Dead Wrong

It was Friday (around 12:30pm). I had just relieved my co-worker (on the grocery-side of the store) so he could go to lunch. I was just a few minutes later that “Rudy” came through the door.

I was breathless and speechless. I had never expected the person Rudy to ever revisit me during my lifetime ever. Before my focus became clear (and the blinders came off), I swear my late stepfather, Robert Zarbaugh, was walking back into my life. He’d died in October 14, 2011 of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) at Grant Medical Center in Columbus, OH. (The “death rattle” was a horrible thing to hear.)

Everything about this Robert looked healthy. He was missing his signature hat positioned just perfectly on his semi-bald head. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him in a colorful Hawaiian shirt during the time period I knew him as step-father. It looked good on him. This was not the first time my one of my family members had seen Robert Z after his death (see Like Mother, Like Daughter).

In seconds, questions flooded my mind like: “Why are you here in this store? Aren’t you supposed to be dead? Where have you been since your death? How will I ever explain this to my mother, who took your passing so hard?

As Rudy proceeded further into the store, the fog lifted from my mind. I instantaneously realized my stepfather had not come back to life. Had this been a message from Robert to me? I wasn’t sure. Would the answer ever come to me?

Has this ever happened to you? Have you seen a twin of a dead person? In that moment what emotions did you experience? Were they appreciative (for their life) or lonely (for how much you still missed them)? Was their a message you should have gotten? Did you get it loud and clear?