Imagine That

One night, as we sat down to dinner, my very young son, Ryan, informed me that I sat on his new friend. Before you think I am completely oblivious to my surroundings (and more than a little rude), I should clarify that I could not see anyone sitting there. Nonetheless, I apologized and moved to another chair.

My little boy had his first imaginary friend, and I thought it was very sweet.

Things got a little more interesting when we asked Ryan to describe his friend. He told us he was tall, old, and had white hair. I thought that was a little odd since most imaginary friends are children, not older adults. As he went into further detail about him, I saw my husband’s eyes growing wide. He later told me that everything that Ryan had said about his friend described my husband’s grandfather in surprising detail, right down to his nickname, something that had never been shared with either of us. What made this fascinating was that his grandfather had passed away years before, and we were living in his house, the house we purchased right before he died.

Over the coming weeks and months, Ryan and his friend were inseparable. We learned more and more about his friend, and we became convinced that he was somehow interacting with his great grandfather. We were often surprised when he would share a new skill or other things he had learned, things that he would not have encountered at home or on television.

After about a year, his friend started coming less and less. Eventually, he stopped coming altogether. When I asked Ryan why, he said that his friend had to go back to his other family who was very far away. It was a very bittersweet moment for all of us.

Was Ryan’s imaginary friend his late great grandfather? Had he come to meet his first great grandchild? Was the family he went back to his late wife who died shortly after he passed away? We may never know for certain, but we truly believe that was the case. We can’t explain or prove it, but the details and experiences were just too overwhelming to be coincidence. To this day, we believe my son spent a little over a year of his young life talking with, learning from, and playing with his Great Grandpa.

Children are innocent and trusting with open minds and open hearts. Could the innocence of youth allow them to see and experience more than we do as adults? And as adults, do our experiences, fears, prejudices, and cynicism cause us to dismiss things too quickly? Hmmmm…

Blog Entry by MGH B-Teamer, JenD

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