Visited by the Dead

My cousin’s close friend since childhood, Tina, is a gifted medium. I’ve met her many times over the years, but until recently I hadn’t heard about her psychic abilities. However, when my cousin learned of my interest in the paranormal, she told me that I “had to talk with Tina”. My cousin assured me that she wouldn’t mind discussing some of her experiences, so naturally, that wasn’t an opportunity that I could pass on, and I followed up with her. We chatted for a while and she told me of many of her strange experiences. Tina, you see, is sometimes visited by the spirits of the departed. One of her accounts was particularly interesting to me, and I’ll recount it here.

Tina is an attractive career woman with a wonderful personality but has never married, choosing instead to remain single. A few years ago she had begun dating a gentleman named Dave that she’d met through a friend. They hit it off at their first meeting and had gone on several dates together. The relationship, although still in its early stages, was going well, and one night they had made plans to go out to dinner. Dave’s car was being repaired, so Tina offered to stop by his home to pick him up. She arrived at Dave’s home and standing on his front porch, Tina rang the doorbell. A moment later, Dave answered breathlessly, buttoning his shirt and apologizing for not being ready.

“No problem!” replied Tina, as Dave ushered her into his living room. Tina took a seat on the sofa and Dave went upstairs to put on his shoes and tie, promising to be downstairs and ready to leave in a few minutes. A few moments after Tina was seated and Dave walked upstairs, a man suddenly appeared next her on the sofa. He was neatly dressed and appeared to be in his mid-sixties, with a thinning gray hair and a kindly face. Tina would have been startled out of her wits if this was the first time such an experience had occurred; however, Tina had been through this before.

“Hello”, said the older man. As she looked at him Tina immediately saw an undeniable resemblance to her boyfriend Dave, and the relationship was confirmed when the man introduced himself as “Dave, Senior — David’s father”.

“What do you want?” asked Tina, reasonably enough.

“I want you to give my son a message for me, please”, said Dave Senior. “I’d like you to tell him that I’m very, very sorry for not believing what he told me about my brother, his uncle, when he was ten years old. Tell him that I now know that what he told me was true, and that I’m so sorry for not listening to him or believing him. Please tell him this for me.”

With that, the older man vanished from his place on the sofa next to Tina. Although this sort of thing didn’t happen every day to Tina, she had experienced these “visits” often enough before, and managed to stay relatively calm and collected. What, however, would she tell her new boyfriend? Would he think her utterly insane, or at best, some kind of weirdo, if she were to tell him what had just transpired and of his dead father’s message? Would telling him effectively end their burgeoning relationship?

These are the questions that raced through Tina’s mind, but as she heard Dave’s footsteps on the stairs she knew what she had to do. She felt a sudden responsibility to the older man, this apparition, that just visited her. Tina made up her mind to tell Dave what had happened, regardless of the consequences and how it might affect their relationship.

Dave entered the living room, straightening his tie. “Ready to go?” he said.

As Tina stood up, he could immediately see that something was the matter. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Dave asked.

“Dave, this is going to sound very strange, I know. But a man was just here and he said his name was Dave Senior, and that he was your father.”

“What? What are you talking about?” asked Dave. “My dad died two years ago.”

“I know.” replied Tina. “He told me that he had a message that he wanted to give you — something he wanted to tell you.”

“Are you serious, Tina? Because this isn’t funny!” replied Dave hotly. He was beginning to feel upset and more than a little freaked out.

“Dave, this isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened to me. I know it’s very strange, and I don’t usually bring it up to people unless I know them very well, but I sometimes get visits from…the departed.”

“This is very weird, Tina,” said Dave.

“Yes, I know. But the man who visited me looked just like an older version of you, and he said his name was Dave Senior,” Tina replied.

“Okay, well, my dad’s name was also David….” said Dave, calming down a little. “So what did he have to say to you? What was this message that he had for me?”

“Well…, said Tina,” he wanted me to tell you that he’s very, very sorry that he didn’t believe you… about what you told him when you were ten.”

Dave’s face suddenly blanched. “What?” he whispered. “What did I tell him when I was ten?”

“About your uncle, Dave. Your father’s brother. He wanted me to tell you that he was sorry that he didn’t believe you when you told him about your uncle, but that he knows now that you were telling him the truth. That’s all he said…” she trailed off.

“My God,” said Dave, sitting down. “When I was ten years old, Tina, my uncle sexually molested me. My father’s brother. I went to my dad and told him, but he became very angry and upset, and told me that I was lying, and that I was to never repeat this to anyone. And I never did. My dad is the only one that I ever told about my uncle molesting me.” With that, Dave put his face in his hands and began to sob.

Tina sat on the sofa next to Dave and cradled him in her arms as he wept. Years of sorrow and shame seemed to be pouring from him, and he cried the long, bitter tears of a wounded child.

“It’s okay, Dave,” Tina soothed. “He’s sorry for not believing you. Your dad wants your forgiveness. Forgive him, and put this to rest… and let your dad rest.”

“Okay”, said Dave, composing himself a little and wiping the tears from his eyes. “Alright, I’ll try. This is just a lot to take in… a lot to absorb. But okay. Let’s go get some dinner.”

Tina and Dave left, discussing the incident no further that evening. After some period of time passed, Dave thanked Tina. It was an open wound that Dave had been carrying for close to 40 years, and now he was finally able to begin the process of healing this wound. Tina and Dave are no longer dating, but they’ve remained close friends. Tina has had numerous other similar experiences since then and continues to receive ghostly visits and messages from the other side.

Whether this ability is a gift or curse is a subjective opinion, of course, but Tina believes that it’s the former. “If I hadn’t been able to communicate with the spirits of the dead,” she told me, “then Dave would have carried this pain for the rest of his life. The good that sometimes comes of this ‘gift’, or whatever you call it, makes it tolerable.”