February 1, 2010

Ginger's Nightly Visits

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Heather Keso - Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 1978

My very first "encounter" that I had experienced was when I was about 8 or 9 years old. My parents had to make the agonizing decision to put our beloved family dog down to rest. Ginger was 16 years old at the time and was very ill. Her entire body was riddled with cancerous tumors. I was at school at the time when she was put down. When I got home and discovered she was gone it was devastating, of course. I was so sad because I didn't get to say goodbye and give her a kiss.

Ginger had a favorite blanket. She had had that blanket since she was a puppy. So I decided to put it in my closet in my bedroom so that I could have something of her close to me. But a day or two after that I was awoken in the middle of the night with scratching noises, panting, and whining from inside my closet. For a few minutes I laid there in my bed unable to move. When I finally worked up enough courage to go to the closet and open the door, Ginger was gone. I knew it was Ginger. I just knew it. Who else would it be? Ginger's nightly visits went on for about a week before I finally got an idea. I believed that if my dad burned Gingers blanket it would go up to heaven to her and she would be happy. I figured that she had really missed her blanket. She had laid on the blanket every day of her life on the same side of the couch. So I told my dad about my theory about Gingers blanket. He did burn her blanket in our wood burner. Ginger's nightly visits did stop but not for long.

One morning I was awoken to the feeling of my bed shaking. I laid there again for a few moments before I decided to look toward the foot of my bed. And there at the foot of my bed was Ginger's tail moving back and forth. I could also hear her panting and doing her famous little whine. Ginger was not a small dog so as she moved back and forth her body was rubbing against my bed and my dresser. That's why my bed was shaking. When I attempted to get a closer look Ginger vanished into thin air. The next night I had a dream. My parents and I were standing in a room that was all white. After we stood there for a while we began to notice that there was a light that was coming from the corner of the room. Then we noticed that there was something coming down this tunnel of light. As the object got closer and closer we could see that it was our Ginger. She came running to us all excited and happy. She jumped up on us and kissed us and all that. She was so happy and healthy again. It made me so happy! Then she headed back up the tunnel of light. We watched her until we couldn't see her anymore. The next morning when I woke up I told my parents about the dream. They told me that they had both had the same exact dream that night as well. I believe that Ginger was giving me the chance to say goodbye to her and to give her one last kiss. During the time when Ginger was there visiting me she had also visited my parents those nights. My mom felt her jump on to their bed and crawl in between my parents and go to sleep. She could feel Gingers body there and even feel her breath. My dad also felt her jump on the bed. She was telling us that she loved us and missed us just like we did her. I'm so happy that Ginger did come back to say her goodbyes. I knew then that she was happy and safe and healthy. She suffered no more from her sickness. It was complete peace of mind to know all of that.