Ghost story?

[Modem Butterfly]

I've always been a skeptic when it comes to the afterlife and the supernatural, yet I've always been fascinated by these stories. This morning I had something strange happen I wanted to share with you all, and I'd like you to share your strange tales, too.

Over the years, we've adopted four dogs from the local animal shelter, but we've never had more than two at a time. Our first dog, a dear, sweet male Chow, was hit by a car when our lawn guy left the back gate open. Our female Chow mourned him so terribly, we adopted another dog sooner than we should, a male Shar-pei. Though he could never replace our first dog, he was a good companion to our girl and to my partner and I. He died of a stroke a year ago yesterday. We adopted another male Shar-pei a few months later.

Since our male Chow died, I've often thought I've seen him out of the corner of my eye. Once, after he'd died and before we adopted the first Shar-pei, I was napping with our female Chow and I thought I felt him get on the bed with us. My partner says that I was just missing him so much, I dreamed he was there. Maybe.

This morning, I was in the bathroom, brushing my hair and putting on my make-up while my partner was outside with our dogs. The door was open and the mirror reflects part of the hallway. I looked into the mirror, and there were my boys, standing in the hallway like they used to when they were alive. I turned around, and of course, no one was there. I looked in the mirror again, and I could still see them, wagging their tails and smiling. Then they disappeared.

I'm crying now, but I wasn't this morning. I put down my brush and walked into the living room to see if perhaps my partner had brought our dogs into the house. Of course, he hadn't. But I noticed that he had lit the candle we keep between the urns that hold the ashes of our departed dogs. When he came back in with our (living) dogs, I asked him why he had lit the candle, and he said that last night he dreamed that our first Chow and our first Shar-pei were playing in a misty field of blue light, and that they seemed very happy together.