A Child's Memory of a Past Life as His Own Grandfather

From Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives by Jim Tucker, MD (2005), Chapter 7

Sam Taylor is a boy from Vermont who was born a year and a half after his paternal grandfather died. When Sam was one and a half years old, his father was changing his diaper one day when Sam told him, "When I was your age, I used to change your diapers." After his mother saw the puzzled look on his father's face as he brought Sam out of his room, they discussed the comment, which they both found odd. Neither had ever given reincarnation much thought. Though Sam's mother was the daughter of a Southern Baptist minister, his parents were not religious.

Following that incident, Sam gradually began saying that he had been his grandfather. He also said, "I used to be big, and now I'm small." While his father was initially skeptical about such a possibility, his mother was more open to the idea, and she began asking him questions about the life of his paternal grandfather. At one point, she and Sam were talking about the fact that his grandmother had taken care of his grandfather before he died. Sam's mother asked him what his grandmother made every day for him to drink, and Sam correctly said that she had made milkshakes and that she had made them in a machine in the kitchen. He got up to show her the food processor on the kitchen counter. When his mother showed him the blender in the pantry and asked if he meant that his mother had made the milkshakes in it, he said no and pointed out the food processor instead. In fact, his grandmother had made milkshakes for his grandfather in the food processor. She had then had a series of strokes after the death of his grandfather, and Sam had never seen her make milkshakes for anyone.

At another time, Sam's mother asked him if he had had any brothers or sisters when he lived before. He answered, "Yeah, I had a sister. She turned into a fish." When she asked him who turned her into a fish, he said, "Some bad guys. She died. You know what, when we die, God lets us come back again. I used to be big, and now I'm a kid again." The sister of Sam's grandfather, in fact, had been killed some sixty years before. Her husband killed her while she was sleeping, rolled her body up in a blanket, and dumped it in the bay.

At other times, Sam correctly said that his grandfather's favorite place in the home was the garage where he worked on "inventions" and that Sam's father had a small steering wheel of his own when they rode in the car. When his father was a boy, he had a toy steering wheel that attached to the dashboard of a car by suction cups.

When Sam was four and a half years old, his grandmother died. His father flew out to her home to take care of her belongings and returned with a box of family photographs. Sam's parents had not had any pictures of his father's family before then. When his mother spread them out on the coffee table one night, Sam came over and began pointing to the pictures of his grandfather and saying "That's me!" When he saw a snapshot that showed a car without any people, he said "Hey! That's my car!" This was a picture of the first new car that his grandfather ever purchased, a 1949 Pontiac that was very special to him.

1949 Pontiac

His mother gave Sam a class picture from when his grandfather was in grammar school. The picture showed twenty-seven children, sixteen of them boys. Sam ran his finger over the faces, stopped it on his grandfather's face and said "That's me."

The father said that Sam's grandfather did not communicate very well about emotional issues with his sons, particularly when they were adults. Sam's father let his own father know how he felt about him, but his father had great difficulty reciprocating. He feels that if his father has come back through Sam, then his deceased father is reaching out to return his love. Sam's father is very open with all of his children, and he and Sam seem to have a very good relationship.

The children who remember their past lives

What happens when your toddler is haunted by memories that aren’t hers?

By Caitlin Gibson

In the beginning, it seemed like Nina was just an imaginary friend.

Two-year-old Aija had invented plenty of fictional characters before, but her parents — Ross, a musician, and Marie, a psychologist — noticed right away that Nina was different. (The family spoke to The Washington Post on the condition that only their middle names be used because of the sensitivity of the subject and because Aija is a young child.) From the time Aija learned how to talk, she talked about Nina, and her descriptions were remarkably consistent. Aija told her parents that Nina played piano, and she loved dancing, and she favored the color pink (Aija emphatically did not). When Aija spoke as Nina, in the first person, Aija’s demeanor changed: Her voice was sweeter and higher-pitched, her affect more gentle and polite than what Marie and Ross typically expected from their rambunctious toddler.

Aija sometimes told them that Nina was afraid of bad guys coming to get her, or of not having enough food to eat; Aija once hid a bowl of cereal, and told her mother it was for Nina. One day, when Marie was using the food processor in the kitchen, Aija reacted with horror to the sound: “Get the tank out of here!” she shrieked. Marie couldn’t fathom how her daughter knew the word “tank.” It all seemed more curious than concerning — until one afternoon in the early spring of 2021, when Marie came to believe that there was something more to Nina. That day, Marie recalls, she and Aija were playing together in their living room, enacting little scenes with toy figurines.

Then Aija suddenly turned to her mother and said, “Nina has numbers on her arm, and they make her sad.” Marie’s mind raced. “What did you say?” she asked her daughter, willing her voice to remain calm. “Nina has numbers on her arm, and they make her sad,” Aija said again, pointing to the inside of her forearm. Then she added: “Nina misses her family. Nina was taken away from her family.”

[More]

Narmada and her sister Sharika are the daughters of prominent Tamil feminist and human rights activist Rajini Thiranagama, who was murdered when they were children. Every time they speak of her I move away from grief that her life was so brutally cut short, to joy that she spent those years living a life more full of light and love than many can fit into a hundred. Nothing can compare to the legacy of being remembered this way by your children.

Me, attending the latest in a ridiculous number of funerals this year in the place of a childhood friend who couldn't be there, watching the lifeless body of an old lady who used to make me snacks in the kitchen when I was a kid be carted away forever while my friend's mother cries and tells me she's grateful I could be there because it felt like having the support of her own daughter, hugging her and talking reassuringly and not processing a single one of these emotions: ... I am going to write soooo much fanfiction about this

Christmas in times past... Children carrying holly and mistletoe, December 1915.

Did anybody else have a strong fascination with a specific place that there's no way they should've known anything about as a toddler? For me it was Melbourne, Australia. For some fucking reason that my mom can not explain, I apparently talked about Melbourne, Australia a lot, which is very bizarre as a 3 year old in Ohio.

my great auntie barbara has been a widow for almost 10 years now. uncle jack died in summer 2014. and with my grandfather gone she's without her only brother too. today was the wake for my grandfather and she looked absolutely beautiful, i told her as much, she was the best-dressed lady there. and it's been almost three years since my grandmother died and you could tell there was a different understanding between her and my grandfather whenever they got together. it became more necessary to invite barbara to extended-family events when her husband died, but after grammy died it was just about mandatory. there was just something about the two of them sitting together, brother and sister, in their 90s having lost their life partners, but sitting with the only other person left that they had known for as long, no, even longer. as far back as they could each remember. they both looked like they were in the company of their favorite living person. so it was hard to see her at the wake although she looked beautiful and she always does; she has a wonderful smile. it must be hard to be the last survivor of your generation. i just hope she goes home and she has something that makes her feel not so lonely.

“look at all the evidence i gathered. and they just.. mocked me.”

“no one's mocking you now.”

nostalgia

not by me from Pinterest xx

I was raised in Christianity, I was raised that everything in the Bible, unless stated to be a parable by Jesus or obviously being used mainly for descriptive purposes (see the creatures listed in Revalations) was to be taken literally. And I do mean all of it.

So I genuinely have been struggling to wrap my mind around the concept that other religions don't also take their myths literally to at least some extent.

I was raised that the Bible is all truth, all historically fact, and meant to be taken literally. Thus it was our way of understanding who God is and by it we could "know" him, his character. Who he is, how to have a relationship with him, etc etc.

And because of this I am struggling a bit between not taking the myths totally literally and as historic fact, even if the events didn't occur in our own world, and still a tool by which to understand at least some of the gods character and a means by which to understand them.

A really great example of this is Loki's children.

Because on the one hand I know that moral of the story of Odin taking the children and locking them away in their various location and thus starting a chain reaction that would lead to the thing he was trying to avoid is intended to be a type of warning about changing and avoiding fate, about bringing about one's own down fall while trying to avoid it and all of that kind of a thing.

On the other the very first time I looked up and read the Poetic Edda I had to put my phone down and walk away because of how angry it made me to read about these children being ripped away from their parents, condemned as evil, for things they had not done. I was lent a book on Norse mythology and I had to stop at the introduction to remind myself that these myths aren't meant to be taken literally because I got so frustrated when the introduction referred to Jörmungandr as a "great evil".

Maybe it's just me being unable to face my own childhood injustices and taking that anger and holding it for Loki's children instead (him and his wives too, honestly), but I really struggle to find sympathy for the other gods in these myths, I truly do.

To continue the tag: that is our blessing from Him for our endurance thru sufferment without a single complaint or a cry of pain, for obeying him without question, showing up and showing out every day, and especially for our actions of refusing to harm them in return. He commanded me twice to retaliate & bc I never did we passed our tests and will be blessed to the maximum so ask away for anything you🖤 want my love you🖤 deserve it and will receive it. He said the only thing we did to them was make their true colors bleed out in the wash, so expose them for who they truly are. Vengeance is His says the Lord and a-fucking-men 2 that. God bless you 2 all the law enforcement (not the crooks) and a massive thank you

A Child's Memory of a Past Life as a Hollywood Actor and Agent

From Return to Life: Extraordinary Cases of Children Who Remember Past Lives by Jim Tucker, MD (2013), Chapter 5

A five-year-old child, Ryan, had been telling his parents for about a year about wanting to go home to Hollywood to see his "other family". He was very insistent and would not stop talking about it, and spent much of his playtime acting out being in the movies. His parents were conservative Christians who did not believe in reincarnation and contacted past life researchers only when the boy kept having nightmares where he would wake up grabbing his chest and saying when he was in Hollywood his heart exploded. Ryan also described what it was like to die and be reborn, as well as correctly describing some incidents that occurred during her pregnancy with Ryan that he should have had no way of knowing about.

The mother took Ryan to the library to look at pictures of Hollywood. He recognized Rita Hayworth from a photograph, and said he knew her and that she made him a Coke float. When they came across a production photo from a Mae West film called Night After Night he became very excited. Recognizing one person, he said “Hey Mama, that’s George. We did a picture together. And Mama, that guy’s me. I found me.”

The man Ryan recognized as "George" was George Raft, one of the stars of the picture. The man Ryan pointed to as "me" appears on the far right side of the above photo, wearing a bow tie, bowler hat and tan overcoat; he played a minor, uncredited role in the film. Ryan described a scene he was in involving a closet full of guns, and when they later reviewed the film on YouTube there was indeed such a scene.

Ryan offered several other comments about people he knew in Hollywood such as Marilyn Monroe; when he tried to pick her up at a party, a minder from the studio gave him a shiner.

His mother kept a journal of Ryan’s statements and contacted a research team at the University of Virginia. Ryan was initially reluctant to discuss his memories with anyone but his parents for fear people would think he was crazy. Ryan said the reason he had to come back was that he didn’t spend enough time with his family in his last life; he worked so much that he forgot that love was the most important thing.

Ryan had nightmares about a man he called “Senator Five” who he said was “the nastiest villain who ever lived” and lived in New York, talked about an agency and going to a graveyard with a buddy who worked for that agency. He started kindergarten but got off on the wrong foot for telling the class about Hollywood and the agency during story time, opening himself up to ridicule from his classmates.

Ryan also began talking about Broadway, and Ryan began tap dancing during cartoons that had music. Ryan said when he lived before he had taught himself and danced tap routines with two buddies.

Ryan reacted very strongly to a film clip of Franklin Roosevelt, booing and calling him an idiot. He also made many statements about his family: his past mother had curly brown hair, he had two sisters one of whom was three years younger than him, and he had a difficult relationship with one of his stepdaughters. He also claimed to have taken a “big boat” to visit Paris, New York and China (where he said he had to learn to eat with chopsticks.) Ryan loved Chinese food and was unusually proficient with chopsticks for a five-year-old child.

Ryan made numerous other statements about his previous life that I am omitting for brevity. Before discusses these, as well as the researchers’ efforts to validate them.

After some digging, researchers found a possible candidate for “Senator Five”. Ryan was shown several photographs and asked if he recognized any of them. The researchers took care to make sure they were not giving any subtle hints. He recognized one person - Irving Ives, US Senator for New York for 12 years in the late 40s and 50s. Ryan said he was “Senator Five”.

US Senator Irving Ives

The researchers finally traced the man in the photograph wearing the bowler. His name was Marty Martyn. They were able to trace and contact Martyn’s only biological daughter, who verified many details supplied by Ryan: Martyn’s mother had curly brown hair, he had two sisters, and he had gone to New York early in his career to be a dancer. He then went to Hollywood and began as an extra and a dance director. He then became a talent agent and set up the Marty Martyn Agency. Martyn had several connections to Rita Hayworth. His wife’s family knew Marilyn Monroe. Martyn became quite wealthy and married four times. Ryan said his address had had the word Rock or Mount in it, and Martyn’s house address was 825 N. Roxbury.

Martyn did travel the world, going to Paris on the Queen Mary. The daughter wasn’t sure but doubted that Martyn went to China, but Chinese food was a favorite of his and he was proficient with chopsticks. He was a Republican who hated Franklin Roosevelt. The daughter had a photograph of Martyn with Senator Ives. She confirmed that Martyn did have a difficult relationship with his oldest stepdaughter.

Martyn died on Christmas Day in 1964, of a cerebral hemorrhage. His death was unwitnessed, so there was no way to resolve the discrepancy about Ryan claiming his heart “exploded” and being unable to breathe. As Ryan got older his recollections became less frequent until they finally stopped altogether.

"I'm sorry. I've caused you so much pain all this time."

...

"It's really okay. It is."

His Lucky Star

Awhile ago I asked for sonamy headcanons (and I’m always hungry for more!) and I received the most beautiful headcanon from @hedgethemaze and I just had to illustrate it!

Thank you @hedgethemaze for the opportunity to draw your short story 😊

You can read Hedge’s original headcanon below the cut:

Sonic and Amy’s favorite nighttime pastime is stargazing 🌙​⭐​🌠​👀​

Amy enjoys making out constellations and discovering new figures drawn in the sky and would occasionally make up stories with them – She knows Sonic finds this a bit childish, but appreciates that he doesn’t let it show and listens to her stories, instead (even participating once in a while, throwing in some action to keep them from being too daydream-y lol).

Sometimes, looking at the stars would remind Sonic of Starfall Islands – of cyber space – of Amy being at arm's length yet, an entire plane of existence out of his reach. The thought makes him reach for her hand as they lay on their backs on the grass, with a whole new appreciation for the feel of her hand nestled in his - Amy, aware of the gnawing memory, would shift her hand and intertwine their fingers, successfully chasing the memory away.

And some other times, she’d say those stories are just bedtime-story-practice to tell their 'future' child/children, only to tease him because there’s nothing as amusing to her as watching Sonic go from cool blue to cherry red live in record time 😆

About stargazing - it occurred to me that it could be more than likely for Sonamy to catch sight of a shooting star.

Well, I imagine Sonic would notice Amy staring at the shooting star in silence, knowingly waiting for her to say something but then the star disappears from view and he'd say "huh... kinda thought you were gonna wish something for a sec,"

Amy, realizing what he means, would jump a little on her spot next to him, they'd still be holding hands, but she scooches over and rests her head on his shoulder.

"Oh! Well, actually," she rubs her cheek on his shoulder and her grip on his hand tightens "I have everything I could wish for already."

Sonic notes she's got her eyes closed, now more interested in the warmth their bodies are sharing amidst the nightly breeze. Sonic blushes, hoping in vane she doesn't notice his body getting warmer at her statement.

"What about you? Don't you have any wishes?" Amy is genuinely curious (she can feel his awkwardness, so she doesn't tease him 'this time').

Sonic looks away, the hand that's not being held by Amy scratches a very reddish cheek, taking a deep breath to cool himself, "Nah..." the shyness quickly evaporating from his voice and he braves returning her gesture by, ever so slightly, snuggling against the top of her head. Leaving Starfall in the past, to focus on the present, Sonic's already made up his mind. "I'm good, Ames."

🫣 rambling abt ffxiv quests again yes so true

Bondi Beach, in 1901.

Ethel Allan and her children play on Bondi Beach with a very bare suburb in the background, the coachman waits patiently behind them.

Photo Source: State Records NSW