October 31, 2016
Samhain, All Hallows’ Eve, Allhallowtide, Hallowe’en, Halloween. Trick-or-treating, bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins and of course, scary movies are all part of the traditions of the holiday. And over the last few years, I would watch horror movies to put me into the spirit of the season, the fact is, movies alone don’t frighten me. Actually, most of the time I’m giggling through them. I try not to be obnoxious about it. But back when The Ring came out here in the US, I went with the girl I was dating at the time and of course, once a phone rang on-screen, I leaned over and whispered in her ear, “Seven days…” She didn’t appreciate the humor in that.
But the reason horror movies aren’t scary to me is two-fold. First, I was practically raised on them. I honestly had forgotten about it until this year but way back in the early-to-mid 80s when video rental stores were just popping up, my dad would take us as a family to visit my maternal grandparents and family in Oceanside maybe once every couple of months. We’d all stay for the weekend and in those trips, my uncle, Jimmy/Ismael/Jose would take us to the video store and pick up a couple of horror movies for us to watch. Titles such as C.H.U.D., Q, Prom Night or even Creepshow were often playing in the VCR back in those days. I guess we became desensitized to the horror that they just became entertainment for us kids.
But the other reason why movie monsters don’t scare me, and by extension, theme park monsters don’t bother me at all is because there are things out there that can be much more frightening than a guy in costume and latex appliances. No offense to those that do that. It’s really hard work, I can vouch for that. I guess this is all just my roundabout way of saying that ghosts are real.
I know I have a few friends out there that are skeptics, that because they’ve never seen one, they’ve never encountered something that cannot be rationalized away, that they don’t exist. Just because you cannot see it doesn’t mean you can’t believe it.
And I’ve seen them. Multiple times. I’ve been with other people and as a group, we’ve seen them. And more importantly, you don’t see them sometimes but you can feel their presence. I’m not saying that because you felt a cold chill on the back of your neck that it means something. I’m talking about waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a shadow walking through the living room into the closet. And I know I was wide awake because I thought it might have been my mom and when I kept calling out to her, my dad replied asking what I wanted.
“Where’s mom?”
“She’s here in bed asleep next to me.”
I’m talking about being in the living room watching TV with my sister, middle of the afternoon. When we both suddenly felt a presence, there was somebody else in the room with us and we both turned to look and there was a shadow standing right behind the couch I was sitting on. And as soon as we both turned, it ducked behind the couch. I jumped up and went around to see who or what it was but nothing there. You can ask Veronica about it, she’ll tell you the exact same story.
I’m talking about being in a closed room where the air is still and there was suddenly a scent, very fragrant, very distinct that would hit you and suddenly be gone. The first time I recall it happening I was at home with my dad, it was just the two of us. My sister was in the hospital down in Mexico and mom was with her. Dad was lying in bed and his bedroom faced the living room, he had his bedroom doors open and I was watching TV with my back to him. He quickly sat up and asked if I could smell that?
“What? What are you talking about?”
“That perfume. It smelled like roses.”
No… I didn’t smell anything. And I turned back to the TV, he laid back down. Then a few minutes later it hit me. And he sat up again at the same time. There it was. I can’t fully explain this amazing, beautiful, aromatic scent of roses that seemed to just pass by me. It was as if someone was wearing this incredible smelling perfume had just walked past me. And as I went to try to breathe it in again, it was gone. I looked back at my dad and he just said, there it was again. Yeah, I caught it that time.
The next time I caught the aroma of something very distinct and very powerful was February 7, 2012… Most of my family and long-time friends know the timeframe. For those of you that I’ve only met in the past couple of years, that date is significant because it was the Tuesday after my dad passed away. I’ve got to be honest, I’m tearing up a bit just thinking about it again. From the time he passed away and for probably a good two or three months afterwards, I had maybe only a handful of fully sober days. That Tuesday wasn’t one of them.
I was sitting on the floor of my living room and had probably had better than a 6-pack at that point, toasting every drink to his memory. And about halfway through that last bottle it hit me.
Dad used to have this very distinct scent. I’m not talking about whatever cologne/aftershave he used (Brut or Old Spice) or his deodorant (Speed Stick). Dad had a certain, I guess body odor is the best way to describe it. There was a bit of an oily scent to him. Like motor oil, almost. Very hard to describe specifically but if you were ever around him, you’d know what I’m talking about.
So I was sitting on the floor watching TV and his aroma hit me. It lingered there with me for only about 10 seconds, enough for two deep breaths to inhale. And then he was gone… Like he just came to say goodbye.
After talking to other family members leading up to his life celebration, it sounded like he went to visit other family members in those days leading up to it. My nephews dreamt about him, one woke up in the middle of the night, sat up and said, “Grandpa!” The Hallows are the holy, the sacred, venerated. Tonight is the first night of the Allhallowtide, All Hallows’ Eve, tomorrow marks the beginning of the high holy days. All Saints Day and All Souls’ Day. Dia de Los Inocentes and Dia de Los Muertos. The belief that the veil between this life and the next is at its thinnest. The souls of the dead would visit their final resting places or their homes and are to be welcomed. It’s a celebration to their memory. Of their lives.
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