Oooohh Spooky!

Ghosts is real and HELLO!! I hope everyone's having a wonderful week. This week's story involves Puff Daddy, so get on to reading and enjoy whatever nostalgia comes your way.....

"My cousin, Candas, killed herself when she was 15 years old. She shot herself in the head on her back porch, in the middle of a summer day. There were no signs and she didn't leave a note behind. She had recently been grounded because her dad found out that she was dating a black guy.. We are only left with the conclusion that this pain was too much for her. This was late 90s South Louisiana. I was only 7 at the time.. She took her own life 5 days after my 7th birthday.. 08/25/97. This was my first loss of a loved one and it was tragic. I was very close to Candas, she was my babysitter and I idolized her. This sweet, loving teenager that loved laying on the couch with me watching hours and hours of Mama's family. An all-star softball player, an honor roll student. I can still remember sobbing in the pew at her funeral. Uncontrollably sobbing.. At her wake, the song "I'll Be MIssing You" by Puff Daddy was played and we still attach that song to her memory today. As a child, hearing only a note of the song would send me into hysterics resulting in an asthma attack. Now, it's a way to connect to her. When she's on my mind and I'm missing her, I turn it on.. I listen and I cry.. I listen and I smile.. Any time I need to feel close to her, the song is played. I feel her presence with me.

Anyway, in the summer of 2009, I was in a terrible boating accident where my sister and dad almost drowned.. We were caught in the middle of a storm, in the middle of the lake, and our boat began to capsize. My sister was pulled under the boat and my dad jumped in after her without bringing any floating devices. Our boat began to drift away from them, as they struggled to stay above the 5ft waves. I grabbed the large inner tube and jumped in after them. I grew up on the water and was a very strong swimmer. But after that day, the water terrified me. A few weeks later, I was on a boat again for the first time and I was scared that something terrible would happen again. So I said a little prayer to myself and then I began singing Candy's song. I sang out loud into the wind as our boat cruised through the lake, wanting to feel her presence. A few minutes later, we parked our boat and I got off to walk on a nearby structure. I had left my phone on the boat and it started ringing almost immediately as my feet hit the ground. I let it go to voicemail because I needed to be grounded. After a while, I went to the boat and saw a missed call and voicemail from my mom. I hit play and there was no talking. It was just Candy's song, Puff Daddy singing "I'll be missing you" to me and I knew at that moment Candas was with me and I was safe.

It's been over 20 years now and just last week I spent an hour listening to the song on repeat and talking about Candas. Her picture hangs in the hospital she died in, on a wall of heroes (organ donors). She is the most beautiful angel and has touched many lives, even after her death."