Hi again!! Thanks Rondele, for sharing that experience that you had with your dad...and to me,it sounds very much that no matter where the number came from, if you felt it in your "gut" that it was your father, than it probably was. You actually made me want to explain the phone calls I got from the family friend I was talking about ..the one that actually did call me twice...
He died when I was, oh,maybe 12-13 years old...and he was a very close family friend, he and his two other brothers came regularly for haircuts(my mom's a hairdresser, as well as being very close to that family, so it was like visits every time)..and usually Brent(the soul who called me several years later) would stay long after his brothers left, and spend time with me and my family...he was an accomplished piano player,and I was just learning, so he'd come and play the piano, and just visit, and I remember so looking forward to these visits,there was always something "special" about him. Unfortunately, his brothers felt that "specialness" as a competitive thing...his mom was a singer, and both interested in music, my mom tells me now that it was obvious they were jealous of his connection with their mom, b/c they shared their love for music, and b/c of it,spent more time together than maybe they would have liked...sibling rivalry...that kind of thing...my mom also had a strong feeling that he might have been in the "closet"...and b/c of it, he was teased mercilessly by his two older brothers...it isn't a fact, or anything, but most people thought he was probably gay....which perhaps lends some insight as to why he'd kill himself(of course not the only reason, I'd bet, but I know unfortunately,his two brothers were homophobic)..b/c that's how he died, in the prime of his life...after his mom passed from cancer, not long after,losing his one close connection, he abruptly killed himself,not leaving any notes or explainations...and I remember feeling so horrible, and it was a closed casket..and the whole thing was just so sad, and at the wake, and funeral, I had such a deep sense of dread, almost..anyway....
As a young adult, I began to dream about him..and the dreams were so very vivid, and every night for a few months, there he was, and such clear,lucid dreams...we talked about so much in these dreams...and I guess this is the place to not be afraid to say anything....(I'm still so used to keeping quite about these kinds of things,and still love the freedom I have here to talk about it)...anyway, he gave me lots of information about his life, and his family....he encouraged me to"check them out"...and I did..things I could never have known...and the kicker, was our families kind of drifted apart after that...and I was telling my mother about what I had dreamt, and asked her to please try and contact the famly...without saying why, of course,to see if she could validate some of the things I was seeing..and she did,finally...curiosity got the better of her,since my grandmother was known to get "information" through dreams..she was curious, and the information I had was so specific, it wouldn't take long to find out if it was fanatsy or something else. There were so many things...but one thing he was telling me in dreams was that he was worried about his brother...and he showed me images of his brother,this particular one...and he looked grey, and he looked about nine months pregnant...it didn't make sense, until my mom asked how everyone was,and the healthy brother said that his brother(that I dreamt of being sickly) was near death, that drinking heavily all these years had a toll, his liver was so enlarged that he appeared to be "nine months pregnant"...etc...and then there were so many things...enough that my mom asked me to not include her next time.....b/c to her anything like that scares instead of fascinates her, unlike myself....anyway,one thng he kept telling me,too, was how he regretted taking his own life..and I don't want to write a book here, but everytime I started doubting my own dreams, things would happen, banging in the walls,other things that seemed almost poltergiest-like in nature, except there was no fear in me when they happened...but always kind of a self-skeptic...I was still,even after many validating things, doubting myself in some regards....and that's when I got the phone calls...during that time, I was really investigting his life,from an adult prespective...looking at old pictures, talking to any of my family about his life...and praying,praying like crazy for him, and sending as much love his way I could...b/c whenever I dreamt of him,it was extremely emotional..it was like I was feeling his feelings when he touched me by a hug or with his hands...I'd wake up and these dreams and sensations and physical activities around me stayed with me night and day...but nothing prepared me for the calls...and at first, the day before,I got a few calls,that I thought might be prank calls, except that when I picekd up the phone, it was like Rondele described, silence, deafening silence, if that makes sesne, no dial tone, nothing,and I thought prehaps it was my phone, though I had no problems before or after these calls...and the next day,another call..at first quiet, then it sounded like a crackling long distance connection...but then that cleared,and it sounded almost like he was speaking driectly in my ear it was so clear, and it was a simple message, he told me"Thank you Tanja" I broke out in goosebumps, and I had that unmistakable feeling of "presence"..and I said,"What? Who's this?" although it had been some years,I immediately recognized his voice, but still, it didn't seem possible, I knew this wasn't a dream,but real life, a real phone in my hand, and he said again,"It's me...thank you Tanja, for all of your time and energy,it helps",and then it was like he hung up, except there was no dial tone at all...none,for a while,I couldn't get one even after trying to hang the phone up on "my" end...and I sat down and was trying to process it...I thought,who could it be? But I knew his voice,like riding a bike, as soon as I heard it,I recognized it...but still,I made every excuse to myself.I told my brother, who was living with me at the time,and had been witness to alot of the banging in the walls,and things moving of their own accord, and he, too, felt no fear, and he had one dream of Brent as well, that was similar to the ones I had, setting was in a waiting room like place,and he spoke telepathically, and with visions, like rolling an old film or something...and my brother was like,of course he believed me, what he couldn't believe was that I would still doubt it myself..after uncovering info about him and his family that even my parents didn't know until afterwards, with carefully placed questions that I wrote down for my mom for when she contacted the surviving family...she had been best friends with his mom, and was surprised at what she didn't even know...anyway...the same day, as I was saying something doubting my experience, or trying to write it off,simpy b/c this kind of contact was totally new to me...alot of the things I might experience today,are similar to experiences I've had since I can remember...but as I was talking, the phone rang again,and I picked it up, and again, this time the whole call sounded like it was from far away, static-like, but not so that I couldn't hear, his voice,was still clear as a bell,and he again said,"Tanja, it IS me, and I wanted to thank you for all of your time and energy,it's helping me to...." and the sentence seemed unfinished, but the call cut out abruptly,the crackling stopped, and again,complete silence replaced it..no dial tone...after that I had no doubt, but until now I also had no place to really share this, besides with my brother, and mom who'd rather not hear about these things....
Anyway...that's why when I heard about this device in the works, it makes me really excited,...I've tried the taping ...using a recorder,and taping "spirits"..and did have luck with it, except that the messages, didn't seem to make sense, so I wasn't sure what I was picking up on, or it sounded like many voices speaking at once..but the phone calls I just talked about were something else entirely...either way, I really think that somehow, energy can be translated somehow,electronically..and I too, was thinking along the lines that laffingrain was saying..that what hope and validation a thing like that could/would bring to many who might not have had any before, about an afterlife,. and about their loved ones surviving death!....and I hope that someday we will have such a thing...unless it's somehow against those "invisible yet universal 'rules'?!"
Ok,as usual, a novelette from me....lol...I know that I truly am a broken record when I say it,but I'm so grateful for people like Bruce that put their energies into being guiding lights, so to speak,and paving the way for and/or "normalizing" some of the experiences I've had,and letting me know that I'm certainly not alone or crazy....well,the crazy part might be a matter of perspective...
...but I'm certainly not alone..I wish everyone all the best.....Tanja