Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Afterlife ...

I'm on leave today and it feels so darn great ... LOL! My sympathies to all of you who are working right this very minute while I'm lounging around at home with a nice hot steaming mug of aromatic coffee, well it's the 3-in-1 kind but it's aromatic all the same ... hehehe ...

I'm on leave cos I had some official matters to handle with wifey and we woke up early to get it done and to our delight, it was all completed by 9.00am and now I'm back home and have the rest of the day off :D I guess it's going to be time for wifey and me to have another of our dating sessions after I send my sons to school later.

I haven't had a date with wifey in quite a while seeing as how work has kept me pretty busy so I'm going to make the best of this off day today. I'm even going to sacrifice my afternoon naps, something I normally do when I'm on leave ... hehehe ... I guess we'll hit the malls cos we do have some stuff we've been wanting to buy for a little project we're doing. It's a secret for now. Once we get it done, I'll announce it to the world :D

On a different note, work has pretty much kept me away from blogging and the Olympics doesn't really help cos I've been spending whatever free moments I have after work catching up on the events I've missed during the day. And by the time I'm done with that it's like late night and I'm too sleepy and tired from the days work to even log on and blog hop much. I'll get to your blogs sooner or later ... hehehe ...

Do any of you believe in the afterlife? I mean, do you think there is another world that dead people go to and can 'see' us living our everyday lives from the other side of life? I know it's a totally irrelevant topic but I've been wondering about it the past couple of days. I'm not really sure such a thing as the afterlife even exists but I've had experiences to say otherwise. And yes, this might be spooky story time again ... hehehe ...

I'm a Roman Catholic, not the most active of Roman Catholics but a Roman Catholic all the same. We've had deaths in the family before, my grandparents, uncles and aunties, etc, etc and normally after the funeral services, we have this prayer session for the deceased every evening for a week and at the end of the week, they'd be a little dinner get together to celebrate the 'crossover' (for want of a better word) for the deceased.

According to the old beliefs, the spirit of the deceased would visit everyone on this final 7th day to see if we're all okay and have everything provided for and only then would they leave this plane of existence to the afterlife. Or so the story goes la. I've always believed that there is some truth to this and that my grandparents are somewhere 'up' there looking down on me. And I do have experiences to back up my beliefs.

A couple of years ago, a very close uncle of mine, someone who had a hand in my upbringing and influenced me to pursue the field of advertising that I'm in now passed away. It happened pretty unexpectedly. One minute he was fine, the next minute he was gone. We were all taken aback but accepted that it was his time. The funeral proper comes and goes and the usual seven day prayers begin at his house. He was a bachelor and lived with his sister and her family.

The seven days of prayers go about without any incidences. But on the seventh day when we had the final gathering and before the eating and all that starts, the prayers are said for the final time. While everyone is downstairs during prayers, I hear a hammer thumping against the wall. It sounds like it's coming from upstairs but I discount it as the neighbours. Why are the neighbours hammering nails into the wall for picture frames at night beats the hell of out me. And it goes on for quite a while.

Then I hear doors being opened and closed. And again it sounds like it's coming from upstairs. Now that can't be possible. No one is upstairs cos everyone is in the prayer session at the moment. I look at my cousins and they give me this 'did you hear that look?'. I look at them and shrug. Maybe it's the neigbours. We all live quite close to the neighbours and sound travels easily from house to house at times. I don't give it much thought and the prayer session finally ends.

I go outside the house to chat with my cousins and that's when we notice that both the immediate neighbours houses are empty. They're all not in. So, what was that hammering and door closing all about? My cousins and me all look at each other and in one mind, we all go upstairs and that's when the hairs on practically every part of our body stood on end.

The room door of my deceased uncle is wide open and we are VERY sure the door was closed. We're all rooted to the spot. Eventually we pick up enough courage to go into the room. Of course, being the biggest coward, I follow in at the very back (LOL) and what we see in there firms up my believe in the afterlife and that the deceased do come back on the seventh day to check on everyone before heading out to wherever it is they go.

On the floor next to my uncles bed is a toolbox that he has. He's an avid do-it-yourself guy and is forever hammering around the house doing this and that on weekends when he's home. And there on the floor was his toolbox and it was open! God, that was so freaky. He actually came back to do some of his 'handy-work' before leaving. We all ran like scared rabbits ... LOL!

And when we told the elders about it, they said it was the 'normal' things the deceased would do. And later on during the night we even smelled the perfume that he normally uses wafting through the air. And the strange thing is, no other incidences happened after that seventh day. I guess it's true, the spirit does come back for one final goodbye before it departs forever.

All I know was I was totally freaked out all night and could hardly sleep cos I was so afraid that he would come back and visit me or something. Though I know he wouldn't do me any harm but I was freaking out all the same. I am after all the worlds biggest coward when it comes to all things supernatural ... LOL!

Ok, enough blogging for now. It's time to get ready for my date with my wifey. I'll post more about our date later when I'm back. Happy working to all those who are working out there :D
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28 comments:

  1. Hi Nick!
    Wow! I am the first comment here today? Anyway, I a firm believer in afterlife too! As long as they don't manifest themselves to me, I will be glad to believe without seeing!

    ps: By the way, did you purposely pick this topic because it is ghost month now??? :P

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  2. Doesn't matter whether afterlife exists or not, the fact that we think it exists certainly make the presentlife much more interesting. Don't you think?

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  3. my friend used to tell me that their family believed in scattering sand or salt on the floor and during the seventh day, they could see footprints appear on the salt! freaky huh.. owh well, whatever it is, it's pretty cool! freaky, but cool! :D

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  4. we practice the same thing too, pray on the 7th day. but i havent experienced anything like yours Nick. i guess, the spirits of my beloved deceased family members were too nice to show themselves on the 7th day *hee*

    but yes, i do believe in the afterlife...whatever that means. :)

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  5. i believe in afterlife....
    on my mum's 7th day, my brother heard her talking to my dad in the living room.

    when he clarified with my dad the next day, my dad said he did not saw my mum or heard her.

    but my brother was very sure he heard mum...

    or maybe it was because he missed my mum too much??

    me, i have had two visions of my mum after her passing...

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  6. Well I never. I'm a believer in the after life, although I've never experienced anything like you have, and not sure I want to. I'm a coward too!
    Although I have seen mediums who have told me details about dearly parted loved ones, details which they couldn't possibly have known.

    Oh, and enjoy your day off! Don't worry about us stuck in the office and working hard...!

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  7. Hey that special project.....a new baby room maybe?

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  8. wah, enjoy your off day! I'm so mad this morning. I went to the apartment at 9.30am towait for a contractor who was supposed to come at 10am. He didn't turn up and I called his company. They said he's on MC. Nobody had the courtesy to inform me. I took leave in the morning to sit in an empty house like an idiot! They said postpone to next week but don't know which day. 3 hours have passed and still no call about the next date...

    Oh your uncle's story is quite interesting.I would be freaked out too.

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  9. Jen - Yup, you're the first commenter for the day :D

    Ya, I agree with you. I'm not fond of them manifesting in front of me too. I'd rather just hear stories than have to face it in person like I did!

    And no la it's not related to the Ghost month at all, but now that you mentioned it, it sure sounds appropriate :D

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  10. Buzzing J - First of all, welcome to my blog :D

    Yeah, it does but it kind of makes you wonder doesn't it? If there is an afterlife, what's it like? Is like a new life? Or is it like some dream world where you lounge around on clouds with wings stuck to your back? Not that I'd like to find out so soon mind you ... LOL!

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  11. Syura - Now that is freaky. Why didn't my cousins and me think of doing that. Maybe we could have captured some footprints too! It would have probably caused me some sleepless months but it sure would have been something to write about ... hehehe ...

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  12. Carol - Lucky you. I wished deceased members of my family were nice enough to have not shown signs of coming back or something ... LOL!

    That is something to think about. Just what is the afterlife?

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  13. KM - I've heard stories from my mom, that they actually saw a vision of my grandmother after her death walking into the kitchen and looking through all the cupboards. I guess it was her way of making sure we had everything after she finally left cos grandma was the one who made sure the food were all stocked up.

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  14. Tammy - LMAO! No, no, no. It's not that kind of special project. The two boys are enough to drive wifey and me up the world let alone plan for a new addition!

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  15. BT - It's good to see you venting off here. LOL! But yeah, that sucks! Haven't they heard of common decency to at least call and not let someone wait for nothing? I'd have called them back and really given them hell! I hope you got that sorted out soon. I know you're totally excited about the apartment and this sure puts a spanner on the works!

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  16. i believe in afterlife too :D Experienced it myself before...it's scary....it scared the hell out of me (i was sweating and i nearly pee on me pants,no joke! I was shaking like a leave)This is also on the 7th day after my grandma pass away..i know its only grandma..but eeee scary.

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  17. The World According To Me - Mediums, that's another strange thing which I shall post about soon. I've had some experiences with them and don't really believe them all that much but just like you, there were some things that they knew that was only known to me!

    I shall spare a moment or two for all of you who are stuck in the office working your butts off ... LOL!

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  18. Yes, I believe in the afterlife but I've never experienced anything like that before...it kind of freaks me out :-D

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  19. I have the day off too. hehehehe

    But I am sick. Big surprise.

    I fully understand the lack of blogging this week. Ive been a complete slacker myself.

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  20. man, you REALLY had time on your hands didn't you? what a long post!

    but, yes, there IS more than this life...

    boo!

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  21. i do believe the afterlife..
    though we cannot see them, some special people have the ability to communicate the 'other' living things around us..i don't think they will make up the story unless they have seen they real 'other living' things, right??
    so...how was ur date with wifey?? I hope it went well.. :)

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  22. Monica - It's not something I'd like to experience too but sometimes these things just seek me out like a magnet la ... LOL!

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  23. Meleah - Well, good for you :D Sick or not, it's still the day off right? Hehehe ...

    I think my blogging trend is going to be like this until after the Olympics.

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  24. Perry - LOL! When I have loads of time, I do tend to blabber on incoherently.

    Hmmm, I wonder what it's like over there. Not that I'm all that keen to find out just yet ... hehehe ...

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  25. Kadus Mama - I agree with you. I had an uncle who could really see 'things' walking in and out our old house that we used to stay in which leads me to an idea for my next post ... hehehe ...

    My date with wifey? It went pretty good. By the time we got home, both our feet hurt from all that walking around in the malls ... LOL!

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  26. Emelda - Yeah, the strange thing is even though it's someone we used to know, we're still spooked by it when it does happen to us. I know how you felt cos you should have seen my cousins and me run like scared rabbits down the stairs ... LOL!

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  27. Afterlife? Sometimes I believe, sometimes I don't.
    As a physicist, I say that is all about matter and energy.
    As a human being it's hard to believe that when we die everything will be coming to an end.

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  28. Cidao - LOL! I know what you mean. There are times when I think it's all bull but then when it happens to me, I find it hard to discount the fact that there is an afterlife ...

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