“After two of my uncles died, my mom and I stayed home instead of going to the service. At around midnight, my mom started hearing the dog barking and just felt off. I was knocked out, but she had left the lights in the hallway, so she thought it’d be okay. Suddenly, the door handle to the room started rambling super hard and she thought my niño and niña had come home since there had been no one all day. But, as she looked under the door, she noticed there were no feet under the door. So basically this entire time, I was completely knocked out while the door was trying to be slammed open and I wouldn’t wake up.  Then, about a minute after it stopped, I woke up and my mom made me check to see if something was out in the hallway.  I checked and there was no one, but everything felt off and even while checking on my dog, I saw that she had peed all over and was hiding in a corner.  We did not sleep for the rest of the night.” – Anonymous

Anonymous’s memorate was stated from an experience with ghosts from their family.  It relayed the importance of visiting your loved ones and saying your goodbyes to them or else they would come to you to say goodbye. As someone who believes in ghosts, I was intrigued by Anonymous’s story. As Anonymous had a close relationship with their uncles, I believe it was almost a hard thing for both Anonymous and their uncles to process that they were suddenly gone and could not interact in person ever again; therefore, Anonymous did not attend the funeral for fear of awakening those sad emotions and the ghosts of her uncles had visited in order to make their presence known that they will always be there for Anonymous.

Although the occurrence was one of fright,  I believe this experience adds on to the traditional folkloristic look on ghosts and their intentions.  The ghosts of Anonymous’s uncles had never harmed Anonymous, their mother, or their dog.  They simply wanted to be let in or to see them.  As the ghosts recognized the terror they were causing, they even stopped their mission and left them alone.  It can be said that ghosts just want attention and company in this case because death could be lonely and that is why it is important to always visit their graves and wish them proper goodbyes.