When I was a little girl in second grade, my bed was right beside a big window. Looking at the stars at night or the clouds and sun in the morning was always a joy. My fondness for sky watching has never wavered. One night while looking out the window before going to bed I saw an angel. She was small and far away, yet crystal clear in her shape and form. She flew from left to right across the sky, her dress flowing behind her and her arms outstretched. She wasn’t looking at me, but she was there, crystal clear.
I called for my Mother who immediately rushed up the stairs.
“What is it, Jennie?”
“There!” I said pointing. “Look at that angel!”
“I don’t see anything. Where?”
“There! Right there!” I said pointing.
“Do you mean that little cloud?”
“NO! She’s flying. Can’t you see? She’s so beautiful.”
My Mother could not see. As hard as she tried, the angel was not there for her eyes. Only mine. I watched the white loveliness fly across the sky. Why had my Mother not seen her? I have held that thought and memory in my mind.
Some years later when I was child at summer camp, walking back to my cabin at night, my father appeared on the dirt road. He just stood there, looking at me. He wasn’t smiling which I didn’t understand. He stood still, not speaking or moving. Then he was gone. I thought to myself, that’s twice I have seen a spirit.
As an adult, I began to feel the presence of a loved one. Usually this happened when I was going to bed at night. The feeling was inside my body, filling my chest. It was not a light, euphoric feeling. Rather it was a heavy, comforting feeling. It always made me smile and feel good. Often it was my Grandmother or my husband’s Mother. I have not felt my own Mother, yet. I say ‘yet’, because I still feel a presence on occasion. The few people I have asked have never experienced the same thing.
On a drive to the zoo in Norfolk, Virginia, a remarkable event occurred. I was riding in the back seat of the car, with my one-year-old granddaughter beside me in her car seat. We stopped at a traffic light which was alongside a cemetery. My granddaughter immediately became excited, whipped her head around to look over at the cemetery, and began chatting away in baby talk. She was waving her arms, wiggling, and smiling. As soon as the light changed and the car began to drive away, she stopped as if nothing happened at all.
The very young do see spirits. Perhaps I have, too, because I have the heart of the very young.
About Jennie:
Jennie Fitzkee has been teaching preschool for over thirty years. This is her passion. She believes that children have a voice, and that is the catalyst to enhance or even change the learning experience. Emergent curriculum opens young minds. It’s the little things that happen in the classroom that are most important and exciting. That’s what she writes about.
She is highlighted in the the new edition of Jim Trelease’s bestselling book, “The Read-Aloud Handbook” because of her reading to children. Her class has designed quilts that hang as permanent displays at both the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia, and the Fisher House at the Boston VA Hospital.
Follow Jennie on her blog, A Teacher’s Reflections.
If you have had a strange experience or encounter that you would like to share, please get in touch with me at findme@scvincent.com (or my usual email if you already have it) and we can discuss a guest post.
I am not looking for sensationalism or fictional tales… but in light of the response to some recent posts, I think it would be both useful and reassuring to others to realise that none of us are alone in these strange encounters and experiences and perhaps we can open discussion on what they may be or may mean.
If you would like to share your story but prefer to remain anonymous, we can discuss that too. If you would like to share your beliefs and opinions on the nature of these experiences, I would be happy to talk about a guest post. Through sharing with respect we may learn to understand our world and each other a little better.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Oh I believe!!!
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If you read my latest blog you will see that I have had quite a few encounters….some more scary than others. Feel free to share Of the supernatural and paranormal 🙂
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Thanks, Inia. 🙂
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Reblogged this on The Militant Negro™.
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What a lovely story. I believe.
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A super post and yes I absolutely believe the young do see spirits x
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Thank you for sharing this, Sue!
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It is my plesure, Jennie. Thank you for writing it.
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You’re most welcome.
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Reblogged this on A Teacher's Reflections.
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Beautiful share, Jennie. I too believe that children are more open to the presence of spirits, angels, and mystical beings. Like the ringing bell in the Polar Express, the ability seems to fade as we grow up and are taught not to believe. Keep believing ❤
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Beautifully said, Diana. It is much like the ringing bell in The Polar Express, being open and believing. Perhaps the heart of a child is all a believer needs. It works for me.
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The heart of a child sees a long way.
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Yes, it does.
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Being taught the reality we ‘should’ see is more than half the problem.
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Yes. That’s what I was trying to get at. And I imagine it impacts a lot more than the just the mystical. *Sign* Then we spend years trying to unlearn our “shortsightedness.”
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Many never do 😦
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Your writing, your stories and your approach to teaching reveals that you do indeed have “the heart of the very young.” Great post Jennie.
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Thank you for your kind words, Dan.
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Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
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Thank you for sharing.
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What a lovely post, Jennie and Sue. It is wonderful to feel the presence of those we love to encourage us and remind us of bygone days.
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And a reassurance perhaps that death is not the end..only a beginning.
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Jennie is the perfect guest, and this enchanting tale was a joy to read.
I will send you something on the same subject, see what you think.
Best wishes, Pete.
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She is, Pete…always a pleasure to read.
Thank you, I’ll look forward to reading that.
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Thank you for your kind words, Pete. I look forward to reading what you have to say.
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Sue, I have been seeing entities and spirits since I was a little girl, mostly early in the morning before sunrise and sometimes there would be several. They would wake me up. Sometimes they looked like real live people, but they were from many different time periods. You have a guardian angel who is close to you in times of trouble and probably all the time. Karen 🙂
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Thank you for this story, Karen. I think perhaps it is a guardian angel who can be there in different ways.
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Reblogged this on Author Don Massenzio.
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Thank you , Don.
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You’re welcome.
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I love you stories Jennie. It seems we’ve had some similar connections. It’s awe inspiring when we can see or sense that presence around us, yet someone else in the room cannot. We are gifted. ❤
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Thank you, Debby. You are absolutely right- it is awe inspiring. I think we must be gifted. I know we both have open hearts, but there must be more. A gift. Best to you!
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I thought the same thing about how your story brings about the same feelings as in “The Polar Express.” I’ve heard of this idea of babies being closer to the spiritual world, as well. Makes sense, as their minds are much more open and free than before the rest of us get at them. Kind of like the old story of a budding artist giving up after a teacher instructs them that all apples are round and red. Long before the internet filled my brain 24/7, I used to have a little bit of ESP type experiences. Interesting to learn this about you, Jennie!
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When I came by to leave a message, I was on my cellphone. I am again going to try and leave a message, Sue (and Jennie.) ❤❤
I left a message on Jennie’s blog but on the day I was preparing to head to the airport (from Columbus, Ohio heading to Phoenix, Arizona) I called ahead to tell my visiting Mom and Aunt who were in Arizona, at my beloved grandfather’s hospital bedside. They told me he had stayed awake off and on all night. Mom told him about me, his oldest granddaughter, and being married with a six month old baby. She went on to start to cry, she said they sang his favourite songs and he fell asleep peacefully dying. I sobbed. I was very close to my Grandpa. He wrote me words of wisdom, lots of letters and postcards.
I laid on my bed and cried. It was November, 1998. I heard what I thought was a branch hitting my bedroom window. Carrie my baby girl cried out like a “hey” in her baby crib. I went to get her and carried her to the window. There was a red cardinal on a branch who seemed to be looking straight at us. I know this is strange but it burst into the cardinal’s song.
Every place I have moved, I have heard this song on the day I moved in. I have always run to the tree, pointing to him to my children now grown, and my grandchildren. I wrote a post about a special cardinal sending me messages. I won’t reveal a unique and “magical” (heavenly) message given me, when a rainy day once came along on a “moving in day.” 💞 If anyone would like to know, there is an expensive necklace which a company called the Bradford Exchange is advertising. No, I won’t purchase this not give an address. It has a crystal heart with a cardinal inside the heart. The ad says, “Messenger from Heaven.” 🕊 Thanks for listening. . .
If anyone wants to read the rest of the story, please check out my blog tags for “cardinals.”
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