Campfire or Bonfire stories

[Murfreesboro]

Ooh, atmospheric and eerie! I love that!

The ghost train reminds me a little of the Hotel California in the old song. The passenger is enticed to board and doesn't realize he is trapped until it's too late to escape. That's a terrifying thought.

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

Thanks Murf. But now I can't get that song out of my head.

[Murfreesboro]

Sorry. I gave you an ear worm (that's what my son says the Germans call it).

[MauEvig]

Back in 2022 when I went to visit my family, my boyfriend and I camped at my mom and stepdad's little campsite.
I picked up a book at the local book shop that I used to frequent all the time as a kid to buy comics and such. It's called "Spooky New York: Tales of Hauntings, Strange Happenings and Other Local Lore" Retold by S.E. Schlosser and Illustrated by Paul G. Hoffman. I thought it might be a good book to have for some bonfire spooky stories.
Then I went and misplaced the book. The last day before I took Domino to the vet to have him put down, I held him one last time. Then I found that book. Maybe there's a reason for that? I guess I need to sit and read the stories in it.
The neat thing about the book is that it's filled with local lore surrounding New York State. I know we talk a lot about the legends that surround Virginia, but my own home state has it's own legends as well. Of course, I think Sleepy Hollow is probably the most popular.
I know I talk about Domino a lot, and he was a special kitty. It'd only been about 8 months ago that he'd died...and then I had go to through it yet again with another cat, Novah. We've had Novah for about 10 years, he had some breathing problems and vet said he had a collapsed lung. I tried desperately to save him but he faded fast and slipped away, despite being given medicine. I guess it was just his time, and perhaps he was being called home. I've pondered whether our cats still visit us in the form of ghosts or spirits, but it would be happier for me to think that they found a nice place across the rainbow bridge, and that my Grandma who was a big cat man in life, is taking care of them for me in Heaven until we get there.
That said I think animal ghosts are a thing. One of the Lexington Ghost tour tales talked about cat ghosts. I just hope the man who caused the cats to become ghosts got what he deserved! I know for you, Murf that child ghosts are the saddest, but for me it's the ghosts of animals. Maybe it's because animals retain innocence throughout their lives and they bring something special to our lives.
And actually...there IS supposedly a child ghost who haunts our elementary school.
...boy this topic got depressing didn't it?

[Murfreesboro]

I bet that New York ghost story book is fascinating.

Sometimes I think the spirit of my very first pet, a dog, visits me in my dreams. Every few years I'll dream about her, and when I do. I always know it's unnatural, that a fifty year old dog shouldn't be here, but I'm always overrjoyed to see her. One of my friends suggested that perhaps, when I dream of her, she is dreaming of me. I like that idea.

[Andybev01]

That is heartwarming.

[MauEvig]

There have been instances where I felt like a cat was near me or behind me, but I'd look and there'd be nothing there.
Does one dream in heaven? Perhaps. Perhaps dreams are one way to visit from the hereafter. I mean, maybe there's this "dreamworld" that is somewhere between the living and the world of the dead. There's a lot we don't know.
If my cats have visited me, I'd like to think they do so on occasion from Heaven so I won't feel sad that they're gone.
But I have had cats who have passed on show up in dreams too. I've had human family members show up in dreams as well. Figured I should clarify since, pets of all kinds are part of the family too. It's strange because it makes me think, "Oh you came back to life? That's awesome!" Then reality hits when you wake up. -sigh-

[TheHeadlessHorseman]

I know that everybody mourns in their own way, so I hope that what I say below doesn't offend anybody.

When we were young my mother taught us that we shouldn't mourn the relatives that have passed on, but we should celebrate their lives. We would have a peaceful and respectful funeral for them, and then we would throw a big party where we would play their favorite songs and tell stories about the way they made our lives good, and what they meant to us. My mother used to say that we put the FUN in funeral, and she was right. Some of the parties would go on for hours, and everybody had a great time while still respecting those that passed on, it's just how we were raised, and I teach my kids the same thing.

I have said before that I believe that our pets will be waiting for us in the afterlife, we have the same creator so there's no reason to doubt that, and I absolutely believe that we will be reunited with our relatives and pets one day.

[Murfreesboro]

I've been to a number of funerals that turned into family reunions/celebrations. It's easy and appropriate to do that when the deceased is an older person who has lived a full life. It's much harder if the deceased is a young person. My mother used to say that the clearest proof life is worth living is the grief an older person feels at the death of a much younger one.

[MauEvig]

I've been to a number of funerals that turned into family reunions/celebrations. It's easy and appropriate to do that when the deceased is an older person who has lived a full life. It's much harder if the deceased is a young person. My mother used to say that the clearest proof life is worth living is the grief an older person feels at the death of a much younger one.

Well, I agree with your mother on that point. Although it's still not easy to let go of an older person who died because I was sad when my step-grandma passed away and when my grandpa on my dad's side passed away, I can understand wanting to celebrate their life.

It does feel tragic when a younger individual, especially a child passes away without getting the chance to really live life and experience it.
And then there's people who experience hardships throughout their lives. I guess the best we can say about that is, at least we've tried to make the most of the lot we're dealt.

My cat Dommy was 6 years old when he passed give or take, Novah was around 10. 10 is a pretty good life although the average is a bit longer than that, around 14 I believe for cats. Both deaths were equally tragic for me. But I think part of it is because it's unexpected.

I feel like the same can be said with humans. I think when we get older, we just kind of see it coming. We don't expect a young person to die, we expect them to go to school graduate, start a career and/or family etc. Now, everyone's free to make their own life choices in that regard. And family can mean something different to one person than it may to another. The important thing is to live life to the fullest and do what makes you happy.

Of course, it doesn't stop me from having the occasional existential crisis, especially as far as death is concerned. I guess I'll just have to accept that we'll never really know with 100% until we get there what actually happens, if anything at all. I doubt I'll never be comfortable with that fact, but that's just how it is. We don't know, and maybe we're not supposed to know. And maybe that's the point.

That said, I want to believe there's a heaven that we can all go to when we die. A place of peace and paradise and a perfect world where we're all reunited with our loved ones, human and furry alike. I take comfort in the idea that maybe my grandpa is looking after our cats who have crossed the rainbow bridge until we get there. He was a cat man after all and never could say no to a kitty. That sounds nice to think about.

[Andybev01]

Mau, I think that life itself is one oong existential crisis.

Murf, your momma had some wise words.

The 'best' funeral that I witnessed when I ran a Cemetery was a full-blown Caribbean, voodoo spectacle.

Everyone in white, ladies with wrapped afros to the sky, waving large linen handkerchiefs, wailing and throwing themselves on the casket...pure grief bordering on ecstacy.

[Murfreesboro]

I've never seen anything like that. Maybe witnessing it would help me understand the professional mourners that people used to hire in antiquity.

Mau, one of my favorite fantasies has always been time travel. I have always fantasized about going back to the American Revolution and reassuring those people that what they did was successful. But of course I've also realized that, if we could know for sure how our efforts would turn out, we'd be robbed of the possibility of faith, and that, in turn, would rob us of the possibility to develop character. I think it's like that with uncertainty about the afterlife, too. If we knew for sure, faith and character development would be impossible. And I think that's what we're here for.