Episode 585: Listener Tales 88
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Listening on Audible helps your imagination soar. Whether you listen to stories, motivation, any genre you love, you can be inspired to imagine new worlds, new possibilities, new ways of thinking. Maybe you'll find inspiration in the incredible true story of black female mathematicians at NASA in Hidden Figures, or the fantasy world of Throne of Glass. There's more to imagine when you listen. As an Audible member, you get to choose one title a month to keep from their entire catalog,

New members can try Audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com slash imagine or text imagine to 500-500. That's audible.com slash imagine or text imagine to 500-500. Hey, weirdos, I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this right here is Morbid.

It's Morbid Listener Tales. Brought to you by you, for you, from you, and all about you, baby. Yeah. What's up? Nothing. I mean, so much. I was like, cool. But nothing of note right now. No? Yeah, everything's just... You ever feel like you're just in a state of, with your professional life, and it just...

In suspended animation, that's what I was trying to say. What do you mean? Like everything's just on hold? You know when you get in those little lull periods where like you're waiting on certain things to happen? Yeah. You're just like, come on. Yeah. We live in different places though. You live on Earth and I live in the clouds. So...

Sometimes I don't even know when I'm in that period. I'm just like, look, a bird. It is. Honestly, you're better off up there. Down here, it's rough. Earth is not cute. It's bleak down here. You know what I heard, actually?

This isn't something I should tell you, but here we are. Oh, no. I was listening to... I was just coming off of Earth is Bleak. I was listening to Disrespectfully. It's Katie Maloney's podcast with Dana. Yeah. And they had Ariana on. And she was talking... Every week they have a segment where they put something in the basement, which we should start doing in the office. It's like... They're...

There's a fly in here fucking terrorizing us. It needs to stop. The sound of a fly just buzzity buzz buzzing makes me... It literally ignites every single one of my...

Yeah. I feel exposed. We literally opened the window for him to go outside too. I'm like, just get the fuck out. So not only is he loud and gross, but he's fucking stupid too. He is. All right. Maybe if we ignore him, he'll leave because he won't feel included. Okay. So they put something in the basement every week, which means like it's like their thing that they hate or like, fuck that. We're getting rid of it. Like we're just not going to deal with it.

with that anymore. I love that. I guess Ariana's been flying a lot because, you know, like fucking bi-coastal queen. Yeah. And she said that she's putting turbulence in the basement because like it sucks so much. And then she said that turbulence is just going to get worse, she heard, because of global warming. I mean, that makes sense because all turbulence is just like

And air is getting worse because of the warming. And you're like, hot air, cold air, like all the shit that... You know what I mean? Yeah. Because turbulence is really just like air pushing on the... Yeah. Or like...

bumps in the air kind of thing. Yeah. But turbulence is okay. Yeah, because you're Justin Jello. Because it can't knock you out of the sky. I think when I heard that, I said, don't tell Alina, don't tell Alina, don't tell Alina. And then you just told me that. But does that ever happen to you where you're like, don't tell that person that, don't tell that, and then you're like, hey, I really have to tell you something. Does that ever happen to you? Not on that level. But...

But here we are. See one thing that doesn't happen to me and one thing that doesn't happen to you. There you go. What did you say? Suspended animation. Yeah. And turbulence and telling people about it. Telling people with fears of flying about it. You're like, hey, get on a plane. Come on, get on a plane. And you're like, did you know that turbulence is only going to get fucking worse? Yeah.

There's nothing you can do about it. Listen, I didn't tell you to get on a plane. I'm not going anywhere with you. I don't have any trips planned with you as of late. Get on a goddamn plane. You should get on a plane. Go on vacation. Yeah. Just know that turbulence will be worse. After that, I can't wait.

All right. Well, I picked the listener tales this week. And I didn't even read them. You didn't read them. I was in a place, I guess, because there's a lot of like grandparents and a lot of messages and signs. It's very ash. You were in a place called space. So aren't we all? Yeah, it's true. You want to start? I do. Should I just start with the first one? Yep. Because I want to read the second one. Oh, look at that. It's perfect. Oh, my God. This is why we work so freaking well. Let's see. So this one is crazy.

Isn't that precious? It says, please keep this anon. If you read it on the podcast, you can call me T. Anon. I will do that for you, T. It says, headed

my fellow witchy spiritual spooky bitches if you read this on the pod I think I quite literally will shit my dick from excitement and maybe the shock of hearing my own story so with that being said I just got done listening to listener tales 86 where during my intent during my intent listening I was thinking about writing in this odd tale and then the story you read immediately after mentioned kachina dolls and I knew that writing this not so spooky spooky tale was a must what

With that being said, please excuse any side tangents or ramblings. Ramblings or blamblances? Ramblings I go on. The neuro spiciness is so fucking strong. I feel that on such a deep level. Feel free to cut out any parts of this story that seem redundant and I'll do my best to stay on track. We will not do that. I put this in a double space size 14 font putt-a-fuh. I mean, hopefully it's a putt-a-fuh. I am not necessarily the most tech savvy gal. It's a putt-a-fuh. It's a putt-a-fuh.

Anyways. I have a quick confession. I realized the other day that I don't even know how to make a fucking putt-a-fuh. But you like demanded it. I can't. Yes. I can't even argue that fact. That's hilarious. I was like, guys, I really would prefer if you put your stories in putt-a-fuhs because it's just like easier for me. And then I'm like, how do you make a putt-a-fuh? So.

Here we all are. Here we all are. That's who we are. We're just trying our best over here. We don't know how to do anything. Nah. Let's start with a little backstory, shall we? We shall. In April of 2021, I started a new job in a town over from where I was living. After a while of working there, one of the men on my shift caught my eye. Ooh, ooh.

No, I'm not typically one to make the first move because fuck the embarrassment that comes along with rejection. Like, excuse me while I go crawl into the deepest, darkest hole that I can find. Oh, do I have a story for you, baby? Oh my God. I won't tell it. It is a story though. It's something. Oh, I love that. Now, however, this man caught my attention enough that I started making it a point to talk to him every day, flirt with him when possible, and eventually give him my number. Good for

Good for you, T. I know. Shoot your damn shot. That's fucking amazing. It's boss bitch behavior. And I just love the fact that like they normally would never do something like this, but they did. But you're like...

I chose now. Yeah. I like that. Turns out that he had moved here from a different state about 1,500 miles away only a month before we started working at the company, and we were hired a measly three weeks apart. Even though I do wholeheartedly believe that the events in my life leading up to my employment at the same company as him were divine workings on the universe's part, I have no clue what the following events were caused by.

Throwing in a side note here before I go further on into the story, my boyfriend is the furthest thing from religious or spiritual. Very much a man of fact and believes in science and physical evidence, agnostic or atheist, if you will. After months of being friendly, talking, etc., our relationship slowly became more until by May of 2022, we were officially dating. Fast forward to November of 2023, and we take a road trip to Arizona to visit my grandma.

When we arrived, my grandma had us get settled in what used to be my grandpa's bedroom when he was on hospice before he passed away in 2018. I know. I'm sorry about your grandpa. The room has not changed at all except for the bed. All of his decorations are still hung on the walls and placed on the top of his dresser are watches, TV, and other seemingly random knickknacks.

Now, everything else to add in here, or something else to add, everything else. I have to add everything else right here. Now, something else to add in here, because I feel it is extremely important to the story, is that my grandpa worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, specifically with the Navajo tribe in the Arizona, New Mexico areas back in the 70s. During that time, he was gifted many things, including quite a few Kachina dolls. I've attached photos of what these dolls look like.

I do not believe these dolls are commonly seen out and about in stores and things, but I could be wrong. So please feel free to correct me. I never will. Live your life. I will never correct you. Live your life. Also, I've never seen a Kachina doll in a store. Regardless, unless you've seen them, you would not be able to conjure up an image in your mind because they have a very unique look to them. You are 100% correct.

On our second night visiting, while my boyfriend and I were in the bedroom getting ready for bed, he turned to me and said, can I tell you something kind of weird? I told him, of course. And he went on to say, this has only happened to me a couple times, and it has only been with a few random moments in my life. I muttered, okay, because he was starting to weird me out a bit. I've had a dream about this room before.

I whipped my head up and looked at him with my brows furrowed. What? I tried to say it as calmly as I could. He is not a spiritual woo-woo guy, so I didn't want to make him feel silly for sharing this. That's very nice of you. I know. But now I was just fully intrigued. Yeah, that doll. He motioned with a nod of his head to the Kachina doll on my grandpa's dresser that was placed to the side of the TV. That whole dresser, really. The doll, the TV, the watches laid out, that pot in the corner, and even the large fake tree that sits off to the side. I sighed.

I sat silent, looking at the belongings scattered about that are now so precious to me, waiting for more detail. I have these dreams sometimes.

This is where he really caught my attention because out of the two years we've been together, he has claimed to have only had one dream he can recall in those two years. And he also claims he doesn't dream. I think he just doesn't remember them because what kind of psychopath doesn't dream? No one. Exactly. Insert my best girlfriend eye roll here. I had a dream probably four, maybe five years ago. I know I didn't know yet. This is him talking, by the way. Yeah.

I know I didn't know you yet. Well, I don't know if I would consider it a dream, a vision maybe? It was just kind of like a close-up of that doll's face and then it zoomed out and it was the whole dresser. I can remember the doll and the setup of the dresser the best.

He shrugged as if to try and make a nonchalant comment. You said this was how many years ago? I wanted him to repeat it before I started really freaking out. Like four or five years ago? Definitely five at the most. My grandpa passed away almost exactly five years ago. Whoa. Right? I got chills when I read that. His face fell flat as if he was trying to hide any sort of signal that this had him freaked out.

We were visiting my grandma about two weeks after the five-year anniversary of his passing. I have had two other dreams about this kind of stuff in my life, he said. He told me about the other times, and I listened intently. I am still trying to figure out how he could have had multiple experiences like this and still not believe that there is something guiding us along our way or that there is a power greater than us. Have you ever seen a doll like that before? Being from a close southern area in a state near Arizona, the possibility was there, and I couldn't pretend it wasn't.

Nope. There was zero hesitation in his response. He definitely hadn't seen one of those dolls before. He dropped the conversation after that, but my head was still spinning.

That's so sweet.

You see, my grandpa is and always will be my dad. He's the only person in this world whose approval matters to me when it comes to my life partner. Maybe this was his roundabout way to ensure that I knew his approval was there. I totally think so. I fully believe that that's what that is because he knew that his approval mattered to you. Right. And he knew that you needed that. So he was like, I'm going to give it to her.

Because why else would your boyfriend have had that dream? And like even just going back to like the way that you asked him out and like you never would have really done that before. You felt confident enough to do that. That's a huge part of it. Like I feel like that's such like an intervention there. Yeah. Like something that we just can't see. Because I didn't even think about that part that you never would have shot your shot like you did with this guy. And it's like. And you went full force.

force like here's my fucking number baby like something just told me and the way that you guys started the job at the same time basically like three weeks apart like that's I don't know

I always say I don't know what I believe in. Yeah. I'm like, I sit somewhere out there. But this kind of stuff just always makes me at least think through it. And like question it a little bit. What's going on here? I don't know if you guys know this about me, but I hella believe in this shit. I don't know if you knew this. It was your grandpa. Yeah.

Or is my boyfriend simply blessed with a gift from the universe allowing him to see a glimpse of the future? Maybe. I suppose we will never know, but I like to think it's a little bit of everything. The universe giving my grandpa the opportunity to push him and I'm both in the right direction and my boyfriend's gift opening him up to a message from grandpa and the universe. I love that. I do too.

Maybe next time I'll write in about all the weird spooky things that happened in my childhood home. Walking into every cupboard in the kitchen being wide open, lights turning on and off on their own, things being thrown across the room, shelves literally flying off the walls. Yes, please do. Anyway, now that I am properly crying, thanks for reading this. Keep it weird, but not so weird that. Take it away, Ash. Not so weird that your grandpa doesn't divine intervention a boyfriend into your life? Yes! I love that. With all the love tea. Right? Isn't that...

Isn't that amazing? I love this. I love that one. And also your pictures. They're so adorable together. I'm telling you. And your dogs. It was meant to be. Also, you're wearing a dress that is made for you and you look adorable. I really love that dress a lot. I love this. Oh, and your grandpa looks like such a grandpa. I know.

Like, you know how some people, you're like, that's a grandpa. That guy's a grandpa. That grandpa gives good hugs. Yes. That grandpa's going to sneak you cookies. Yeah, and he's handsome. That's a grandpa. He's a handsome grandpa. He is a handsome guy. And grandma's a stunner. Oh, my God.

Oh, look. Did you see their wedding day picture? I literally just opened your grandpa and grandma's wedding day picture. Oh, my God. This looks like something out of old Hollywood. They are gorgeous. Wow. Oh, I love seeing old timey like photos like that. People were just so much better looking back in the day. It's true. Because it's like everyone took care of business back then like when it came to appearance. Yeah, they just did more. Yeah. As I sit here in leggings and a messy bun, I'm like people just really cared back then.

I'm sitting here in like a crusty t-shirt. We're all just sitting here. I'm wearing like a giant sweatshirt and like crusty dusty leather leggings. I literally have a foundation stain on my shirt. We're like, people just like did, you know, like get it together. People should care more about their appearance. This generation cares about what you look like.

Wow. I'm sitting here talking from a position of never giving a shit about what I walk out of the house with. No, we give a shit sometimes. Properly, yes, sometimes, but oftentimes I'm like, sorry, world. Yeah, more often than not. I'm like, it is what it is, baby. It is what it is. Oh, man.

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I picked this next one. Elena will understand this. None of you will. But I'll do my best to explain it. It reminded me of a lady that I used to live with, Judy. Yes. I could definitely see that. Yeah, this next one. I love that. All right. Listener tale. The crime next door that shaped my childhood and saved me all at once. Howdy, ladies. I started listening to your podcast a couple months ago and have made it all the way to episode 173. Whoop. Whoop.

Woo! Your stories and comedy make my very stressful job in law so much easier. And the hour trip and rush hour traffic to downtown Dallas and then hour ride home absolutely fly by to the point where I don't even want to get out of the car and go see my family. Totally kidding in case my husband or kids are listening. I love y'all.

I love y'all. I love y'all. She's like, don't worry, I love y'all. Just kidding. I've kind of been chewing on sharing my story as it happened in what used to be a very small, close-knit town, and I didn't want any family members hearing and reliving the pain of what happened, so I will use fictional names, but feel free to share my name, which is...

Christy. Christy. Christy. I love you, Christy. Christy, you rock. Never change. Never. Trigger warning in advance. This is going to be a hard one. Oh, boy. So here it is. Picture it. 1996 in Weatherford, Texas. It's the middle of the summer and we are on the fifth day of a hundred plus degree streak.

Oh, I love that. Right? Also, the nostalgia within this story is like, you can feel it. Yeah.

And so are my long-gone puppers' little footprints. Side note, his name was Shadow. Oh, Homeward Bound! Yes, after the dog in Homeward Bound, even though he was a mutt mix of Chow, Sharpay, and Rottweiler. So yeah, he was something all right. He lived a good 21-year life and was blind, deaf, and even dumber in the end, but always a good pupper. 21 years! That's a long life. That's wild! Right? But the woods are long gone and have been replaced with hoity-toity cookie-cutter houses. Wow.

It was the day of my birthday in early October of 1996, and I made a discovery that forever changed me and somewhat skewed my view of the world and those closest to you, your own family. Oh, man. When we first moved to Weatherford in 1993, I was about five, and my elderly neighbor, we'll call her Miss Ivy, and I became close friends fast. I love that. Right? Right.

When I wasn't out riding my bike around town, rollerblading at the local skating rink, checking out a million books from the library, or scaring myself trying to catch lightning bugs in the woods across from her house, I was next door at Miss Ivy's house.

She introduced me to tea cake, Salisbury steak, and tried her hardest to get me to enjoy tea, iced or hot. Yes, I know. Born, raised, and lived my entire life in Texas, and I hate tea of any kind, including sweet tea, which down here means you are a heathen. My husband hates tea of any kind, too. Oh, does he really? Yeah, he does not like tea. That's funny. And Miss Ivy fostered my love for all things horror and fantasy. Oh, Miss Ivy sounds like... She sounds awesome. Iconique. Yes. Yes.

Yes. She, too, was a huge Star Trek fan and loved Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Yeah, you got it. Look at you. I'm doing the hand thing for you. Look at that. She loved him as much as I do. We spent many rainy days on her couch reading Mary Higgins Clark, Dean Kuntz, Clive Cussler, and any series we could get our hands on.

Miss Ivy was like the grandmother I had lost just a year earlier that I so desperately missed and needed in my life. As my mother worked for GM and was in Detroit most of the year. And my dad, well, let's just say I'm putting it nicely, but he was not a fun person to be around. Oh, that makes me sad. I know. It makes me really sad. And I'm just so happy that you had Miss Ivy. Yeah. As the years went by, Miss Ivy, of course, aged and it got harder and harder for her to take care of herself.

I would insist on going over there three to four times a day to check on her, make her tea and meals, and make sure she was tucked in bed at night. Oh, she was lucky to have you. I know. Swans was still a big thing then, so all of her food was delivered, and I could just heat it up for her and put it on one of the awesome metal meal trays. Oh, my God. On the rare occasion my mother was home, she would cook enough for every meal each day, and I would take it over to Miss Ivy and sit with her for a while so she wouldn't be so alone. Okay.

Yeah, nah. Yeah.

I wasn't close with my mother since she was gone so often, and maybe she'd actually listen to another adult who wasn't on day 12 of a manic episode. Oh, man. I was an extra large pizza on stilts at seven, so it took me a little bit to get up and get dressed and go over to make Miss Ivy her breakfast and tea.

It was Friday and I was out of school for fall break and I just knew we'd spend the day watching Star Trek together since she knew it was my favorite of all our shows. I was humming the opening theme to Star Trek when I got to her door and knocked our secret knock per usual. Isn't this just so sweet? It's just so wholesome. Sounds like a movie. Yeah. But there was no response.

I tried again, just in case she was in the back of the house or in the bathroom. Nothing. I walked around the side of the house and noticed none of her lights were on. For her, this was way weird. She was always awake by 6 a.m., and it was currently 7.15 a.m.,

Wow.

Oh, and poor you are just like panicking. And you're just like, can you just help me find Miss Ivy, please? Yeah, like don't tell me I'm being dramatic. Like this is a big deal. You're seven. So 90s though. So 90s parents do. Like you're being dramatic. You're being dramatic. And you're like, no, this is everything to me. So I'm not being dramatic. I'm just reacting to something that is very meaningful to me at seven. And don't tell your kids they're being dramatic because they will spend years talking about it in the therapy. It's true. It's what I spent talking therapy about this morning. Yeah.

When I insisted and refused to let my mother go back to sleep, my mother said she'd go over and try to knock as well. We tried and nothing. Miss Ivy didn't have a phone, and no matter how much I insisted, my mother wouldn't let me call the police. I just knew something was wrong. She made me go home and do chores to keep me distracted and out of her hair with the promise of pizza from Pizza Hut. The stuffed crust kind had just come out the year before. OMG. That was really good. Oh, hell yeah. Pizza Hut pizza. Yeah.

We have an inside joke where we just go, you want a piece of hot pizza? You want a piece of hot pizza? And really it just means, do you want a pizza hot pizza? Yeah.

There's really no subtext to that. And now it's all your joke, too. There you go. Well, lunch came and went, then dinner and then bedtime. Each time I tried to get her to answer the door, hope the back door was open, but no, nothing. I cried myself to sleep that night thinking maybe it was me and my mom was right. Miss Ivy was fed up with me and she just wanted to be left alone. Oh, my God. My whole heart is breaking. I know.

I was so upset I only ate one small stuffed crust slice. And anyone knows that a seven-year-old chunky monkey knows that isn't normal. No.

Aww.

That, and today was Swan's delivery day. So, I waited for the delivery time at 10am since my party wasn't until 1pm. As soon as I saw the pale yellow truck coming down my street, I bolted out the front door and over to her house. The driver, Scott, smiled and waved. I told him what had happened the day before, and he too found it odd. He went to her front door and tried knocking as loud as he could, and then we both noticed it. The smell.

In case you forgot from before, it was day five of over 100 degree weather. The smell was indescribable, but once you've smelled it, you never forget, nor is there anything that ever compares to it. Death. And a metallic, sickening undertone to boot. He didn't hesitate another second and ran to my house with me to call 911. We waited, him holding me because I was sobbing while my mother was off finishing up things for the party, and who the hell knows where my dad was. Oh my god, you poor thing. I know. Shout out to Scott, the Swan delivery driver. Yeah.

It took the police about three minutes to get there, and after the backstory of the smell, the officers kicked in the front door. Both the officer and Scott tried to shield my eyes, but it was too late. I saw it all. Oh no, and this is your birthday, your eighth birthday. It's literally her eighth birthday. This is where the trigger warning comes in. Miss Ivy was in the middle of the kitchen, and all I could see was what appeared to be her eye and something that looked like a big white rock. It was her exposed skull. Oh my god.

The officer questioned all the neighbors, including us, and a neighbor two houses down remembered seeing a red Grand Prix sitting in front of her house in the wee hours of the 4th that Friday. The neighbor was a psych triage nurse at the hospital in town. So, like, that's why they were up that early. She saw it when she was leaving for her shift.

Oh, you were only seven. And I'm happy that you didn't see that.

He also turned her AC down to 50, but it was an already old unit. It was hotter than Satan's nutsack, and the unit froze over and stopped working. It took about a month, but they found out who did it. Her youngest son. What the fuck? I never even knew she had children. They never checked on her, and she never talked about them. And that's when I found out about the real Miss Ivy.

Miss Ivy was a retired ER pediatric nurse of 45 years and had three children, two boys and a girl in the middle. She used to be married to a police officer she met at the ER, but he was extremely abusive and actually went to prison for a time. Once he was out, he started looking for her again. In order to protect her children and herself, as her kids were now adults and living in different parts of the U.S., she moved from Virginia to Weatherford, Texas, and changed her name.

She cut off all contact with her children and didn't even have a phone. She remained unlisted in all the phone books, even with her new name.

The night she was killed, and this is according to her youngest son, we'll call him Teddy's confession, he went to her house. He never did disclose how he found her, but he did, sadly. He said his father was just released from prison and they had started talking. Now, Teddy already hated his mother and blamed her for all the abuse that he endured as a child at his father's hands. I left that part out, but the father abused everybody in the family.

Wow. Oh, okay. It was her fault that he abused the children. Yeah, totally. Yeah, that makes sense. Makes sense.

So, Teddy's rage and hatred deepened. Then, Daddy of the Year suggested, hey, why don't we track her down and kill her? What the fuck? I'm assuming she didn't take you or your siblings off her life insurance policies. And you know, those are really hefty since she was an ER nurse for 45 years. Oh my god. Again, he refused to disclose how he found her. But that night, he confronted her and she told him the exact opposite of everything his father had been feeding to him over the past two years. And that set him off.

He said he just felt like he stepped outside of his body and watched as he bashed her head first on the kitchen counter. And then when she was on the floor, he continued to beat her with a cast iron skillet that I forgot to put away the night before. Oh, God.

The worst part of it all was he would have only stood to inherit about $175,000 split three ways between the siblings as Miss Ivy, the angel she had always been, donated over half her policy to the ER pediatric ward at the local hospital. So all over, about $58,450. Wow.

Aww. Aww.

To not just my children, but those all around me. Sorry for such a long one in the tangents. Tangent is my middle name. Keep it weird. Love, Christy. Christy. I just thought Miss Ivy's story was so beautiful. I know it was so sad. That was like... But they're bombed. So heavy. No, I'm obsessed with their bombs. Like...

And I'm so glad that she got to have that kind of relationship with a child. Right. Without someone interfering. Exactly. And turning it into something ugly. And it's like that fucking man to abuse her forever and abuse their kids. And blame it on her. And blame it on her and convince one of the kids to kill her. It's like...

I so wonder how they found her. Yeah. Because she had put every precaution. Yeah, you wonder. It makes me so mad. But that bond that they had was just like so sweet. Oh, that just wrecked me. I know. You can host the best backyard barbecue when you find a professional on Angie to make your backyard the best around. Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well.

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So my tale is entitled Listener Tales, Guardian Angels and the Universe's Repeated Attempts to Crush Me. I almost couldn't say crush. Yeah. Sometimes my mouth doesn't want to do things. It's hard. You know, it's like, don't say that word. Yeah. But here we are. Don't say the word crush. It's hard. All of it. It's hard. It's all hard. Every part of it. Yeah, it's true.

Now, it says, hey, weirdos, I've been binging your podcast for a few months and I'm almost caught up, so I clearly love it. Thank you. You may be the best true crime podcast I've found. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my God.

Every time a Listener Tales episode comes up, I remember that I have a few stories that you might be interested in. Finally, I've managed to get some typed up. I think I've narrowed it all down to three categories. Lightly supernatural, supernaturally spooky, and bad mom, dumb criminals. This PDF contains the lightly supernatural flavor of story, and if nothing else, it may give some food for thought. I hope you enjoy. I don't know if I can say your name, so I won't say. Okay, cool. It says it here.

Literally.

My first story takes place in the early 90s. I was seven or eight and was spending the evening at my grandmother's house. She had settled me in her office in front of the small TV while she was in the den just a few steps away. My memory of this incident is minimal. I was on the floor with the TV above me on a small cabinet. If I stood, the cabinet would have been shorter than I was, and the top of the television would have been just higher than my head.

It was, as I mentioned, the early 90s, so the TV probably weighed almost as much as I did at that point. Absolutely it did. I don't know what I was watching because in my memory, I'm focused on sorting pennies. That's so cute. The rest comes from my grandmother who added that evening to her catalog of stories of the miraculous and told it many times over the next decade.

She heard some sort of noise and came to check on me. When she reached the door to the office, she saw me with my hands on the TV screen, holding it up and keeping it from crushing me. It had somehow tipped over, and despite the cathode ray weight of it, I think that's a brand. I think it's like a brand of TV. Yeah. It's like an old tube TV. Oh, man. I was keeping it balanced at a precarious angle with a single lower edge still on the stand. And this is at like seven years old. Yeah.

According to my grandmother, the only way I could have caught and supported the TV was with the help of my guardian angel. Given some of the things that happened in the future, I can't entirely argue with her. The second story was several years later. I don't remember precisely how old I was, but it was somewhere around 12 or 13. I've always had trouble falling asleep, even when I was young. I would just lie in bed, sometimes for hours, hoping exhaustion would finally drag me down.

On this particular night, I was looking at the clouds painted on my ceiling when I saw a figure at the edge of my vision. The door closest to me led to the powder room outside of my bathroom, and I could see through the door to the door from the powder room to the hall. Normally I could, at least. Now the doorway leading to the hall was filled with a tall, skinny figure.

This is scary. Okay.

I would be like, that's an intruder in my house. I'd be freaking out. I'd be fucking terrified. But just the fact that they weren't terrified? Yeah. Like, I would, yeah. That's terrifying that you weren't terrified.

But I feel like in the old house, like the house we grew up in, did you ever have experiences that you were like, I should be fucking terrified right now, but I'm not? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. It's like, it's a weird, inexplainable feeling. Yeah. No, that's scary. Just the fact that he was like, it makes me think of an It Follows.

The one scene that gets me the most, I think that movie is very scary. I think they do it really well. That movie's fucking terrifying. It's very scary. And the ghosts are very scary. But the one scene in it follows that like really like makes my stomach churn for some weird reason is when she's walking in the bedroom and that absurdly tall man just ducks under the doorway and just like follows right behind her. For some, I don't know if it's like,

he's so tall and the proximity to her how he's just like following right behind her he just jets right into the room it gets me even thinking about it right now i have chills yeah same there's so many scenes in that movie oh my god the two biggest scariest ones for me like that one scares me but not as much as the lady that pisses on the floor oh my god yeah because that's just that's horrific and then the man i think he's like naked and he's standing on the

roof yes that was scary he's just watching that that premise is terrifying it is and it's such a good fucking movie yeah well done the whole entire way they do it is like incredible very unsettling go watch it go watch it uh this isn't an ad i could see why that would remind you yeah it's just thinking about this really tall skinny skinny in a suit in a brown tweed suit yeah

In the hallway? Just with curly hair looking at you? No. Nope. Nor. I don't like it. So this says, my house had been built in the 70s and the land had likely just been pine forest before that. So I came to the conclusion that he was unlikely to be a ghost. My guardian angel, perhaps? You're putting a lot of faith in this guardian angel business because I would assume that's a ghost. I'd be like, that's a ghost.

That's a shadow figure. That's the thing. That's my sleep paralysis demon. Like that's what that is. I wonder if it was like a thing of like hindsight now you look back because in that moment I'm trying to like distinguish if like in that moment you felt like that was regarding an angel. Because I'm like wow that's impressive. It sounds more to me like it's hindsight chalking all the events up to each other. That makes sense.

Finally, my long story. I tried to find one of the articles written about this to confirm the date, but because of how long ago it was, I wasn't able to track down a digital version of the information.

My cousin S is only a couple of years older than I am. She was the youngest of her siblings, and when her parents lived in the same small Georgia town where I grew up, she and I were very close, practically sisters. They moved away to California before I was a teenager. S came back to visit when she graduated from high school, then decided to move back and attend the local community college. We started spending time together again. And while it wasn't a matter of picking up where we left off, it was still easy to regain that closeness.

The final story happened on September 20, 2000, if I'm not mistaken. If I am mistaken, then it was September 22, 1999. I got up early for my grandmother to take me to see you at the pole event that day.

See You at the Pole is a Christian student worship and prayer meeting that occurs before school one day in September. It takes place at the school flagpole and is legal as long as it is student-initiated and led. It was a gray Wednesday, and I was feeling nauseated. I don't think I stayed through the entire event and had my grandmother take me home again. While I was home in bed trying to recover, S. bought a car. It used Little Red Coupe. I was feeling a little better that afternoon, so I agreed to go to church.

S came to pick me up. Her boyfriend C in the passenger seat. Their friend R in the back seat behind C. I sat behind S. That took me a second. R, C, S. I was feeling sick again by the end of church. Oh, I'm sorry that you're feeling sick. I hate feeling nauseated. So I know you're not feeling sick in this moment, hopefully, but it makes me think of feeling nauseated. And I'm like, oh. And like not being at home too, like having a car ride in between you and your bed. Yeah, and you just want to go home.

So S took me home first. I remembered spending most of the long ride home with my face against the cold glass of the window, trying to keep from throwing up. Once home, I went inside into my room to decompress and stay near the bathroom. Normally S would have dropped me off last, because we still tried to spend as much time as we could together, but that was how it had been in previous rides when she was using my grandmother's car. Because I was sick, the order had changed.

I was still awake when I heard my mother's panicked voice on the phone. I came out to see what was going on. S had been in an accident. She had gone to take R home after me. His family was one of the richest in town, and his driveway was basically a private road. It was also newly repaved, and it had been raining that day.

Isn't that fucking insane? Holy shit.

In the backseat, R was conscious, unharmed, and able to get his seatbelt undone. He escaped through the shattered back windshield and ran home to get help. This was 2000, remember, and even for rich kids, cell phones weren't much of a thing. Our town is still in the middle of nowhere, and R's house was even further into nowhere. So even if he'd had one, there probably wouldn't have been much service. Help came. C had a broken arm and some cuts from the glass.

S was short, maybe five feet tall, and that saved her life. Oh, I'm really glad to hear that because I was worried how this was turning out. Her seat was pulled far enough forward that when the roof had crushed, it didn't also crush her head.

From what I was told, she was technically dead for a minute or two, but she made a full recovery and didn't suffer any long-term effects. Isn't that crazy? As for me, obviously I wasn't in the car, and that's what saved my life. When the car came down, it landed directly on the part of the roof behind the driver. Had I been in the car, it would have been at my chest level. I've actually visited the wreckage at the body shop before they took it off to be junked.

I was making sure none of S's stuff was left in it. The window where I had been resting my head minutes before the accident had been replaced by the metal of the roof line. If they had been in that car, they would be dead. I have something watching out for me. Something that lends me strength, that watches out for me when the monsters are coming from inside the house, and something that triggers my instinct to stay home when I need to stay safe. Guardian angel, guardian spirit, whatever you want to call it. I've seen the effects and maybe even seen the being itself.

So keep it weird, but don't keep it so weird that you ignore a literal gut feeling sent to keep you safe. I love a literal gut feeling. A literal gut feeling of making you sick. That last paragraph, though, of like, whenever you believe guardian angel, guardian spirit, I've seen the effects. Something's there. Yeah. Now I can see why you were so easily thinking that that skinny man was a guardian angel. Because before I was like, that's a ghost. But now I'm like, I remember

What a cool guardian angel. Sometimes I wonder. Just a tall man in a tweed suit. Right? Sometimes I wonder if the kid that I saw at Mom and Papa's is mine. Oh, yeah. I've always wondered that. That little doobie? Because I feel like people, like, I don't know if I would call it like a guardian angel or like a spirit guide. I think I would more call it a spirit guide.

Like, I feel like people get a set of spirit guides. Yeah. That's just like my personal belief. I like that. Yeah. I like that idea. Yeah. I'm down to think that. Right? To at least consider that. Have you ever seen a full-fledged ghost?

Seen one? I can't, I don't know because I... Do you doubt yourself? With sleep paralysis. Oh. I don't know if I've seen something or if it's been sleep paralysis. And that's the only time. I've definitely seen things out of the corner of my eye. Yeah. And I've felt things and I feel like I've maybe seen something not fully though. Okay. Like not like looking directly at it.

Add it. Yeah. And if I have, then I assume it's sleep paralysis. The only time I ever saw like full-fledged beings was one, the fucking Viking people messing with your computer. And I stand by that story today. I can still see them. I mean, I'm pretty sure there's Viking blood in our ancestry somewhere. And your computer was broken. Maybe it's our ancestors coming back to be like. And then that fucking kid.

in the room. Yeah. Like that old timey newspaper boy looking kid. Little peaky blinders. Yeah. And I can still see him. I want you to draw him. Four or five maybe. Yeah, you were young. I could draw him. I mean not well. You should draw him. Yeah, I could.

I could. I could. Maybe I fucking will. Maybe I might. But yeah, I don't know. I want to. And I feel like the reason I was able to see those like beings or whatever they are full bodied was because I was so young and you don't have the like. You're much more open to everything. Yeah, you're not closed off. But I feel open still and I want to see something good. I mean, maybe that's why my youngest saw Skeletor.

Probably. I love Skeletal. And the girls, the older girls that saw the terrifying people with the scissors. A very terrifying one. But...

I don't know. I think maybe it's a kid thing. But I'm so not ready to like have kids someday and have them see some shit and have to be the one responsible. It's an experience. Yeah, that's scary. You really learn about yourself in that moment. Right. And learn about you and your partner in that moment. Yeah, exactly. Drew will be across the continent. Just nope. Bye. When the scissors thing, John literally looked at me and he was like, tag, you're it. He was just like, I don't know what to do.

Honestly, I'll take the supernatural shit and I'll take throw up. Those two things I can handle. Hey, good. I will take one out of the two of those. I mean, I'll take two out of the two of those because you got to. But I don't like to take one of those things. Yeah, I don't. I'm not like hoping to. You just end up having to do it. Yeah.

it yeah it's just the way it is talking about kids kids man kids man well kids have mom that was a really good one though it was so good that was very interesting yeah i totally think you saw your guardian angel nick sorry i didn't want to call you the wrong name what'd you say i was like nick sorry i didn't want to call you the wrong name i was like t s no you were nick thank you nick c i

I was going to transition by saying kids have moms sometimes. And this next one is called my mom used your podcast to haunt me. I'm intrigued. And I said, what? What? And then this one had such a beautiful surprise at the end of it that I quite literally almost cried. I love that. Okay. Okay.

Hey, you spooky, wonderful ladies. My name is Bunny. Yes, you can say it. Hell, you can scream it from the rooftops. Bunny! I love that name. I love that name, too. And just a side note, I have been listening to Bunny's podcast, Dumb Blonde. Yeah.

If you're not listening to Dumb Blonde, you're dumb. She has some fascinating people on. Fascinating. Yes. I have been flying through episodes. She had, like, all the mob wives on. She had Alana Pumpkin and Honey Boo Boo on. Yeah. Like, yeah.

That was, she gets guests that are right up my alley. She had Bam Margera on. Yeah, she had Bam on. Recently, and I was like, whoa. JWoww. She gets like really good guests. And it's just like, it's an interesting conversation when she had, like she really knows how to have a conversation. With anyone. It doesn't feel like a, because it's not like a formal interview, but it's very much an interview. Yeah. But it doesn't feel interviewee. No, it feels like she's just having a conversation. Yeah. She seems very down to earth and I really like her. Yeah. So go listen to Dumb Blonde. Yeah.

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All right. Well, this bunny, though, says, maybe I'll be able to hear you since I also hail from the great Massacheche. Massacheche. I like that. I love that. Of course, I need to start this off with the obligatory fangirl gushing. I found your podcast when you were 12 leagues under the sea, an OG baby. Hell yeah. And it has been so incredibly endearing to see you both grow and prosper in this life. Aw. Elena, you've written a whole damn book. Thanks.

you i'm so excited for book two thanks plug where you can deal it uh deal it plug where you can buy it oh you can buy it uh go to the butcher game.com and you can get all the links to get it anywhere it's like everywhere target walmart amazon pre-order barnes and noble book little indie bookstores go go get it we're getting so much closer to september and you don't want to be caught in september without the butcher game

Because maybe you'll get it like a day early. Sometimes that happens when you pre-order. I can't guarantee it, but I'm just saying like sometimes that happens. That's fun. Which is always a fun surprise. And either way, you'll get it on the day. Exactly. So do it. Yeah, do it. She said, you've also dealt with great loss, but you are prospering and absolutely fucking killing it. Oh, thank you very much. Ash, you beautiful spooky gal. You found your forever person and you, by the time you read this, got married. You're a whole damn wifey for lifey now. Wifey for lifey. Thank you. Thank you.

You both are so incredibly inspiring and talented. I will always tell people to go and listen to Morbin. Aw, thank you so much. Now, this might be a long tale, but I hope you find it to be a fun ride. I attached a double space 14 point putafu for your viewing pleasure. I do apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes. My brain works faster than my fingers. No need to apologize. Not at all.

My mother, Denise, you can absolutely use her name. She absolutely would have loved it. Unexpectedly died at the end of January in 2023. I'm so sorry, bunny. It truly destroyed my entire world. I was a new mom at the time, having had my daughter six months before in August, and my dog, Gaia, passed away three months before. If a dog was a soulmate, she was mine. And I feel like dogs can be soulmates. Oh, 100%.

Oh, that's awful.

Let's go back a couple years ago. I showed my mom your podcast and she was enthralled. My mom loved all things true crime, spooky shit, and loved a cult story. We were listening to your Bridgewater Triangle episode. Oh, that was so fun. Right? Seeing I live in, is it the Copacut? I think so, yeah. Seeing I live in the Copacut woods, which is part of it. And that's how she ended up listening to every episode. She had untreated ADHD and you were her hyper fixation. She even wrote in once. Oh.

Oh my god! Which we have. Yay! I didn't even find it, you included it, so thank you, Bunny. But on this particular summer day, we were painting her apartment and we were listening to the Richard Ramirez episode. She physically gagged every time his stench or how gross of a human being he had been was mentioned. I didn't know my mom had the weak constitution of a Victorian dandy. Of a Victorian!

Victorian dandy. That is an amazing way. Wow. I love it. I know so many people that have the constitution of a Victorian dandy. Me too. So many people. Uh-huh. Lots and lots of people. That we interact with. On a daily basis. Yeah. That have the constitution of a Victorian dandy. Yeah. Fucking Victorian dandies. All right.

But anyway, I couldn't stop laughing at her. I love that. It was honestly the weirdest, happiest memory I shared with her. Now we will go back to January 2023, and it's the dreadful day I need to go through her apartment and all her little personal things, the things that made it real. I walked into her apartment, which no one was in besides me, and I hear your podcast playing through her portable speaker. But the thing is, her phone was in my house about five miles away, and my phone was off, so nothing could be connected to that speaker. What?

I listen closely, and it's the same episode that was playing the day we were painting that room. I am chilling all over my entire body right now. I got the wombs. It's like, right? I was absolutely stunned, but my mom had definitely had a flair for the dramatic, so why wouldn't she choose that one? That's amazing. A few nights later, my husband was at work, and I was sitting on the couch with my daughter in the living room.

and across the room is my daughter's nursery. Side note about my house is my husband is a bougie bitch and needs to have the fancy Alexa-controlled light bulbs in every room. Oh, John wants to do that so bad. You should. Those are cool. They're fun. My daughter and I were watching some movie, really at six months old. She wasn't watching, just me. The lights in her room start flashing on and off for about ten times. In that moment, found out my fight-or-flight response is to freeze. Oh, you too. That's mine. I just go...

And then I stay in place. I would be the first to die in a horror movie. I know. I know. Ash too. Me too. We'll die together, girl. But I nervously ask out loud, mom, if that's you, please stop. You're scaring me. And it stops immediately. Because that's your mama. And she's like, I'm not trying to scare you. I'm sorry.

Occasionally, my daughter's motion-activated toys would go off, but that did come to an end one night when I was in bed before my husband, and I got the biggest wave of warmth, and her signature perfume filled my nose. I remember muttering, I love you, Mama. Good night. Okay. That just made me choke down a sob. Yeah, there's tears in Elena's eyes right now.

Damn. And I drifted off into dreams of starlight. It's been quiet for a few months now, but here and there I'll get little hints of her saying hi, and they are always welcome. A side note, the night my mom passed, I went to bed. I don't know how long I laid there, but I remember feeling the cold, wet boop of a dog nose on my face. The boop of a dog nose. And a little nudge, the same way Gaia would always wake me up in the morning. I think my girl knew how much I needed her in that moment.

Thank you, lovely ladies, for reading my tale. Attached was the email my mom had written I found when I had to go through her things. I'm not really good at goodbyes, so I'll just say see you later. I'm obsessed with this. Her mom's listener tale, which is Denise's listener tale. Denise.

So Denise says,

Oh, that's awful. Yeah.

I had recurring nightmares of being kidnapped by a massive vulture and not having a voice to scream for help. Fast forward to 1989. I was 17, working as a cashier and enjoying life, hanging out with my friends, being single, basically carefree. This is around the time I met my first serious boyfriend. We were dating for a bit when we decided to move in together.

I was in charge of finding our apartment, so I set out to look and in my journey, I walked down the street where my first home was. I wanted to see the house and see if it still gave me the heebie-jeebies.

Whoa.

I was asleep in my bed next to my boyfriend sleeping when I heard him calling me. He wasn't quiet about it either. He made sure I heard him and woke up. He was yelling that I did this to him. I made him suffer. I was supposed to never tell anyone what he did. Oh. I tried waking up the boyfriend, but he wouldn't wake up. My quote unquote father told me he wouldn't be able to help me, so don't bother trying to wake him up. I told this piece of shit, get out of my house, and the fight ended. I was pissed and yes, scared because what the fuck was he doing in my house at 2 a.m.?

The next day after work, I met my cousin Michael at the mall like usual because that's what 17-year-olds did back then. And he told me he was sorry about my father. I asked him what he was talking about and he told me at 6.30 the previous night, he had a massive heart attack and died. What the fuck? So when she had that experience, she thought that her dad just came into her house and was yelling at her, not that he was dead. What the fuck? Yeah.

I sat there for a bit and replayed the previous night over in my head, and oh my God, it hit me like a brick to the chest. It was his spirit. I told my cousin about my experience, and he got chills. I have full chills. I do too. We sat and talked about the situation and how much my quote-unquote father hated me for outing his dark secret, and yes, it almost ruined his life. So he wasn't going to go to hell without letting me know first. Wow. Isn't that just like fucking haunting? Holy shit.

Flash forward to 2006. My husband and I were living in a tiny town 20 minute drive away from his mom and stepfather. My mother-in-law was in very poor health for a very long time so we would go visit her often. She took a liking to me because I made her favorite child happy. She would call us on our birthdays at 12.01 and sing happy birthday to us over the phone. She was a great woman who loved hummingbirds and lilacs. I know she sounds so sweet and I'm glad you had that experience with your husband's parents. I know. I know.

Up in the mountains of upstate New York, when trees knock out the power, it could take days before you get it back, so you better have a generator. My mother-in-law did. It would kick on automatically when they lost power, which happened a lot. She

She was on oxygen and the machine wouldn't work without power. Oh, that's so scary. I know. One night, a wicked bad storm came through and unfortunately, the generator did not kick on and my mother-in-law passed away. We got a call the next morning from my father-in-law that something was wrong with mom and we needed to come quick. After we got there, we checked for a pulse and called 911. They investigated and sent us home.

I fell asleep on the couch that night and started smelling lilacs. Oh, and that's such a distinct scent. It is. Half in and half out of sleep, my mother-in-law leaned over the couch and told me, make sure you take care of my baby. Oh. I told her I would, opened my eyes, and she was gone.

Fast forward to 2013, I moved to Massachusetts and took a job bartending, my career of choice for close to 25 years. Hell yeah, Denise. In a private club that was said to be haunted, which I'm like, I want to know what club this is. What club is this? You've got to tell me. Bunny right back to us. Bunny, tell us. During my job interview, that was actually a question they asked if I was afraid of ghosts. Oh my goodness. I told them, I don't bother them, they don't bother me. Yeah.

I was told the ghost was a previous owner from way long ago when the now private club was a brothel. Cool, huh? Ooh, I love those kind of tales. The best. Of times long ago. I do too. So the backstory is, and this is a fucking awesome backstory. It's...

crazy but it's like whoa the backstory is the brothel owner etta caught her husband with one of the working girls and killed him by running him over and now she's stuck there whoa etta now every time i started to shift i would say good morning etta my boss thought i was nuts but it kept her happy because she never bothered me she did bother others yeah so you were just like no judgment etta hey girl i'm just coming to work good morning

Once, the guys at the bar were talking shit about Etta and the bottle shook on the shelves. I quickly told them stop. They were pissing her off. Hell yeah.

I had only been in Massachusetts for a few weeks and was staying with family. I was again half asleep on the couch when I felt someone in the kitchen watching me. I thought it was one of the family members getting a drink, so I looked in and saw a shadow move away. It kept happening, so I got pissed and said to whomever it was, either say something or go away. Well, ladies, this older man in a gray suit and a fedora sat on a coffee table in front of me and said, you'll be fine. You're going to go through things you don't think you'll survive, but I promise you you will.

Whoa. But of course. Why do you ask? But of course.

Wow. Holy shit. And that's not like a regular name. No, not at all. You don't hear that all the time. Exactly. Exactly.

Fast forward again to August 2021. My boyfriend Ernie passed away suddenly and I was heartbroken. I tried to give him CPR, but he was already gone. Oh, man. The night he passed. He had gone through stuff. I know. You guys have gone through a lot.

The night he passed, I wouldn't come into my apartment until the next morning. I spent the next day taking care of things, making calls, and because he was so loved, everyone was stopping by and checking on me. I finally went to bed around 10.30. I had my phone next to me like always, and before I fell asleep, his text message tone, unique to Ernie only, went off. I smiled and said, goodnight, baby. That was his way of letting me know he was here.

Aww. Aww.

I was a bit rude and reminded him that he was dead, but I didn't want him to know. Hey, you're dead. Hey, excuse me. You're dead.

I tried waking up a few times, but I was having such great dreams about him with my daughter and me spending time together and laughing and joking. He passed before my daughter's wedding, which was in October, and he had been all jazzed about doing the low dance from Flo Rada. He even practiced at work and got caught by his friends. I love that. I'm obsessed. So needless to say, I know he's still here. And when I least expect it or don't know, I need him. He'll show up.

So ladies, this is why I'm haunted. I don't mind it anymore and take it as it comes. Feel free to shorten this up if you decide to use it. No way. I will continue to listen to your podcast because you guys keep me in stitches. I owe finding your podcast to my daughter who also loves the listener tales as much as I do. Thanks again, ladies. Thanks, ladies, again. Keep up the great work and keep it weird. Denise. Denise.

I felt like that one was so special. Oh, that was like so special. Yeah. And thank you, Bunny, for sending both of those in. Oh, Bunny. That was great. Like as soon as I... That one caught my attention because like my mom used your podcast to haunt me. I was like, what? And then when I read through Bunny's, I was like, oh my God, that's such a fun story. And then to find Denise's at the bottom. Yeah, that's...

That's something else. Like we've never had a tale like that. And Bunny, I love that Bunny had Denise who sounds like such a hot shit and such a cool mom.

And then also Ernie. Yeah. It sounds like you were close to Ernie and like, I'm sorry that they're both not here anymore. I know. But I'm really glad that you had that. I'm glad you had that. And it sounds like even though they're not here, here, they're here. They're here, here. I feel like Ernie and your mom will come through more and more. And reading that now, like Denise's listener tale, I'm like, oh, that's definitely Denise doing all that stuff. Because I'm like...

She's like, oh, I get to do it now? Yeah, exactly. Like, let's go. Like, you know. Oh, Denise. How special is that? Denise and Bunny. That was a great one. Right? Like, that was a really great one. That was a find. I loved that. And I love that you both love Listener Tales. I know. Thank you. We would do more if we could. So the last one that I'll read is called Listener Tale. My deceased grandma's like, hi, I'm still here, dummy. Yeah.

Hey, Ash and Elena. My name is Malin. And first of all, love your podcast. My sister, I want to make sure, Corinne. Oh, that's like a cool way of spelling that. It is. K-O-R-I-N. I like that, right? Yeah, that's really cool. Introduce me. And we've always loved all things spooky, ghostly, murdery, and are Halloween obsessed.

I quit my corporate job in 2021 to pursue my artistic plant passions, so I listen to you guys constantly while running all things for resting plant face. What a great name for a company. That's amazing. Thank you for keeping me abreast of all things spooky spooky and feeding my true crime ghostly fix each week. All right, now here's the puttifa attached with stories of Grandma Josephine. And the pictures of Grandma Josephine? Baddest B. Oh, Grandma Josephine. A queen. A queen.

A literal queen. And look at the wedding picture. I'm pretty, I like, I'm obsessed with this. All these pictures are amazing. Is this you? I love. Malin, you are all amazing. Oh yeah. Malin is obsessed with Halloween and these are all her Halloween costumes. Malin's top notch. The prince one? Top motherfucking notch. The elf on the shelf is both amazing and horrifying all at once. Like I, you really killed it. These are incredible.

All right, let's begin.

Isn't that cool? I love that. Okay, here's the goods. My grandmother passed away suddenly in her sleep at the age of 67 on May 15th, 1992, when I was five. Although I was young, I'd cry for her often when I felt alone, sad, scared, which unfortunately was a lot when I was a kid. Oh, that like breaks my heart to hear that. But yay therapy for working through that.

I just felt so connected to her, even though she was only in my life a short time. I was also so afraid of the dark, would always cover my mirror before bed, and had unexplainable experiences, but also super afraid slash intrigued with the paranormal. Just a normal weirdo kid.

Skip to college, me, 2005 to 2009. I found myself in a physically and emotionally abusive relationship. I'm sorry. I know, me too. During the super dark period, I would see a ton of red cardinals, like a shit ton, from flying past my windshield while I was driving, one physically hitting my rearview mirror while I sat in a parked car.

wood cutouts of them randomly. Like they were everywhere. It became a family joke because I would see them that often. However, at the time, I didn't understand the significance. And red cardinals are super symbolic. Yeah. Aren't they supposed to be like... It's a loved one. Yeah.

Fuck.

Yeah, you did, Malin. Hell yeah. And I was wasting my time in school. So you could imagine the joy of graduation was gone and I was just mostly beat down about it. It sucks because when you're in that, obviously, like you're, of course, like soaking in what they're saying and like it hurts. But people like that say shit like that to successful people because they're upset that they didn't do shit with their life and that they're not successful. 100%. They're threatened. And they want to see it affect you.

Because they don't want you to succeed. Yeah, and it makes them feel like they achieved something because they'll never achieve anything of importance or significance. So they have to by making you sad or feel less than. So fuck you, dickbag. Yeah, fuck you, dickbag. We hate you. It was the week before graduation on Mother's Day weekend. At the time, my family had this tradition where we'd go to my grandmother's grave on Mother's Day weekend to say hi and just talk to her.

I did not say that.

The ick was written in there. I'm just saying. That's her personal feelings. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the next day, to my knowledge, I graduated and had a lunch to celebrate. I was so emotional that day. Self-worth was low, and I remember just feeling so down that night, even though I had just accomplished this great thing.

Later that night, my mom calls me and says, hey, so I didn't want to make you sad earlier, but did you recognize the Bible verse on the program from the baccalaureate ceremony? I had no idea what she was referring to. She says the program had the verse from your grandmother's tombstone on it, and today is the anniversary of her death, May 15th. The verse was one from Isaiah. I have called you by name. You are mine.

I immediately started to cry and told my mom. I had asked grandma to give me a sign. She was still here with me while at her grave. This was my sign, and I almost missed it. Of all the Bible verses in the entire world. Like, what? And, like, just, like, even the words in that one. Like, I've called you by my name. You are mine. And the fact... That's the thing. And the fact...

Of all of them in the world, the one that's on her tombstone? Right. And on the day that she passed away, on the anniversary of her death. Like, you can't just let that go. Yeah. A lot of times I just feel like there's no such thing as coincidence. No, definitely not like that. Cut to present day, and grandma still gives me signs when I need them. Sorry, I had a hiccup. The last one was when I decided to quit my professional dance career.

I was just doing a standard cry in the shower about it. The lights flickered while I was ugly crying in the shower. And for some reason I was like, hi grandma, but also freaked out because I was home alone. The next day I'm on Google maps trying to find a halfway location point to interview someone for a job on my team at the time. My grandparents' house happened to be in the city that was the in-between point between Dallas and Fort Worth where we were to meet. I plopped the little yellow guy on the map in a random spot to see if I could find a coffee shop. To

To my surprise, the street view was in the middle of the cemetery where my grandmother is buried. No. Come on. Come on. I had to call my mom to confirm the name of the cemetery and it was. It was just another sign that she was here with me while I was going through a tough time. That's bonkers. Isn't that crazy? All of those things together. I've since talked to a medium and she told me my grandma is one of my spirit guides.

The medium gave me a specific situation that I had alone in my bedroom where I was watching this emotional ass music video where a woman had dementia and was lump in throat crying. She said my grandma was there and that I shouldn't worry about that. Like this was a private moment alone. I had not talked about it.

I'm sure she was like, get out of that relationship, idiot. Eye roll. Eye roll.

I love that she's like guiding you through all these hard times and showing up when she needs you. And she's also like, stop smoking weed. Put down the weed. Come on, Maylene. That's the devil's lettuce. And I love that everything else you're like, oh my God, grandma. And then that one you're like, I roll. Okay, grandma. All right.

Anywho, I have so much comfort knowing grandma has always been with me working through these difficult times. That must feel very comforting. Yeah. Actually. Absolutely. I also want to point out that if you do want to connect with loved ones that have passed, you just have to ask and pay attention to the signs. I love that. I'll write back someday to tell you some other spooky tales I've had. The little dead girl saying hi or the time I lived in a haunted house. Guys, you got to send these. I want these. You can send them.

You can send them all in one put-a-fo if you feel like it. Like, if it's not overwhelming to write all of that at once. We're for it. Yeah. I'm attaching a few things. Pick a beautiful grandmother Josephine. She is a queen. And she just looks like a hot shit. She looks like a hot shit. Yeah, she's slayed. Yeah, her gravestone with the verse and my program with the same verse and some of my past Halloween costumes because I go all the way out. Love y'all. Malin. Malin.

Malin. I love all these. These pictures of Grandma Josephine look like they're the most classic, like, 40s, pin-up-y, beautiful gal. And she's just smiling in all of them, like, so happy. The wedding picture in particular, she just looks so happy. I love it. I love it. And I'm pretty sure your grandpa, or whoever she married, is winking in that picture. Yeah, I was going to say he's winking in the picture. I love it.

And when I tell you guys that Malin does Halloween correctly. Oh, my God. Malin does Halloween correctly. Malin parties for Halloween. She goes all the way off. Truly. I love it. All the way off. Love, love, love. Wow. I love these listener tales so much. They were all like symbolic. I did. I love a guardian angel sign moment. She loved it. I had a moment yesterday. I texted you. Oh, yeah. I was like...

stressed out about everything in life and that we're always stressed out about that we're constantly stressed out about yeah and also my armpit was swollen so that was scary but it turns out that I just have an infected hair follicle isn't that super cute yum but I was like oh no what does this mean

And I was leaving Elena's house and I collided. I don't know if you heard me scream. No, I didn't. I collided with the largest dragonfly I have ever seen. I saw that dragonfly after you left. It was big. It hung around. Okay. And the dogs were trying to eat it out of the air. I'm glad they didn't. They didn't. Because I think I knew that dragonfly. And I like, I'm not kidding you, I collided with it. Like it like skidded across my fingers. Yeah, it was no joke. Like it.

I feel like it was trying to get my attention. And I just said to like somebody that has passed away in my life, like, hey, if that was you, like, I love you. Like, thank you. And I was like in my head kind of doubting myself like –

Who knows if that person that I love is representing themselves by colliding into me as a dragonfly. Sounds a little crazy when you word it like that. And then I'm pulling out of the street and I pull behind a car with the license plate 888, which is like an angel number. Hello. Hello. And I just, I felt comforted. And it was during a moment where you needed to be comforted. And during a moment where that particular person was.

like knew the situation and like knew how much I hate doing certain things and you know being wrapped up with certain things and they were always there for me through that. See I love that. Yeah exactly. And I believe I think that too. I think it was that person. I would and I just like immediate because that's the thing like I immediately was like all right I'm good and it was like such an inexplicable feeling of just like because I was so stressed and then it was just like

Yeah. And that's when you know like something has shifted. Yeah. Yeah. And it was funny because I got home and Drew was like, I was actually thinking of that person today. Like that's funny. Oh, that's so funny. Yeah. I love that. So I totally believe in all that stuff and I fucking love it. And they were just beautiful tails. They were gorgeous tails. I loved all of them. You all do such a great job with these. We really do. And we really love doing them. Keep sending them in. Yeah. We fucking love you. So much. You're honestly the best. You're the best part of this job. That's why we love Listener Tales so much because it's about you guys.

Yeah. And we get to read your stories and learn more about you. It's so fantastic. We just dig you. Thanks for being there. Yeah. You make this worth it. You literally make it worth it. So thank you for doing that. And we hope you keep listening. And we hope you keep it weird. But not so weird that you don't keep sending in your listener tales because we love them. We love them so much. We love you. Love, love, love. These were so emotional. You're beautiful. Bye.

If you like Morbid, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.

Scammers are best known for living the high life until they're forced to trade it all in for handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit once they're finally caught. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the host of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of some of the most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away.

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To the infamous scams of Real Housewives stars like Teresa Giudice, what should have proven to be a major downfall only seemed to solidify her place in the Real Housewives Hall of Fame. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Scamfluencers early and ad-free right now on Wondery+.