Thanks, Dave. What you say makes a lot of sense. It could very well be a product of my own imagination but that doesn't preclude that I strongly believe in the spirit world. There is definately and "energy" to a person while we are alive and I have no doubt that our "energy" continues to live on after that energy has discarded the material body. There are "scientists" that work at proving and/or identifying these energies. My aunt left me with a healthy curiosity about the subject, so at times I indulge that curiosity in a variety of ways.

But... and it's a large "BUT" ... I've purposely never gotten involved to the point of proving it to myself any more than "it" has proven "itself" to me. What I've experienced is enough.

But on the other hand...:
First, my Bible says that we "have a cloud of witnesses" around us. Second, I had an aunt that strongly believed in the spirit world and claimed to communicate with them. She claimed to have a "Spirit Guide" which is where I draw the line. This aunt also answered something for me that was very freaky. It wasn't only me that saw and heard things. We actually lived in a haunted house when I was a child. Once, I heard footsteps down the very long hallway of this house that went on and on. I screamed and she came running and took me out of the room I was in. She proceeded to tell the rest of us what she had seen. It actually corroborated what I had heard. (shiver!) It wasn't nice! Third, my oldest son and I were visited by my mom's mother's spirit. My son actually saw her. I only felt the coldness of the place where she had been sitting. Numerous times, I've smelled her smell. When I tell her to be gone, she goes. I've seen my dad's spirit, although at the time, I didn't realize who it was. Other times, I've smelled his aftershave. There were no open windows or doors or drafts where it could have traveled from another source into where I was.

Often, I have thought it strange that I have never had any manifestations of my mother, but when I stop and think about it, SHE didn't believe or didn't WANT to believe that there is communication between the spirit world and this one. Yet, I felt her strength of spirit/character when she was in the mortuary. My half-brother and his family were with me. They and my mother hadn't gotten along well at all when she was married to my dad. While at the mortuary, I tried to open her coffin and it wouldn't budge. I even called the attendant and she said that the coffin my mom was in wasn't a locking model. She couldn't explain why none of us could open it. I can! It's simple! My mother didn't want my brother or his family to see her. My mother's family also thought it in terribly bad taste... or something... to be seen after one dies.

To tell you the truth, I'm very surprised that Neil has been with me. But what it boils down to is that I don't feel worthy of his presence. Who am I that he should want to be around me? Yes, we made a connection while he was here, but I guess I never realized how strong that connection was. It's very possible that what you said before is true; that I made a small part of his life happy because I didn't judge or "tolerate." I Accepted. Neil told me that he had never discussed his homosexuality with his family. He felt that if they didn't know, it's because they didn't want to. He asked me to promise that I would never discuss it with them and I never will.

As for the spirit being able to be more than one place at one time; why not? Spirits don't have the normal constraints on them that our human bodies have. Again, the unexpectedness of Neil's presence around me just comes down to my own failure to see me as others see me. It prompts me to ask "Why me?" Why not his mother, brother, his partner... Maybe he's been with them and they just aren't sharing the experience.

You're right. To delve into the question too deeply just causes if not anxiety, then doubt. "Oh, ye of little faith!" Best to just accept what is and enjoy... No questions, no analizings. Just let it BE.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{Dave}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Have I told you lately how much I appreciate you and your mind? WOW! What an outlet you've provided for me!




<font color=blue>"Our doubts are traitors and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt" --Shakespeare</font color=blue>