There's no lack of stories or reports on haunted houses, haunted buildings, ghosts and such. They can't all be true. In fact the biggest question I have is why do these images of ghosts usually show them wearing clothes?  Anyway I have a couple of friends from over a quarter century who have had strange experiences.  Both of these Freeborn county residents are not the type you'd expect to share stories like this with you. In fact, both are the opposite, very quiet and certainly not attention seeking.

I'll start with my friend who I will call Fred as he wouldn't like me sharing his story. I had known Fred for at least 15 years before he finally shared with me the story of the time he was in the Albert Lea Hospital fighting pneumonia. He said his temperature was 102 and he was burning up. And then something you perhaps have heard or read about before, Fred started to feel himself floating upward toward a light.He could see his body and then he woke up with a nurse shaking him and calling his name. He's alive and well today. I remember him mumbling something to the effect that he wasn't sure if he even told his wife or children about that lest they think he was nuts.

Then there's the farm family I've known for close to 30 years. They are a devout Catholic family and years ago their son was in a traffic accident. He wound up at St. Mary's in Rochester with a broken back. The family said he was in such pain that he'd scream out if they even touched his bed. An old woman who they said smelled like cigarettes and cheap perfume entered his room and put her hands down heavily on the end of the bed and called him "Dan the Man". Could be a coincidence that that's what the family called Dan. Then the old lady said something to the effect that she had had a son who loved playing baseball as much as Dan. Now that's a little stranger. How did that lady know that Dan was a baseball player. The lady also made some reference that she was Dan's guardian angel. I plain and simple can't tell you more on this as I don't remember.The family assumed she must have been one of the Sisters. They asked around and nobody at the hospital knew anything about this woman.

Here's the final kicker on this. Dan's mother and father decided to go downstairs to Mass. They rode down in the elevator. As soon as it stopped and the door opened they looked at each other. They both told each other they had felt like the elevator was swirling round and round as it went down. Very strange indeed.

I wouldn't have shared these stories if not for the fact that both parties come across as so unlikely to embellish any kind of story. I'll also add that I think neither party has imagination to make up stories such as these.

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