Justin Rollins decided to become a soldier when he was inspired by Sept. 11. His family said he was traumatized enough that he made up his mind to serve our country. He wanted to become an Army Ranger “He came home and he came running up the stairs, “Airborne! Ranger, baby! Infantry!” His friend said he can’t remember him showing fear ever

Justin’s life was cut short after being stationed in Samara, Iraq. He tragically passed away from an IED explosion. Before he died they found puppies living in a bad place in Iraq. His buddies took photos of him playing with the puppies. After he died his family was able to see these pictures. A campaign then began to get one of the puppies he was playing with for his family. The story made headlines and actually went national. It was called ‘Operation Hero’ which turned into an issue even for politicians. The puppy was able to be brought over!

“20/20” went to the home to do a story on the dog and was able to capture something some call a miracle. Others are skeptical thinking it is what is called a lens flare which is the light flashing off the camera. The beautiful thing is that it brought peace to the family. It was a sunbeam shining down on the dog they named Hero in Justin’s backyard. The family took it as a sign that he is with them. One of the family members said “I truly, truly believe I’ll see him again, because he sent us a sign so many times that, that he’s OK things that are too astronomical to not believe,”

This is what the ABC reporter, Kimberly Launier, had to say about the event.

Sometimes when Rhonda hugged Hero she would softly pet her face and coo, “Justin, are you in there?” It was Rhonda’s gentle way of remembering their son and his last living connection to Hero. At one point, Hero wandered off and took a stroll in the backyard. All of a sudden, the clouds broke and a light began to solidify in a beam directly down on Hero — a kind of vertical halo.

You can go watch the video of the story here at ABC
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Do you want to know something paranormal (beyond the range of normal) about me?

Confession…

I probably have at the very least 500 recipe books and I bet I am most likely not anywhere close to the real number that I have. I know I have a compulsion to acquire them haha. I have a few that are more personal because they are scribble done by me while talking to family or researching recipes. One of these personal books is old and is filled with wonderful family memories.

This was my first recipe book. I spent hours sitting with family picking their brains writing down recipes. I am so happy that I was able to do this now! Several of the people who helped me fill the book up are no longer alive. I wrote down word for word what they wanted me to do to recreate the recipe. I remember sitting at the table with my Great Grandmother as she would talk to me about food on the farm and other stories. I have decided share those stories with you along with those recipes through my blog.

Haunted Chef doesn’t just mean paranormal cooking. To be haunted is to have compulsive concern with something. It can be memories that come up that are negative like post traumatic stress disorder. It can also be pleasant memories that make you smile. The word haunted is not something that always means something negative. Actual hauntings can sometimes bring peace to people who are grieving the loss of someone.

I feel blessed that I am able to share these recipes with my family and pass the information on down the line. I also feel that sharing these recipes with you is giving you an opportunity to sit at our table as extended family members. Did you know that the farthest apart anyone can be related is 40th cousin! Mathematical and genealogical studies show that the most recent common ancestor of every person alive today was someone in Europe about 600 years ago. I will go more into that in another post

This picture is a great example of being haunted by a pleasant memory. I picked up my recipe book to transcribe a recipe for you and wham there is something jogging a memory. See the snoopy sticker sticking out from behind the pages? I loved snoopy! That is why I bought a set of stickers and put them everywhere. I also had a stuffed snoopy that I slept with every night as a child. Here is a major confession for you…..I only stopped sleeping with it when I got married…. haha!!! It would have been too embarrassing to continue so I stopped. Don’t hold that against me because I know you too had a childhood something like a blanket, pillow or stuffed something 🙂 Did I make you remember something??

Hoping to haunt your table with pleasant memories!

Cathy
The Haunted Chef

A blog
Paranormal Investigation of the Frederick Army Airfield by Mick Ross

This is my second trip with the paranormal investigation team called the Society of the Haunted. This time the team was called to Frederick OK to look into claims of mysterious shadows and distant voices at an old air force hanger built during WWII. Are the shadows the spirits of pilots and paratroopers haunting the hanger and barracks?

The Frederick Army Airfield Hanger opened in September of 1942 during WWII and was inactivated in October of 1945 when the Army Air Forces were reorganized. The base was declared surplus and turned over to the Army Corps of Engineers in September of 1946. Eventually the base became a civilian airport.

To read the rest of the article click here

http://mickster.tumblr.com/post/13164827830/paranormal-investigation-of-the-frederick-army-airfield

Yesterday I went into Kroger to get a roast and forgot to bring my card with me. I have had it since they started doing the Kroger plus cards. I do not even remember the telephone number I had at that time so they cannot look it up when I forget it. I decided to go ahead and just get the roast because I needed to start dinner. On my way out I saw the customer service desk and thought maybe I could get a new card with my correct number. I went over and was going to go to one window when I noticed it was closed so I turned to go to the other window. There was a woman with kids that looked like she was waiting in line. So I waited behind her for a bit until she moved to let me by. I started to go by her and out of the corner of my eye I noticed another woman that looked like she was going go between all of us even though I was moving to the desk. I heard her say Wow. For whatever reason all the hair on my body stood up for a minute as I realized she meant that wow for me like I was being rude. She was going to cut in line but I was being rude. I was so upset by her wow that I made a rash decision to turn around and leave letting her go ahead to the desk. As I turned around to go past her she almost yelled at me well excuse you. OMG! I couldn’t believe it.

I kept going towards the car and thought about putting my roast in the car and then going back to confront her but changed my mind. I would have told her that I was waiting in line for a bit and asked her why she said wow to me for moving forward. I would have told her it bothered me so much that I decided to let her have the turn she thought she deserved. I would have told her how rude it was to speak to me that way. She didn’t know who I was or know anything about me. She didn’t know what kind of a day I had.

First of all let me say that I believe in the golden rule which is “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I didn’t go and speak my mind because I was also turning the other cheek. Confronting her could have causesd a horrible scene instead of making her have an aha moment where perhaps she would think before she speaks mean to someone.

Imagine if you will that you go into a restauraunt to eat and the waitress is sloppy, horrible and you just do not have any satisfaction with her. Do you confront her by making sarcastic remarks? Do you get up to go tell the manager? Well, asking the manager for help would be better than muttering ugly things to someone you don’t know, right? Imagine that the waitress is someone who is usually spotless, fast and efficient but this day is different. You wouldn’t know this information because you never met her before. This day she was told her father died whom she never met. It is a sore sot and she came to work because she had no choice but to go in or loose her job. Her emotions are so all over the place that she is even suicidal. Here you are upset with her and not knowing this information. Your bit of sarcasm to her and those unkind words are enough for her to take off her apron and run from the building. It is enough for her to end her life that day. Would you want that responsibility? You being the last straw tha broke the camels back causing her death?

These are things that run through my head that make me be nice to people even when they are mean. How do I know what they have going through their head to make them be mean in that moment? I don’t! So I just let things slide and turn the other cheek and walk away. I would like it if that woman came and read my blog though. Maybe she would know I am not a rude person at all and how offended that I was. Perhaps reading this would be enough for her to bite her tongue in the future?

Proverbs 15:4

A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

Matthew 12:36-37

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

James 3:8

But no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

Proverbs 12:18

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Today is my 25th wedding anniversary! We were together for almost 5 years before we got married too. I have spent over a quarter of a century in love with my husband Bill. I have had people ask me how it is possible to spend all of your life with one person. It is easy if you love them! I have had people say they could never do that because they would get bored. How can you get bored with your family? You would never get bored with your son or daughter would you?

I remember seeing my husband for the first time. It was love at first sight. Why? Well I think he was my soul mate and perhaps my soul recognized it at the time. He was working at a restaurant where I happened to be having coffee with my mother and sister. I asked someone who he was and they turned around and went to tell him. I was so smitten that I actually applied for a job just to be near him. It was the first job I ever applied for! We worked different shifts but I knew he was there sometimes. Then one day a few months after I started working my car wouldn’t start and I started bawling. I called into work for the very first time in my life to tell them I was going to be late because I had to try to find a ride. My boss took care of that by telling me he would send someone.

Guess who pulled up to pick me up? Yes it was HIM! OMG was all I could think. I couldn’t even close the door because it wouldn’t pull shut so he had to lean across me to shut it. OMG!!! What did I do?? I talked all the way to work about how other people liked him. He knew it was me I was really talking about. He was shy and I was shy. It was painful to be near him because I was so nervous. I almost could not speak to him.

After that day he started staying at work after his shift ended so we could chat for a bit. Casually one day he asked me to go out on a date. I still remember that moment. I remember every detail of that moment. What I was doing, wearing, how he looked what time it was and on and on. I had on black corduroy pants with a purple heart that I had embroidered with a white blouse. I was rolling silverware by the counter where he was sitting drinking an iced tea. I was engrossed in my task when he asked me if I would go out with him. I know my chin dropped to the floor because he told me that later. It felt like my chin dropped to the floor too …haha. I said yes of course.

The next day he picked me up for lunch and the day after that was our first date. We went out to eat and then he took me to meet his family. We went to see the movie “Class of 1984” where I have no memory of any bit of that movie. My memories are all of sitting near him. At one point I had to go to the bathroom and I am sure it was my nerves. I kept thinking OMG. After the movie he took me home where he kissed me before I got out of the car. I walked backwards towards the house talking with him and fell over the trash that my mother had put out at the curb. I was mortified and laughing to cover it up. After I got up ad dusted myself off I did something I couldn’t help. I blurted out “I love you.” Mortified again I wanted to slap myself for uttering those words. Why did I do that? OMG! Guess what he did? He said it right back to me. I love you too! That was all she wrote for us to spend all of our lives together.

For my husband…..

Today I vowed to love you,
we began a life,
As two hearts entwined,
We become man and wife.

It was always me and you,
Through work and leisure,
Building a family,
We really treasure.

There are so few who are lucky,
To have what we do,
We put family first,
Me and you were the glue.

All this time gone by,
Our children are almost grown,
Can you believe that,
Life has really flown!

Here is to another 25 years,
spending our time together,
Almost back to just you and me,
We really meant forever!

I love you!

In Minnesota an accident in August of 2011 sent two year old Jairden Loukota to the hospital. He was hit in the stomach by a golf club. When the hospital checked him out they found a cantaloupe size tumor growing in his liver that burst from the accident. Apparently he is seeing things now. This could be an indicator that he possibly had a near death experience. His Mother Megan stated “He kept asking me ‘Mom, who is that guy in the corner? There’s a guy in the corner. There’s light.” His mom thinks that it is angel but perhaps there is another explanation.

There is a range of experiences that happen with impending death. Some of these include detaching from the body, levitation, fear, peace and the presence of a light with loved ones inside the light. I had a case once where a mom took care of her adult child who had cancer for a few years before he passed away. He would ask his mom all the time who the man was sitting besides her. She would leave the room to cry because nobody was present but her. If I were in the same situation I would have been fascinated and would have asked many questions but not everyone has been exposed to the paranormal like I have. Not only was he seeing a man but his grandparents would visit him regularly. He had no idea they were no longer alive because he saw them as living. She also reported cold spots and saw shadows herself. After the passing of her son the activity continued on and off and was escalating when she finally decided to call me.

A number of the cases that I get have someone in the home that has had a near death experience. I believe that because of their brush with death it makes them more sensitive. Perhaps a doorway is open they are now a beacon for the other side to come to visit but we really do not know. Once I had a case where a woman had a near death experience and was from that point forward haunted by what seemed to be many different spirits. Those spirits were mostly negative causing her to alter her life in a way that was not healthy.

Since the beginning of time people have had near death experiences. In the earliest documented account Plato describes in The Republic a soldier’s near-death experiences which included the afterlife and even reincarnation. The scientific community has been actively doing research on near death experiences for years. They have found many people share common experiences.

Here is a list of common experiences
An awareness of being dead
A sense of peace
An out-of-body experience including hovering over your body
A tunnel
A sense of moving through a passage
Being in the light or a powerful light
Communication with the light
Beings of light and deceased loved ones
Life review and unconditional love
Knowledge about the universe and everything
A decision to return to the living body
15% or more have a hell type of experience which includes
Barren place
Darkness
Beings or shadows moving around them like blobs
The feeling that they are going to hell
Hopeless and helpless

The cause these experiences are thought by some to be hallucinations from a surge of electrical activity, neurons dying, lucid dreaming or other natural causes. Others believe that the experiences are real and the stories are confirmation of an afterlife. A study of terminally ill patients found identical surges in brain activity moments before death. Is this proof that energy surges out of the body? Is this the body’s one last ditch effort to revive the body? We do know that we are made up of energy which cannot be created or destroyed but can only be changed. Death is a transformation of that energy. The question that many people have is do retain any semblance of who we were when we were alive including memories. I happen to be a believer that our soul continues on and I have had many experiences to back it up.

As a nurse I have observed patients dying who have exclaimed things like “I was wondering when you would show up” or smile at an invisible someone who has come to apparently assist them. Even famous people exclaim interesting things as they are going through the process. A great recent example is that when Steve Jobs passed away he looked at his family then past them and his last words were then “Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow”. Jobs was according to his biographer 50/50 on if he believed in the existence of God and hoped that there was some kind of afterlife. I would like to think he saw something miraculous and that he was delighted with it!

Watch a video about Steve’s experience

You can also read more about Jairden here http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jairdenloukota

When elephants retire to a sanctuary they usually bond with another elephant to live out their final days. Tara the elephant and Bella the dog were an unusual pair and inseparable for the past 8 years. They did everything together including eating, drinking, sleeping and playing together. Even when Bella got a spinal cord injury, for three weeks Tara held vigil outside the building where Bella was being cared for.

Bella passed away last week after most likely being attacked by coyotes. Her friend Tara carried her body back to the barn where they spent much of time together. Since Bella has been buried Tara has gone back several times to visit the grave. Here is a video about their friendship that was put together in 2009

To read the tribute at the Elephant Sanctuary click this link

http://www.elephants.com/Bella/Bella.php

Here are some other unusual friendships

When Surya the orangutan met Roscoe the stray hound dog the two became best friends

When Owen a baby hippo was orphaned after the 2004 tsunami, he took up with Mzee who is a giant tortoise and 130 years old. They have their own website here:
http://www.owenandmzee.com/omweb/

Cassie the kitten was abandoned by someone who threw her into a backyard. She was so small the homeowners thought she was a rat. Moses the crow  took her under her wing and began taking care of her. Moses would pull up grubs and stick her beak into Cassie’s mouth to feed her.

Sierra was adopted by Sushi when her mother rejected her. Sierra is a tiger and Sushi is a mini pincher. Watch their relationship here

The Society of the Haunted was featured in the Norman Transcript

Who You Gonna Call?
Oct 28, 2011
by Kendall Brown

Read the article on pages 13 and 14 of the viewer but was actually printed on pages 14 and 15 of the paper

http://normantranscript.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx

Ghosts and Legends of Oklahoma’ showcases haunted history
By Mick Ross
For The Oklahoman
Published: October 25, 2011

The jury is still out for me. I’ve searched many places for ghosts. I’ve felt chills from being in the dark as my mind played tricks on me. But so far, no ghosts, no moving objects and no disembodied voices.

It’s not that I don’t want to believe; I am waiting to believe.

That’s why I so enjoyed “Ghosts and Legends of Oklahoma” by Mike Ricksecker, 37, of Yukon.

I met Ricksecker when he came to work with me as a programmer. I was surprised when he mentioned he investigated hauntings with his team, Society of the Haunted.

I found myself asking him likely the same questions he’s heard 100 times before: What have you seen? Scariest incident? He happily answered with a knowing look in his eyes.

A recent transplant to Oklahoma, I know little about the state. That’s why some of my favorite parts of Ricksecker’s book are about Oklahoma’s history. The author includes a history lesson for each place the team researched.

The stories in “Ghosts and Legends of Oklahoma” illustrate Oklahoma’s distinct times of prosperity, periods of decline and some of its darker days. Many of those dark times led to the stories and legends of the supernatural that Ricksecker writes about in his book.

Whether you believe is your choice.

Read the rest of the article here
 

http://mood.newsok.com/ghosts-and-legends-of-oklahoma-showcases-haunted-history/article/3616875

As the mother of a blind child anytime I hear a story related to blindness it touches me. Yesterday I found out about a blind dog named lily and her guide dog Maddison.  Both are in need of a home. The manager of Dogs Trust Shrewsbury UK Louise Campbell has stated she has been inundated by over 200 callers in since the story about the dogs first aired. They have been at this location since July where people would just walk by lily and Maddison’s cage. Perhaps they were intimidated by taking care of 2 large dogs?

When Lily was a puppy she had a disease called entropion which causes the eyelashes to grow inwards. The condition forced the vet to remove her eyes thus leaving her blind. After the surgery a dog named Maddison developed a special relationship with Lily. They have been best buddies and inseparable for the last 5 years. Maddison actually acts as Lily’s seeing eye dog so these two are a package that should not be separated. Even with all of the calls they have not yet gone to their forever home.

I have tried to locate Lily and Maddison but it seems the dog trust has removed their pictures and information from the website. Perhaps they feel that they have had enough interest to find a suitable home.

Go check out their website

http://www.dogstrust.org.uk/default.aspx