Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

I have never wrote about this before but as I was going through reading stories, I decided to finally tell my experience.

About 5 years ago in 2004, I moved into a new apartment by myself in Atlanta. A girlfriend of mine, Shelicia who lived in Washington, D.C. decided to make the trip down so that we could celebrate my newly “single” status since I had just broke up with my boyfriend. Her best friend Lana, whom I had never met before happened to be in Atlanta for a convention as well that weekend. While I was at work the first day that Shelicia was there, she nicely unpacked all of my boxes for me and put everything away. A couple hours after I came home from work, Lana came by to visit. It was my first time meeting her and she was very bubbly and nice.

About ten minutes after Lana arrived, Shelicia brought up the fact that while she was unpacking my boxes, she came across a Ouija board. I told her that a neighbor from my old apartment had given it to me and I hadn’t used it but kept it around because it was manufactured in 1978 and was in mint condition. Shelicia and Lana were saying that they’d like to play around with it since they had never tried using one before. I thought it was an odd way to get to know Lana since she had just arrived but I figured, alright let’s give it a shot. I was a little nervous because I don’t know that I was every really trying to use the board, I just kept it for whatever reason. I had dabbled with Ouija boards in the past but nothing really serious had ever happened and luckily, I had never had a bad experience.

So we took the board out all three of us sat in a circle on the floor with our fingers lightly on the planchette. Since I was a little more comfortable with this type of thing, I decided to start it off. I said, “is there anybody here who would like to speak to us”. Instantly the board moved to “yes”….Anybody who has ever used a Ouija board knows how eerie it feels for the planchette to moved effortlessly by itself. It took Lana and Shelicia a little off guard as this was their first time. After we exchanged glances at each other, I continued, “what is your name?”. It went to “R”…then “I”…then “C”….by the time it got to “C”, I heard a sniffle and looked up and noticed Lana’s eyes welling with tears….then came “O”.

By this time Lana was full blown crying with tears streaming down her cheeks. I had no idea why as I didn’t know Lana at all. It was a little awkward. I asked what was wrong and she said, “RICO”, That’s my dad”. I was baffled! I didn’t know what to say. I knew nothing about her so I asked if he had passed on and she said “yes”. Her tears were uncontrollable and I didn’t know if we should stop right there or keep going. I asked her and she said to keep going. So I asked if there was anything that he wanted to say to Lana and the words “I-M-S-O-R-R-Y” kept repeating themselves and Lana continued crying, very hard. I hated to get so personal with her but I asked how he passed and she told me suicide. I asked a couple of more questions and “he” continued apologizing to her, her brothers and her mother. It was almost as if they were having a real conversation with each other. He told her about how he really liked her fiancé and everything. By the end of it, she was smiling and seemed to be very comforted. Almost as if there was some type of closure taking place. I really wasn’t sure what to think about it all at this point!

Then the spirit wanted to talk to me and called me by name. Told me that the September of the following year there would be a very big change in my life but would not elaborate as to whether this change was good or bad. Of course, I was very nervous at the unknown but took it for what it was since “he” wasn’t giving me many answers. We finished up the session and closed it out with a “goodbye”.

I never talked to Lana again after that weekend but found it extremely bizarre that this incident took place the way that it did. I never used the board again and think that I have since lost it in one of my many moves.

The following September 28th of 2006, I had my first child. A healthy little girl with my “ex” who ended up becoming my husband. The pregnancy was completely unplanned and it didn’t really hit me until I had her….she was due mid-October but came early.

I know that this isn’t a scary Ouija board experience, but it’s my experience nonetheless. I guess I’ve always been so confused by this because I thought that spirits that came through Ouija boards were supposed to be evil or negative. I realize that they can pretend to be anybody but none of us girls ever had a negative feeling during the session…If anything, it was a very soft and comforting one. It is definitely an experience that I will not forget. I believe that I really lucked out that day and will not be using a Ouija board again for fear that next time I won’t be so lucky. If anybody has answers or input, I’d appreciate it. Thanks for reading!

Written by Lori Broady, Copyright 2009