Do you believe in the supernatural?

There are an infinite number of universes existing side by side and through which our consciousnesses constantly pass. In these universes, all possibilities exist. You are alive in some, long dead in others, and never existed in still others. Many of our "ghosts" could indeed be visions of people going about their business in a parallel universe or another time -- or both.

PAUL F. ENO, Faces at the Window

Monday Questions I posted this question: "Do you believe in the supernatural?"
Here is the explanation I promised would follow my answer.

I'm not a person that believes in paranormal issues just because of the popular shows on TV (Paranormal State, Ghost Hunter, Destination Truth) or photos of superimposed images on the Web of shadows people claim to be a ghost. I never really thought of my encounter as anything "Supernatural" until years later.

The year was 1990. Hubby and I were renting a townhouse in an community of Halifax called Cowie Hill. Cowie Hill was developed during the early 1970s.

One evening, while suffering from a bad migraine, I decided to head off to bed early in hopes some sleep would ease the pain in my head. The kids were in bed sleeping soundly and Hubby was downstairs in the living room watching a hockey game. Wavering between asleep and awake, migraine still pulsating, I had a strange feeling someone was in the room with me -probably Hubby not wanting to disturb me, quietly getting ready for bed. I continued to drift deeper into sleep, in and out, in and out but mostly out. I awoke with a start. I had that odd feeling that I wasn't alone in my room. With my eyes still closed I felt beside me for Hubby but he wasn't in bed. I could still hear the hockey game on the TV in the living room so I knew I couldn't have been asleep very long. I opened my eyes slowly, my focus adjusting to the darkness of the bedroom. While my eyes were focusing, a blurry shape started to emerge from the darkness of my bedroom. More and more I was able to focus, until I saw him. There was an elderly gentleman wearing an overcoat and a felt fedora. He was leaning over me and I could see his face clear as day; he had a huge grin on his face and I could see some teeth, yellowed and rotted. I screamed for Hubby, he came running up the stairs rushing into the bedroom, flipping the light switch and lighting up the room with such a bright light it hurt my eyes.

Hubby: "What's wrong? You screamed bloody murder; scared the sh#& out of me!"
Me: "There was a man in here. He was standing beside the bed leaning over my face; I could smell his breath he was that close.

Poor Hubby. He had this strange look on his face like I had totally lost it.

Hubby: "How's your head? Do you think we should go to the Hospital?

Okay, he thinks I'm seeing things. He thinks it's something my mind manifested because of the migraine. Can I blame him? I would think he was out to lunch too.

Me: "No! I'm serious. There was an old man standing over me grinning. I swear to it!"

Hubby humors me and starts his search around the house. He looks in the closet of the bedroom, under the bed, behind the door. Checks the bathroom, kids rooms and continues his search down on the first floor. I hear him opening and closing doors then the TV goes silent and he heads up the stairs. Asks me again if I am sure I don't want to go to emerg. and be seen by a doctor. Now fully awake with just a mild headache, the migraine is getting better I decide to stay home. The image of the man in my bedroom and my memory of what I thought I saw starts to fade with the headache. I think to myself - "Ugh, that was a bad one!" -and I drift off to sleep.

The next morning the migraine hangover was wicked; the worst ever. I spent the entire morning with severe nausea and feeling really groggy and dead tired. My memory of what I thought I saw the night before was still present but not nearly as real as it was. I chalked the experience up to hypnagogia and nothing more. I never told a soul about it, only Hubby and myself knew I saw "dead people" that night.

Years later, last summer (2009) to be exact. We were at a BBQ at my mom and dad's house. All my brothers and sister, wives, hubbies, kiddies were all there for a summer shin-dig. The ladies were all sitting around on the lawn chatting about this, that and the other. My sister-in-law speaks up.

"Oh my gosh you guys! I had something really freaky happen to me this morning that I have to tell you. I was walking up stairs with a basket of laundry and I had this feeling someone was watching me. I looked over my shoulder and reflected in the living room window was an old man. He was wearing an old fashioned long coat and a old hat, his teeth were all rotted and he was smiling at me. When I looked to the spot he would be standing, there was nobody there."

My heart skipped, and my breath caught in my throat. The first thing I thought was that Hubby had blabbed my temporary insanity all those year ago. My next thought was - No, why would he do that? Neither of us have thought about that night in 19 years.

Side note: My brother and sister-in-law live in a townhouse in Cowie Hill, not far from the one we lived in in 1990.

Sis in law laughed. "You guys think I'm crazy?"

Finally, I piped up. "Did you smell an odd odor?"
Sis-in-law: "Yeah, how did you know that?"

I told everyone about my encounter that night back in 1990. The rest of the family just sat and listened, deducting the two stories were both very eerie. Especially their similarity to one another.

When I got home, I did some searching on the internet for a ghost of Cowie Hill and came up with ziltch. A few days later we all met up again at my mom and dads for Sunday dinner. My Sis-in-law told me she was telling a neighbour about the refection of the man she saw in her living room window. The neighbour told her there have been others who claim to have had an encounter with the mysterious man of Cowie Hill. Old long coat, hat, always with a grin on his face. Some smelled an odor like bad breath after their sighting.

Hubby and I moved shortly after my experience - not because we thought the house might be haunted, but because we had our car broken into twice, stolen once, and had a man expose himself to me in my backyard (not an ideal area to raise children).  And my sister-in-law hasn't talked about any more experiences in her house.  Anyway, that's my paranormal story. I'm a believer; I believe there are entities that exist but I don't think I ever would want to experience it again.

Come back next Tuesday to read about my Attic Experience in a different house.