after my nan died our smoke alarm went off in the middle if the night. We could actually smell smoke on our landing outside our bedroom. My nan was a smoker. I believe she came to check on us that night.

IWasTrendingThereForAMinute · 10/12/2018 07:44

I saw my DMum after she had died. She was young and healthy and smiling. It was her way of telling me she was OK. My grief took a different and more healthy path after this occurrence.

Joinourclub · 10/12/2018 07:47

Well I’m a complete cynics so I would say it was a dream. My must vivid and convincing dreams occur at that point where I’m drifting in and out of sleep as I doze in bed before getting up in the morning

BertrandRussell · 10/12/2018 07:48

It can be explained. But no reason not to take comfort from it. People live on in our memories.

Nanna50 · 10/12/2018 07:56

I'm a logical, practical person in my work and home life, I'm a cynic, I don't believe in the paranormal and spirits etc. All the signs are just coincidence etc.

Many years ago after losing a very close relative I felt this exact same visitation, the definite pressure, the comfort and knowing I was awake and thinking what is this? I dismissed it as grief and an overactive mind.

However after losing both of my parents I had some excellent bereavement counseling. At some point during these sessions she asked me what is the harm in opening your mind? Just thinking it could be possible doesn't mean that it is.

And I have done this, when I feel or experience something that my logical mind can't explain I just allow myself to think maybe and don't over think or deny it is possible.

I don't care what others think I don't care if its my mind, sometimes it's just what I need. And do you know, I found that allowing myself to believe that it is possible brings me comfort.

Mumtoboy123 · 10/12/2018 07:57

Take comfort from it. I remember feeling my grandad touch my foot when i was waking from a sleep on the sofa. I could have sworn he also told me to get some rest. I was 16 and waiting to go and get my mum from hospital following major surgery, i was about to be her carer. I know i would have struggled to keep going if that hadnt happened. He had died in the october and this happened early december.

AlwaysSomethingThere · 10/12/2018 08:03

I believe it was a loved one and when the shock wears off I hope you'll be glad it happened and that it brings you comfort xx

Miscible · 10/12/2018 08:06

Clearly a sleep hallucination.

StoppinBy · 10/12/2018 08:09

I am not a real believer either but I think there must be something.

I lost a close friend to cancer, the week he passed I got a bank statement that was stamped on the envelope with the town he was from, which is no where near me.

I have never had a statement before or since that was even stamped at all. Somehow though this one ended up at his old home town and then was redirected to me where it was meant to be. I always check the envelopes now and 8 years later never had another one that was stamped. I like to think it was him looking out for me.

NotTheFordType · 10/12/2018 08:13

I'm the most cynical bitch ever but after my Grandma passed she "visited" me several times.

BlueJag · 10/12/2018 08:22

You must believe in energy. Places have energy good and bad.
I do believe that we can feel a presence I don't know if it was your Dad but it's likely that his energy is around those whom he loved.
This isn't religious and it doesn't have to be linked to God.
I hope you felt confort ❤️

lavs · 10/12/2018 08:26

Never posted before....testing... please reply if you see this... I believe you!

BabySharkAteMyHamster · 10/12/2018 08:26

Me, my sis and Aunt all heard my mum say my name shortly after she died.

This in in an empty room with closed doors, we were talking quietly. Just us in the house. We alll heard it loud and clear and we all immediately stopped and said what the hell.

I'm not woo at all, i've always rolled my eyes and suggested spirits are behind the presence of most spirits but we all know whst we heard that day, never heard or felt anything before or since and there's no explanation for it other than it was what it was.

RedPandaMama · 10/12/2018 08:30

The thing is that nobody actually KNOWS what happens after we die. Whether we go in the ground and that is it, we go to heaven, we're reincarnated, we stick around in spirit form to help loved ones cope... Whatever. Nobody actually knows, only guesses.

My take on these kind of things is - if you have had a positive experience, whether it was one inside your head or something paranormal. Take it as something nice and either way know your dad will always be with you in some form, whether memory or something else.

Hope you're okay and it actually sounds very comforting Flowers

lubeybooby · 10/12/2018 08:35

all sorts of weird stuff happens when people are sleepy. I've felt my cats jump on the bed when they haven't at all and that's when the majority of people report woo goings on.

I think it is related to the sleepy state rather than any kind of woo

ushuaiamonamour · 10/12/2018 08:37

I'm honestly sorry your father died, especially because it sounds as if he might have been very important to you. I hope more time will ease your loss.

But having said that, the comments are gas. I'm sometimes dumbfounded by ill-considered accusations of sexual aggression on mumsnet over the most innocuous thingsold man kissed your toddler? Sexual pervert! A male co-worker touched your neck? Sexual predator! A man gets into your bed without a by-your-leave and spoons you? Sexualoh, wait. He's only a ghost, and besides it's your father. That's all right then; spiritual revelation!

Bluntness100 · 10/12/2018 08:42

Something similar happened to me. I think it's a place between sleep and awake and yes clearly it's a dream but you think you're awake. In reality if you had been awake you'd have said something or done something immediately. The fact you waited till it was over shows it was your brain. Possibly your mums words have had a deeper impact than you thought.

I had something similar at college, I would have sworn I was awake and a man was sitting on my bed reaching out for me. But it was kid. The reality was clearly there was no man sitting on my bed, it was something my mind did, between sleep and awake.

DaffydownClock · 10/12/2018 08:46

If it brings you comfort feeling that it's your dad then surely that's all that matters?
There doesn't have to be a rational explanation for absolutely everything. I'm ambivalent about religion, neutral I guess so no thoughts either way.

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