This experience is one that still baffles me to this day, again, another HUGE coincidence that is simply unexplainable to some.
To be respectful of the family and person involved, I have changed the name of the individual that this blog post is about.
It starts on a summer’s day, June or July sometime around 9 or 10 years ago. I was living in my flat and my brother-in-law Russ was over, using my computer to update and print his CV. I had to pop out to pick up a parcel that had been redirected to the town post office, so I left my brother-in-law and told him I would be back in half an hour or so.
As normal, the queue for the parcel reclaim was massive and people were practically falling out of the door. I made my way to the end of the line and decided to look at my phone, what else is there to do when you are waiting?
As the queue moved along, I fumbled in my bag to grab my little red slip and my debit card for ID. I glanced up to see a man working behind the counter with bright red hair and a familiar face.
I recognised the man instantly as an old school friend from my primary years. I say friend in the loosest context, I knew of him, because he was popular for all the wrong reasons. I shall call him John Smith.
I couldn’t quite believe that John Smith was working in a post office, a nice respectable, responsible job. This sounds terribly judgemental as it had been at least 16 or 17 years since I had last seen him. Obviously a lot can change in that time.
Here is a brief history of my experience of John Smith: he was a very naughty little boy indeed and a naughty big boy too. When I started at reception, John was 2 years above me. His name was mentioned in whispers by my peers, the name John Smith sent shivers down your spine. He was always in trouble, spoke to the teachers like he didn’t care who the hell they were or what the repercussions could be, was constantly fighting other boys, picking on girls, I was (without realising it) reading his aura and if he ever came near me I would freeze or move away. I could sense that he was a troubled kid. He was unpredictable and would rage out over the slightest of things.
I had one run in with him, I seemed to of got caught in the middle of him and another scary kid in my class (James – but James was a gentle giant and he liked me) and John Smith locked James into the wrong playground, I happened to be walking behind James and thought, well, this is the end of my life as I know it. Thankfully before a fight could ensue, the teachers had sorted it out.
Anyway, I’m not quite sure what happened to John during secondary school, but I didn’t see him there much, actually I didn’t see him there at all. I’m not sure if he went.
When I met my boyfriend Craig at the age of 19, he knew exactly who John Smith was, as my boyfriend was a family friend. He told me that John’s life had not been great, the trouble had certainly followed and led to other more serious stuff involving drugs etc, you get the picture.
Suffice to say, I hadn’t thought or talked about John Smith in years and years and years. So here I am, standing in the post office parcel collection queue and there he is! I have to say that I felt quite proud for him, that it seemed that he had turned his life around.
When it was my turn, I decided to say hello and ask him if he remembered me, I didn’t feel shy anymore and thought it would actually be nice to say hello.
So as he looked at me, I was just about to open my mouth when I realised, quite embarrassingly that he wasn’t John Smith at all, or was he? I realised that it had been so long, that it may not be him, so the doubts crept in and before I knew it, he had found my parcel and I had left, without even saying anything.
As I walked back to my car I decided that it wasn’t him but just a very uncanny resemblance.
Once I got home to the flat I decided to tell Russ about it. He also knew John Smith from years back. I was still unsure of maybe if it was or wasn’t him. Russ laughed when I told him and said “I can’t really see him working in the post office Tanya” and I had to agree.
My mobile phone then started ringing; it was Craig calling me from work, so I walked into the other room.
The conversation went like this:
Me: “hi”
Craig: “hi”
Me: “What’s wrong? You sound funny?”
Craig: “I’ve just heard some really awful news”
Me: “oh my god, what’s happened?”
Craig: “You remember John Smith?”
Suddenly a cold chill descends upon me….
Craig: “He killed himself this morning”
Me: silence.
When I got off the phone, I walked into the room where Russ was working.
“Russ you won’t believe this, but Craig just called to tell me that John Smith is dead, he killed himself this morning!”.
To this day I will never ever forget how Russ looked at me; we both didn’t know what to say.
Now, I obviously know and can be certain that it was not John Smith working at the post office. What strikes me as incredible though is, I hadn’t spoke about, saw, thought about, or had anything to do with him in so many years. And the pull was so strong, the resemblance amazing! I was so certain it was him and then on closer inspection started to doubt it. The sheer fact that he was already dead at that stage, had only probably been gone a couple of hours, why had that happened to me?
As with all these experiences I will always put them down to my spirit team giving me these little pointers to remind me, all is not what it may seem on this earth.
As for John Smith, I’m certain that he is now in a happier place, where his mind can finally rest from its troubles.
Until next time,
Tanya
