Christmas Spirit

Written by:Mike Sears

Personal experience that happened in 1994.

In 1994 Mike and his mother received one of the greatest Christmas gifts one could receive. Contact from a love one. Mike’s father passed away in June and he had shared that amazing experience on an earlier blog posting.(Crossing Over)

This was to be the first Christmas without my father. My father celebrated Christmas real big. His gift to the family was to make a huge gourmet Christmas dinner. Each year my dad’s dinner had its own theme or specialty dish that he had learned when stationed in various countries while serving in the army.  His favorite dishes were from Asia, especially from Japan. He would buy the highest quality when it came to ingredients for the meal. He would save up all year to make this one day very special for the family. He might not have been a certified gourmet chef, but to us and friends he should been.

I wanted to make this Christmas special for my mom since it was our first Christmas without my dad. I planned to make a nice gourmet dinner like my dad did and to decorate the house big for the holidays inside and out. I got up early in the morning and had my list of items to buy and locations mapped out that I needed to go to. I left not knowing what was going to happen that day.

I was shopping in this department store and I was half way done with my list of items to gather for Christmas. I wanted something that would WOW my mom when she saw the gift. I entered into this store and saw an Angel standing just over four feet tall. The angel I thought was beautifully done visually with an elegant gown, great detail to the face and large wings opened on her back.  I felt drawn towards the figure and said to myself, “This is what I’m looking for. This is the WOW that will make her Christmas.” After my dad’s death my mother started to collect angel figurines and I knew she would love this angel added to her collection.

I walked to my car with the angel and started to put it in the vehicle. Unlocking the car I suddenly smell this strong odor of cigar smoke in the air. My first thought that someone is pretty rude to blow their smoke so close to someone. I look around and see no one around smoking a cigar or any form of tobacco. I shrug it off and continue to put the angel in the car. The cigar smell gets stronger and then I hear my dad’s voice say, “Mike! You need to go to Tokyo Market now!” At first I thought I imagined this and thought I must be thinking its dad because he used to smoke cigars. I get into the car and check my list and plan for the next location to shop at. Then the cigar smell was in my car, very strong. (I never allow anyone to smoke in my car) I started to tingle all over and then heard my dad’s voice again in my head “Mike! You need to go to Tokyo Market now!” For some reason I responded out loud, “Dad, if this is you, I have Tokyo Market on my list to go too.”  I then hear him again in my head, “You need to go NOW! Right now!”  I’m thinking this is can’t be happening, I was caught off guard and not expecting to argue with my dad about a place to shop at. I start to drive to the next location and I hear his voice again. “Mike, you need to go now! It’s a Christmas gift for you and your mother there.” Hearing this I start to fight back the tears.  I reply back out loud in my car. “Dad, I’m going there now.”

The cigar smell disappears and I no longer hear my dad talking to me. I drive to the other side of town to reach the Tokyo Market (Tokyo Market is a store that specializes in imported gourmet food from Japan) I arrive at the store not knowing what I’m supposed to be looking for.  As I walk towards the store door the smell of cigar smoke returns. Entering inside the store I’m drawn to an item on the front store display. As I go to look at the item, I hear my dad’s voice again. “Don’t look at that! Go to the left of the store and go to the last cabinet and look inside! There you will see yours and your mother’s Christmas gift.” I walk to the last cabinet and look inside the cabinet of products. Then my eyes are drawn to this one item. It was an item my dad wanted the store to order for him. An item that he tried for five years to get and the store wasn’t able to find or import from Japan. They had finally got it. I grabbed every package of the item to purchase and head to the register to cash out. The cashier is surprised to see that I have this entire item they have for sale. She then says to me, “You’re not buying all of these are you? We had a customer who has requested this for over five years and we have lost his phone number. We are hoping he come in and get this. Can you leave a couple of these just in case he returns?” I asked, “Can you describe this man for me?”  After the cashier describes my dad perfectly, I reach for my wallet and show her a photo of my dad. “Is this him?” I asked. She replied, “Yes.”  I explained to her that he had passed away during the summer and I was his son. She then said, “I guess it was meant to be for you to come in here and buy this.” I didn’t share with her what brought me there; I thanked her and wished her a Merry Christmas. Leaving the store I smell the cigar and hear my dad’s voice for the last time saying, “Merry Christmas!”

I stopped any further shopping and decided to drive straight home. I needed to share what just happened with my mom. When I got home I decided to give my mom her Christmas gifts. I told her she needed to sit down and prepare to hear how these gifts had come to be.  I had her close her eyes and then proceeded in the room with the four foot tall angel. She opened her eyes to see this elegant angel and became overwhelmed with happiness. I then told her, “I have one more gift for you and it’s in this bag. First though I need to tell you how I got this item in this bag.” I shared my experience and then handed her the bag to open. Saying to her, “Merry Christmas, from dad.”  She gave me a big hug and we both cried with tears of happiness.

Christmas of 1994 is a Christmas my Mom and I will never forget.

Mike’s Father cutting down a fresh
Christmas Tree

Center of the Arts Presents:

Paranormal After Hours Event

 

“Spirit Communications”

 

Mike Sears

Mike is the Director of Volunteer State Paranormal Research and has been investigating the paranormal for just over 8 years. Having investigated over 200 investigations to his credit, Mike has investigated some well-known haunted locations like Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky, Sloss Furnace in Birmingham, Alabama, Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill, Tennessee, Octagon Hall, Franklin, KY, and many other locations in Tennessee.

In 2009, Mike was nominated by the International Paranormal
Acknowledgement Awards for National Male Paranormal Investigator and Best in Spirit Photography. Mike was awarded for Best in Spirit Photography by the International Paranormal Acknowledgement Awards.

Mike has been a guest on various paranormal internet radio shows, made appearances on Television shows “America’s Most Terrifying Places” on the TRAVEL CHANNEL, CAFEMOM.COM “I’ll take that Dare!”  featuring Octagon Hall. He was also featured on “Tennessee Crossroads,” a PBS show featuring Tennesseans and Tennessee places. For the “Tennessee Crossroads” segment, Mike and the VSPR team were the first to investigate the Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill and aired Oct 2011.

Mike has also been a featured speaker at numerous events in Middle Tennessee. and his paranormal experiences  were published in several magazines : VISIONS Magazine  Issue #3 ,#5 ,#8 and also Un-X NEWS Magazine.

 

COST OF TICKETS

Lecture “Spirit Communications” is $15.00 each

 Investigation is $50.00 each (includes Lecture) {Limited to 20 tickets for Investigation} { Must be 18 years of age or older to attend the investigation}.

{There are no refunds for this event unless it is cancelled. Event will happen Rain or Shine.}

 

Tickets can be purchased at:

http://cfa.ticketleap.com/

Or at 

Center of the Arts, (google map also)

705 Lion Parkway

Columbia, TN 38402

Hotline for info at 931-548-6560

Also can RSVP on the Facebook Event Page – Facebook Event

Event is brought to you by Center of the Arts

Many thanks to Susan Manning for putting this event together.

By Mike Sears

When Mike, the director of  Volunteer State Paranormal Research,  is called for an investigation or meets people he is often asked,  ” So how did you get into this paranormal investigating and do you believe in life after death? ” He tells them about the two most amazing experiences he had involving the paranormal in 1994.

This is the first experience, which occurred June 20th 1994. 

Dad – Jim Sears

   The near death experience I was able to witness was my Father’s passing in 1994. My Father had been battling cancer and was losing his battle in June of 1994. His last few months of life my Mom had called in Hospice care, so my father could pass away at home with family. He was not a big fan of hospitals and we respected his wishes. Before his first passing he was in a coma for just little over three days. Hospice would come and help every other day, unless we requested to have them to be there. On the 3rd day of his coma the Hospice nurse said his temperature had risen greatly and she felt he was very near to passing away. Hospice wasn’t due to come over the next day to help, but the nurse said if he passed away that night or we needed  any help at all that we should feel free to call them.

   I had been working long hours and plus helping my mom look over my dad. I was exhausted and told my mom I was heading to bed, and if she needed me or if my dad passed away that night, to please come wake me and let me know. Later that night, sometime after three a.m. in the morning, my dad had passed away. My Mom was at his side and heard his last breath. She stayed at his side for some time grieving and then left his side to go wake me to let me know he had passed away. Before she could leave the room, my father sat up in the bed and asked her to come back to the bed to talk to her. She was in shock to hear his voice since he had been in a coma for several days, and for over a week prior he could not speak at all. She turned around to see him sitting straight up in the bed, full of color and looking healthy. She went over and sat next to him. He began to speak and said to her, “I could not leave you and Mike without making sure that you will be OK.”, and then told her .that he had asked them to allow him to come back and tell us this. During this time my mom said she felt a presence in the room with her. My dad started talking to family members and friends he knew who had passed away years ago, then relaying their messages to my mom. One of the most interesting talks he had was with his first wife. She had passed away back in the early 1960’s of cancer and she was from Japan where they had met when he was stationed there serving in the Army. My dad started speaking fluent Japanese and then translated back to my mom what his first wife was telling him. She told my dad to tell my mom this message, she said “I just want to thank you for taking care of him on this side” and that “he will be ok and I will be taking care of him on the other side.” My dad talked to my mom, back and forth to past love ones for several hours.

My Mom came into my bedroom later that morning and woke me up to tell me that my dad wanted to talk to me. Being half asleep I was surprised to hear this and said, “What? “ “He wants to talk to me? “ I had gone to bed and he was in a coma and was very close to death. I got up and walked out my room and started to walk to our living room where Hospice had placed a medical bed, my mom stopped me and told me I need to go to my parents’ bedroom and that I will be very surprised for what I was about to witness.

I started to walk to their bedroom and I heard my dad calling for me. I was in shock hearing his voice so clear. I entered the bedroom to find my dad looking healthy and laying in his bed freshly cleaned from a shower he had took that morning and was dressed in a clean shirt and shorts. I was in shock and wasn’t sure what to say or think of it. He had asked me to sit next to him on the bed and he wanted to talk to me. My dad started to tell me that he was worried about me and wanted me to know that he will be ok and that I need to go on with my life and not dwell on his death. I was speechless at first and then said to my dad. “Dad you have had it rough, it’s not been easy for you” (my dad served 22 years in the Army and had bad health since his return from Vietnam) His reply to my comment was a huge surprise for me to hear.

His reply “Mike I haven’t had it that rough, you know who has had it rough? Jesus has.” I was in shock to hear this from my dad. My dad was not religious at all. He never attended church the whole time I knew him and the only time I heard Jesus come from his mouth it was used in a form of cursing. My dad then asked if there was anything I wanted to know. I was just in shock of the whole moment and I was left pretty much speechless. (Today I have tons of questions and wish I wasn’t so much in shock when this happen) We then talked for about 30 minutes and then he said “I guess if you’re done talking to me and I have nothing else to tell you both, then I’m ready to go back.” My Mom and I were not sure what to do, and My Mom said, “Maybe you have to go to sleep and they can take you back”.

 So my Dad decided to go back to sleep and we gave hugs and farewells just in case he didn’t re-awake. After he went to sleep my Mom and I went to the living room and she told me all that happen that night. We talked for several hours until we heard my dad call out asking if anyone was there. We got up and ran in to the bedroom to check in on him and he was surprised to find us there. He asked “Why are you two here with me? Have I crossed over?” With a hint of disappointment in his voice. We told him he is still here with us and that maybe that they are giving him an extra day with us. He then asked us “What should we do? “ Then he suggested he was very hungry and wanted me to make a meal for him. My mom mentioned making him soup or a smoothie since he hadn’t had a solid meal in almost a month.  He suggested I go rent some movies and find something special that he could eat, make him a nice meal and we could spend the rest of the day talking and relaxing together.
I went out and rented some comedies and found some fresh crayfish at the market(one of his favorite dishes,.) red potatoes, corn on the cob and a six pack of beer and head back home, not knowing if he will be there waiting for my return.

I got home and he was very pleased to hear what I had got for us to eat. Now this is a person who was eating through a straw for several weeks before he was in a coma. I cooked up the meal and we even shared a beer together. We watched movies in his bedroom and shared family experiences for the rest of the day till it was pass midnight. He started to get very tired and he wanted to go to bed. Before we all went to bed, he gave us a hug and told us he loved us and not to worry about him if he didn’t reawaken in the morning. He also said he would give us signs after his passing to let us know he is ok.

The next morning we got up and found him back into a coma. Hospice came over that morning and was shocked to find him out of his hospice bed and in his own bed. They wouldn’t believe us when we told them that he had gotten out of his hospice bed on his own and that he walked to his own bed. Hospice being upset with my Mom and I  asked us to stay out of their way and allow them to return him to the hospice bed. . My dad was back in a coma for 3 more days and then he passed away in the afternoon on June 23rd 1994; a day after his Birthday.

A week after his death, every day for five days we had a red cardinal show up on the time he had passed away and peck at the window. On the 5th day, we finally realized that this had been happening every day that week and it was the same time frame in which my dad had passed away. Once we said this, the cardinal never returned to the window. Later that year Mike and his mom had two avocados, two pine apples and two big honeydew oranges on plants that Mike’s dad had planted on their property. All three of these plants never produced fruit when Mike’s dad was alive and his dad was disappointed that he never was able to have any fruit from them since he planted them. Mike and his Mom believed these had to be the signs to let them know he was OK, to have three plants to produce only two fruits on each that year only.

This experience was a huge eye opener to Mike and his mom; the experience gave them a whole new outlook on life and has made life less stressful for them.  Since then Mike and his mom have shared this experience with others and the experience has made Mike seek for more answers about the afterlife.

When Mike does his guest speaking at events and group functions he shares this experience and gives more detail what happened that day and  also other amazing experiences his dad had during the month of June.

Art of Charles Santoso
Title: Goodbye & Welcome
Medium: Pencil & Digital

Paranormal Spirit Communication Event with:

Mike Sears and Volunteer State Paranormal Research

Have you ever wondered how to communicate with lost loved ones?

Have you ever wondered if they were trying to communicate with you?

Do you feel spirits but not see them?

Do you think it might all just be your imagination?

You are not alone! Many people experience these exact same feelings. Volunteer State Paranormal Research has brought peace of mind to many who experienced unusual activity after a loved one has passed, and also helped validate the abilities of a number of psychics and mediums in the Nashville area.

In this class, we will discuss paranormal spirit communication–the many ways you can communicate with spirits and explain several ways in which they try to communicate with us.

Mike Sears will introduce everyone to how spirit communication is utilized in paranormal research, the equipment used, and share some of the communications that Volunteer State Paranormal Research has encountered during their many investigations in the Middle Tennessee Area.

The class will include an open ITC session (Instrumental Trans-communication) using the Ovilus and Spirit Box to make a connection. We will attempt to connect with loved ones or whomever the audience requests. (We cannot make any guarantees, but have been able to make connections during past events.)

Due to limited seating (25 people), we must ask you to pre-pay at Cosmic Connections to reserve your seat for this event.

• Date: May 25, 2014
• Time: 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
• Cost before May 15: $25
• Cost after May 15: $30
• Location: Cosmic Connections -1701 Portland Ave, Nashville, TN
• Phone number to reserve (615) 463-7677

Originally posted Feb 6 2012

Article written by

Becki Baumgartner -Lead Investigator for VSPR

First you will hear Monique Sears, co-founder of Volunteer State Paranormal Research, say “OK”, then immediately after you will hear a series of what sounds like five footsteps. To me they sound like boots on hardwood, and seem to be echoing and walking around us in the room.

I thought this paticular capture was really cool for a several reasons. First off, we were all sitting down and even the guests were doing a great job of tagging–so we know it was not any of us. Secondly, there were no other groups inside the house at the time. This means that nobody could be walking around. Also, we all heard the noise with our “naked” ears–but to us it just sounded like random tapping on the floor. It wasn’t until later listening with the recording that it sounds like echoing footsteps, possibly a boot, walking in a circular pattern around the room.

Upon hearing this capture, Billy Byrd (owner of Octagon Hall Museum) wrote this: “You finally got a recording of the steps that I and numerous others have heard dozens of times. but never captured. I usually hear them when I’m alone and quiet.”