This is kinda long, and not scary, and didn’t really happen to me, but I was sort of involved.

Anyway…

This is about my sister. Starting at age 16, she started getting into trouble, smokin’ pot, and hanging out with bad folks. She was a terror for my parents for a few years, grades started going down, she ended up dropping out of school after a couple of weeks into her senior year.

She was the only granddaughter on my dad’s side, and my grandfather loved her like you would not believe. My grandfather was an alcoholic for the longest time. At some point in his life, around age 45 I believe, he gave it up cold turkey. My grandfather also had a passion for chocolate labs. He had a chocolate lab by his side for as long as I knew him.

Well, after my sister dropped out of school, my grandfather went to visit her as often as he could. He would never force her hand, never talk down to her, never criticize her, never judge her. He was just there to help her and my parents out whenever he could. This went on for about 6-7 months until my grandpa got sick. During their time together, grandpa gave my sister a chocolate lab pup (she named it Marley…no, not the movie, the reggae ‘chocolate’ colored pot smoker guy). He was older, well into his 80’s by that point. He never got cancer or anything ‘serious’, just the ailments and issues of old age had finally caught up with him. He hung on for about a year, then finally passed away…doing what he could to help my sister out as long as he could.

During the course of him going to visit and his sickness (about 1.5 years), he convinced my sister to get her GED, a definite positive step. After he died (she was about 20), she kind of lost it again. She started up with pot and booze and eventually moved on to harder drugs. We finally convinced her to come live with me, a long ways away from her ‘friends’ and connections and drinking/drug buddies. During the time she lived with us, she stopped the coke, but still smoked pot and drank quite a bit, but primarily in the ‘safety’ of our home. Well, she ended up meeting a guy, who was actually a very good man. He was working and going to college, and had overcome his own set of issues growing up (parents were boozers, got divorced, got back together, got re-divorced, he ended up living with his grandparents, uncles, aunts, friends).

So this is where the ‘supernatural’ comes into the story. One night, I heard Marley start whimpering. No big deal, he did that sometimes if he needed out. My sister didn’t let him out, and I couldn’t sleep with it anymore, so I called him upstairs (from the basement) and let him out. He went outside, but didn’t go to the bathroom. I finally got him back inside, sent him down to his room…then he started whimpering again. I finally said F it and went back to bed. Next morning, my sister was up when I was, which never happened. She said she wasn’t feeling well, then asked why I turned the AC down so low. I told her I didn’t touch the AC and that her dumbass dog kept me up all night.

Next night, more whimpering from Marley. I was ticked off at this point. Stormed down to the basement, saw the light was on, and saw Marley lying in my sisters lap, who was sitting up in bed. She said that she had had a bad dream and thought someone was in the room with her. She said that when she woke up, she felt something move off of the bed. I asked her what the dream was about, she said it was about grandpa. I told her it was just a dream, and that the movement was just the dog, she claimed Marley was lying with her in the same spot all night, and was still on the bed when she woke up.

Next night…nothing, but the next morning, Marley and my sister were up early again. My sister again said she had a dream about grandpa, but this time he was holding a baby. When she woke up, she said she saw grandpa standing next to her bed, looking down on her. She was pretty freaked out, but I was not amused. Being that she was a doper and probably an alcoholic, it was tough to take stuff like this seriously.

We went a week with nothing. Then I heard the whimpering again in the middle of the night. I gave it a few minutes, and thankfully, it stopped. Next day, I went to work, went about my business, and came home to see my sister’s boyfriend’s car in the driveway. I went inside and saw my wife, sister, her boyfriend, and of course Marley, all hanging out in the living room talking and laughing. It was as happy and relaxed as I’d seen my sister in a very long time. She then told me that Marley woke her up with her whimpering again. And when she woke up, she saw grandpa again standing over her bed. He was smiling and holding a baby, a little girl. She claims he then told her that ‘there is more to live for’ then kissed the baby on the forehead, smiled at my sister one last time, then disappeared.

Nine months later, my sister had a perfectly healthy baby girl. She claims that after that night that grandpa talked to her, she never smoked or drank again. I can honestly say I haven’t seen her drink a drop since then.

After she got home from the hospital, she told me she saw grandpa one more time. She said she woke up in the night, walked to the nursery, and saw him standing over baby Abigail through the glass. When she got there, he looked at her, smiled, bent down to kiss the baby, then disappeared.

I have no idea if any of that is true or not. Or if it was just manifestations in her head to help her cope and get through tough times. Whatever it was, she turned her life around because of it. That’s enough to make me believe.