Phobias and Freak-outs

[AdoramusTeChriste]

The lightening came out of his keyboard. He is a machinist, so he was  standing at the computer in a huge shop. No where near a window, and  the computer was grounded by metal that went several feet underground  because those specialty machines are expensive.
 
  =======================
 
  All the events surrounding my dad's death are extraordinary. He had  lung cancer. He lost one lung when I was a teenager and the cancer  recurred when I was in my 30's. A year before I knew about it, I  started having dreams where I would wake up unable to breath. It  happened so often I got used to it. I even dreamt I was at his grave  before I knew he was dying. It was so creepy, bugs and centipedes  crawling around an above ground tomb like they have in New Orleans. At  this same time, I was spending alot of time in prayer and meditation by  doing an Ignatian Retreat in daily life, led by my N.O. priest.
 
  Dad drove from California to tell me in person. He couldn't fly out to  IN because they won't let people use oxygen on airplanes. Oh, it was so  sad and such a short visit. But he looked really good. Then my sis flew  out to drive back with him.
 
 When they got back to CA, my  sister called to tell me that he wasn't doing well and they were  thinking about putting him in a nursing home. I got pissed and we had a  huge fight and she hung up on me.
 
 The next day was Sunday  and I was terribly distraught and had arrived extra early for Mass, so  I was quite alone while begging God for some way to deal with all the  grief and frustration (I can't stand not being able to do  something when someone is in need) when I heard the words "St. Jude"  just as clear as a bell. It was so audible I turned around to see who  was sitting behind me, but there was not one soul there except me and a  couple of my kids.
 
 So I started a novena to St. Jude (my  mom's favortie saint, btw, she preceded my dad in death) for my dad to  receive the grace of a happy death. During the novena I wrote a letter  to my dad reminiscing about all the memories I had of the time we spent  together. I urged him to call a priest and I also bought him a St. Jude  medal and had it blessed and sent it with the letter. On the 9th day of  the novena, my sister called and said that Dad showed her my letter and  invited me and my brother to use her frequent flyer miles to go out to  CA for Thanksgiving.
 
 We got there on Wednesday before  Thanksgiving ( I was so sad to leave my family back in IN, but I knew  this was what I had to do). As soon as I saw my dad, he asked me to  find him a priest. So, his sort of fiancee who was a fallen away  Catholic agreed to go to Mass with me on Thanksgiving morning. I chased  down the priest who spoke English and explained the situation and he  agreed to come see my dad on Friday afternoon.
 
 Within  walking distance of my dad's condo, there was a Catholic gift shop, so  I was able to buy a crucifix for his room. The priest came in the  afternoon and gave my dad the annointing of the sick or whatever the  N.O. call it, a plenary indulgence for the remission of sin, and he  blessed the crucifix. My dad still looked really good, so the priest  said he would come back in a few days to hear his confession. I went  back to IN and that's when I saw that the kitchen clock had stopped.
 
  We hardly ever looked at that clock because it was analog and we had so  many digital ones that were just easier to see. So we didn't bother to  replace the battery because there weren't any handy. When I got the  call from my sister that he had died, it was about 45 minutes after his  death, on the feast of St. Nicholas. It took me a few minutes to figure  out that the time of death and the time on my clock matched. I told my  sister to call the priest, and that I would call people from my end. I  spent hours on the phone because my dad knew people from all over the  country. When I finally was ready for bed, I grabbed a pillow and  headed for the couch so I wouldn't disturb dh. As soon as I laid down  and closed my eyes they flew wide open because I "saw" behind me an  amazing vision of what I guess was an angel in battle array. Bright,  bright bluish white- absolutely brilliant light was how the figure  "looked" and he just stood there completely still with a sword pointed  in my direction. When I finally summoned up the courage to turn around  to see with my eyes what I could see with my soul, he vanished.
 
  I felt so scared, but comforted at the same time, because the presence  seemed so strong and mighty and absolutely non-threatening. I felt that  my prayers for my dad's happy death had been answered.
 
 I  did not go to the funeral. I found out what time it was going to be,  and converted the time to IN time so I could be in my parish at the  same time. When I got home, my sister was on the phone. She said the  funeral was lovely and something else that was freaky (like there  hadn't already been enough). Dad's fiancee's daughter had been to some  sort of seminar by some psychic who approached her after his lecture.  This guy told fd that someone who had recently died was there with two  other presences and had a message for her. The message was that his  name was Richard, not Dick (nickname he always went by) and that he was  happy, but his legs hurt.
 
  Purgatory?
 
  Anyway, now ya' know why that movie freaked me out.
 
  I got rid of that clock because it stopped too often after that. And I  always change the batteries promptly on any that start running slow.
 
  And yes, I remember that song. It always made me sooo sad. It was just so haunting.
 

[PinoyMonk]

Kathy,
 
  Wow, that's quite a story!  The angel or whatever you saw is  something I'd only expect to hear about in campfire tales or from a  film.  That's really quite something.  Now, if I may ask,  what are EVP and this "white noise" that people are talking  about?  As well, what are their connection to your story and the  clock (if any?)??
 
  Thanks,
 
  Pinoy Monk
 
 

[DominusTecum]

I was wondering the same thing... What, exactly, is this "EVP?"

[Avalonik]

I think it stands for "Electronic Voice Phenomenon".  Like, voices of 'ghosts' (one presumes) people hear when the TV is all snow with white noise.

[Montreal_Marisa]

My first husband's  grandmother was struck by lightening on three occasions. Two of the  occurrences were when she was outside, but one was when she was in the  house. She was standing at the stove with a metal pot lid in her hand  when lightening struck the house and came out an electrical outlet  striking the lid and her. She lived to tell about it. I tried not to  stand too close to her when it stormed.

To quote James Dean: "Yer TEARING ME APAAAAAAAART!" Why, oh why did you tell me this? Oh, I am done for.  Let me understand this: the lightning came down through the wiring and  OUT OF AN ELECTRICAL OUTLET?? To STRIKE her as she  was making some -- some SOUP or something??? Do you know how many  electrical outlets I have in my house? I am already freaked about being  near windows or running water, but this -- this is inescapable.

Nothing is sacred, man.

Oh! I know what I need: a rubber room! But then I knew I needed one of those anyway! LOL

In  any case, you are a BRILLIANT woman to have stayed far, far away from  this Grandma when things got a little wet outside -- whew!

 
  Aaaaaw Vox, I didn't mean to send you into terrors.  It was a very  old house she lived in that this happened.  Maybe that had  something to do with it?  In any case, lightening rods on your  roof are always a great option, and their use should reduce your home  owner's insurance as a bonus. 
 
  I can certainly sympathize with being terrified of storms.  For me  it was tornados that scared the bejeebies out of me.  Thank God we  don't have them up here to speak of. 
 

[Brennus]

Vox,

A lot of people get hit by lightning through the telephone.  

There's nothing you can do about it. If God wants lightning to hit you it will.

I think the guy who played Our Lord in The Passion was hit by lightning during the Sermon on the Mount scene.

Pax,

Brennus

[Avalonik]

Twice, if I remember correctly.

[VoxClamantis]

The lightening came out of his keyboard. He is a machinist, so he was standing at the computer in a huge shop. No where near a window, and the computer was grounded by metal that went several feet underground because those specialty machines are expensive.

 

I'll never be the same again. Oh, woe...

[snip] Anyway, now ya' know why that movie freaked me out.

What an AMAZING story!! Describe the angel some more! Doesn't it sound like St. Michael??

 

(And again, may the souls of your parents, my Mom, and all of our ancestors who died in Christ rest in peace!)

[PinoyMonk]

What an AMAZING story!! Describe the angel some more! Doesn't it sound like St. Michael??

 
  Agreed!  I'm very curious!
 

[VoxClamantis]

Aaaaaw Vox, I didn't mean to send you into terrors. 

 

Oh, I'll survive. Somehow... LOL

 

It was a very old house she lived in that this happened.  Maybe that had something to do with it? 

 

Yeah, that's it! It was an OLD house that did it, that's my out!

 

In any case, lightening rods on your roof are always a great option, and their use should reduce your home owner's insurance as a bonus. 

 

I don't understand lightning rods. I mean, it's a big metal pole that seems to say, "HEY, sky munster, hit ME!" -- and it's stuck on top of your house. Is the science behind it this: that it leads to something away from the house or something so that electricity will follow the path of least resistance and just go to where some wires off the pole lead -- which is to say, away from your house itself and into the ground or something?

I can certainly sympathize with being terrified of storms.  For me it was tornados that scared the bejeebies out of me.  Thank God we don't have them up here to speak of. 

No matter where you go there's something, it seems. Tsunamis, earthquakes, volcanoes, the threat of melting glaciers, avalanches -- something! You escaped the tornadoes, but is there something up where you live?

 

I used to dream of tornadoes all the time (still have very occasional ones), along with all other manner of horrible thing. We get lots of tornadoes in Indiana! My little nephew, Nicholas, just told me the other day -- before the party spoken of in the Dinner with the Pixel People thread -- that he dreamed he got sucked out of his window and up into a tornado. Poor little guy!