One fall morning I got in my truck and headed to work. I noticed a strange smell of liniment, but ignored it as I partially rolled down the windows to get some fresh air. Over the years I have grown accustomed to unexplained smells, sounds and other sensations, they are just a regular part of my day. Unlike many people, I loved my daily commute. They were 30 wonderful minutes of tranquility in which I had my time and my thoughts to myself.

As I neared the highway, I rolled up the windows, and that’s when I realized I wasn’t entirely alone. I turned my head and saw an old couple occupying my back seat.

I was driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee at the time and had no children, so I had a lot of empty space in the back of my truck. Amazingly, they rode with me all the way to work.

From time to time he would look at them and finally ask them: “Is there anything you need? Can I help you with something?” They did not answer. They just stared back at me with the sad, empty expression I’ve seen on old faces in nursing homes.

They rode with me for several weeks. I had no idea how to get rid of them. It was obvious that they were miserable and alone, and even though I wanted to help them, I didn’t know what they needed or how I could help them.

Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I started seeing ghosts when I was four years old. I didn’t know they were ghosts because I was completely unfamiliar with the idea of ​​’ghosts’. For me, the people who floated in and out of my life were just as common as the people in my life who had three-dimensional bodies. Truly, the most amazing things can seem ordinary when they are all you’ve ever known.

When I was younger these ghosts were my favorite playmates. When I was older, these spirits bothered and worried me. He couldn’t understand why he was so obsessed. It didn’t matter where I lived or what I was doing, ghosts would find me.

They found me in my car, in my dining room, in my closet, and even in my shower. And when I went out, there were also ghosts, in salons and restaurants, churches and hotels; ghosts are everywhere.

These experiences really got in the way of my childhood upbringing. I grew up in a religious family that believed you lived, died, and then went to heaven. That was it, end of your story. But here I was, having a very different vision of what might happen after you died. I found out later that ghosts were simply people who, for various reasons, were trapped on the earth plane.

This was also totally contrary to what I had been taught about death and the afterlife. I found the idea that someone could be stuck here after they die a terrifying thought; but it was obviously true and he would stare me in the face regularly.

Shortly after the time that I carried the older couple for several weeks, I met a shaman who helped me understand that these ghosts needed help to cross over to the Other Side.

After someone dies, there is a certain amount of time in which they can easily cross over to the Other Side. But sometimes people are afraid of what might be on the Other Side. They have heard stories of a vengeful God, stories of hell and fiery punishment, or perhaps worst of all, that there is nothing beyond this life.

Other times someone’s death is too sudden and tragic and without realizing that they have died, they continue to live as if they still had a body. And in other cases, people become so immersed in some kind of addiction, whether it’s work or drugs, that they continue to imitate these behaviors long after they’re dead.

Once they’ve missed the chance to cross over, they often need help getting to the Other Side, from someone who can see them and act as their guide to the next dimension. That’s what I think is the most miraculous part of the story, that they knew of my ability to help them, long before I did.