Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • NPR

    He saw the ghost of his racist grandfather. It helped lead to meaningful healing

    John Blake's story is about growing up as a Black kid in West Baltimore in the 1980s, learning painful secrets about his white mother and, as he recalls, a ghost.
    by Rachel Martin Jun 18, 2023 9 minutes
    John Blake's story is about growing up as a Black kid in West Baltimore in the 1980s and learning painful secrets about his family.

    I'm pretty sure I don't believe in ghosts. Now, I say pretty sure because there is part of me that doesn't want to rule out the possibility.

    I have heard others talk about this period of time after a person dies, when their soul or their spirit hasn't settled into whatever comes next, and that person's essence feels close. I have felt that, for sure.

    Right after my mom died, she was in my dreams a lot. It felt so real that I would wake up thinking she was alive, and then I had to go through a muted form of grief all over again when I realized it was a dream.

    Then there's the way my parents' favorite songs have come to me. I remember the first time I went into a grocery store after my mom died. They were playing, "I Just Called to Say I Love you," by Stevie Wonder – she would sing that song all the time. And when I drove from my father's funeral back to my hotel a couple years ago, the song on the radio was "American Pie," by Don McClean. Whenever my dad sang that song, you knew he was in a good mood.

    So these things, these coincidences, these experiences, they felt supernatural in a way to me. But straight-up ghosts? Seeing spirits of those who've died, is that real? Could that actually happen? I don't know, but the writer John Blake says it happened

    You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

    More from NPR

    NPR2 min readCrime & Violence
    Guatemalan AG Raids Save The Children Office Over A Migrant Children Rights Complaint
    Prosecutor Rafael Curruchiche said that the complaint filed by an unidentified foreigner had raised serious concerns because it involved allegations of abuse of children.
    NPR3 min readAmerican Government
    Trump's Immunity Arguments And The Experiences Of The Justices Who Might Support It
    Five of the six conservatives spent much of their lives in the Beltway, working in the White House and Justice Department, seeing their administrations as targets of unfair harassment by Democrats.
    NPR7 min read
    As Bird Flu Spreads In Cows, Here Are 4 Big Questions Scientists Are Trying To Answer
    Health officials say there's very little risk to humans from the bird flu outbreak among dairy cattle, but there's still much they don't know. Here are four questions scientists are trying to answer.

    Related