Background: As we sat in the middle of McDonald’s on Figueroa, I turned to my friend and asked if she had any ghost stories of her own. She let me know she had multiple, so I asked for the one she deemed most interesting, which led to this conversation.
ES: One night I’m walking down the hall of my house, and I pointed out to the end of the hall and asked my mom, “Who’s that?”
And my mom asked, “What are you talking about?”
And I was like “Who is the lady at the end of the hall?”
And my mom was like, “There’s nobody there,” and asked, “Describe her to me.”
And I said, “It’s a lady with long gray hair and a braid, and she’s saying hi to me.” And obviously, my mom freaked out because there was nobody there. She tried to figure out who it could’ve possibly been and then the next morning my dad got a phone call that his grandma had passed away in her sleep, and she always wore her hair down but when she slept, she put her hair in a braid. And so then my mom realized that was her. Coming to visit us…
Interviewer: Before she passed away?
ES: No, after she passed away.
Interviewer: But you guys weren’t aware that she had passed away when she visited?
ES: No, we didn’t know.
Interviewer: That’s interesting. Do you think that strengthened your belief or was your belief already there? Like how did that affect your belief?
ES: I was too young, but I think hearing that story as I grew up and hearing my mom say [I”ve] always had a strong connection to [my] loved ones who have passed has definitely strengthened my belief and understanding of…
Interviewer: Ghosts? Spirits?
ES: Yeah.
My thoughts: I’m still not convinced that ghosts are real; however, there didn’t seem to be a reasonable explanation for what she saw other than her great-grandma. Also, the fact that she received this information the day after, and the detail of the braid, do grant this story some credibility.
