0:01

Why don't more infant formula companies use

0:03

organic, grass fed whole milk instead of

0:05

skin? And why don't more infant formula

0:07

companies use the latest breast milk science?

0:10

Why don't more infant formula companies run

0:12

their own clinical trials? Why don't more

0:14

infant formula companies use more of the

0:16

proteins found in breast milk? Why don't

0:19

more infant formula companies have their own

0:21

factories and set of outsourcing their manufacturing?

0:23

We wondered the same thing. So we

0:25

made by heart a better formula for

0:28

formula. Learn more It by her.com. I'm

1:00

61 of Real Life Ghost Stories. And

1:02

I have two spooky stories for you today. And

1:04

the last story comes from the 30th of April,

1:06

2024. And story number one

1:08

comes from Indigo. I

1:11

love my grandpa so, so much. We

1:14

call him Papa. Everyone loves

1:16

him. He was such

1:18

a special man for so many reasons that there

1:21

are too many to list here. His

1:24

heart was enormous. And

1:26

he was loved dearly by all who knew him. On

1:30

April the 29th, 2015, we lost him to his last severe stroke. After

1:37

battling strokes, blood pressure and

1:39

clogged arteries and taking countless

1:41

medications for years. To

1:44

say we were devastated is an understatement.

1:47

I felt especially hit hard by this. I

1:50

had called my grandparents and forfeited what

1:52

would unknowingly be my last opportunity to

1:55

see him alive only days before he

1:57

died. Due to exhaustion from a 12

1:59

to 13 year old. hour-long solo road

2:01

trip. Funny I'd known.

2:05

The 29th comes and we lose the

2:07

most important man in our whole family.

2:10

Everyone has flown into town for his celebration of

2:12

life, including his only daughter,

2:14

my aunt, who lives in Miami. A day

2:18

or two after Papa had passed, my aunt

2:20

was on my grandparents computer, trying to make

2:22

head or tail of the medical bills and

2:25

what needed to be paid, the usual types

2:27

of things that need sorting out after someone

2:29

dies. My Papa's

2:31

medication cost them so much money over the

2:34

years. They had to sell

2:36

precious family antiques and jewelry to keep

2:38

up and that was with the help

2:40

of their children too. So

2:42

my aunt was sitting at the desk trying to make sense

2:44

of the mess of his bills when his

2:46

voice came to her just as clear as if he was

2:49

standing in the same room. He

2:51

told my aunt, don't you

2:53

give those bastards another goddamn dime. My

2:56

aunt started laughing and then crying. Not

2:59

knowing what was happening being in a different room, my

3:01

grandma and I asked if she was okay. She

3:04

explained what happened. We couldn't help

3:06

but laugh. It was such a Papa

3:08

thing to say. He was

3:10

still around. The

3:13

night he passed, my sister had a visitation dream

3:15

from him. He told her he

3:17

was much better now, that our Nana would be okay.

3:20

He did not want anyone to feel bad about what

3:22

happened and that whenever we saw

3:24

a blue butterfly to know it was him popping in

3:26

to say hi and check on us. Since

3:29

then the blue butterfly has been a symbol of

3:31

our Papa. I was

3:33

happy that my sister had gotten a special message

3:35

from him but envious that it hadn't

3:38

been me. That

3:40

was until I had my own visitation dreams. The

3:44

visitation dreams they feel different. It

3:47

is hard to describe but they

3:50

have a unique feeling that is unlike a

3:52

typical dream and there

3:54

is also an awareness in them that you do

3:56

not have in a typical dream. It

3:59

was exceptional. not

4:01

unusual for me. I

4:03

was standing in a big gymnasium from elementary school.

4:06

The gym is full of people visiting loved ones and

4:09

I need to get to the open door on the

4:11

other side where I think my family is. My

4:14

eyes are scanning the crowd. Then

4:17

I see a man in

4:19

an old man hat, plaid shirt

4:21

and brown slacks, a

4:23

papa smurf beard and glasses and

4:26

he waves with a big smile on his face. I

4:30

almost waved back but then I think to myself oh

4:33

that man must be waving at someone behind me. That

4:35

can't be Papa. Papa died. So

4:38

feeling silly to have begun waving at a stranger

4:40

I ignored the man and kept walking

4:43

towards the open door. I had

4:45

to walk past him to get to the open door however

4:48

and just as I was saying my pardon me excuse

4:50

me the man grabbed my arm

4:53

from behind and said in the most

4:55

wonderful jovial loving way is

4:57

that any way to greet your Papa and

4:59

he pulled me into the biggest strongest safest

5:02

bear hug just like he would when he

5:04

was still alive. I

5:06

could not believe my eyes. I

5:08

exclaimed Papa I didn't think it was

5:10

you I didn't think I would ever get to see you again. He

5:13

said of course it's me I'm

5:15

okay and your Nana is going to be okay she

5:18

still has things to do there. I know

5:21

he said other things too but those bits are a little

5:23

more cloudy. I love you

5:25

I'm with you things like that. When

5:28

I woke up I knew beyond any shadow of

5:30

a doubt that I'd gotten to see my Papa

5:32

again and that I got another amazing hug from

5:35

him and I sobbed like a baby.

5:37

I got

5:39

to see him in a couple of visitation dreams after

5:41

that over the years as well. One

5:44

where he came to my home where I lived in

5:46

Germany with my family. He was talking

5:48

at the dinner table with my mom and dad but

5:51

they are more and more scarce as I cannot

5:53

seem to manage to see him without crying. I

5:55

think that makes him sad. I

5:57

don't mean to I just get so full of get

6:00

to see him in a visitation dream that

6:02

crying just happens. I have normal

6:04

dreams too where I am blissfully unaware that he has

6:06

passed away and we are all together. We

6:09

all get our little blue butterfly visits from

6:11

time to time that is so

6:13

special to all of us. I

6:16

have sat in his easy chair and felt

6:18

a big warm hug when I've been feeling

6:20

particularly down like he was hugging

6:22

me from behind and so

6:24

often you can feel his presence in the house he and

6:26

my nana built. Now

6:28

something unique to myself a little backstory

6:32

Papa loved BB King the King

6:34

of the Blues and

6:36

thanks to him and one amazing summer with our

6:38

grandparents and our uncles back in 1992 my sisters

6:40

and I all love

6:43

BB King too. But

6:46

of all of BB King's songs

6:48

Papa's very favorite is Sweet Little

6:50

Angel. There are so many of

6:52

his songs that I like that I have

6:54

on my Spotify playlist with so many other

6:56

artists and so many other songs and genres.

6:59

This is important information I promise. Aside

7:03

from an occasional blue butterfly which always

7:05

makes me smile I had

7:07

not seen or heard from Papa in a while

7:10

probably because I cry every time he

7:13

visits sorry Papa but

7:15

it was a bummer and I would

7:17

think oh I hope Papa can see me now and know

7:19

that I'm doing well that I'm happy. My

7:22

husband and I bought our first house one

7:24

and a half years ago and started renovations

7:26

starting with the master bedroom. We'd

7:29

gotten to the point where I was able to help

7:31

do the things in the room prime and paint and

7:34

such so I gave my husband

7:36

the night off and I got the paint

7:38

workspace ready and my little speaker and fired

7:40

up my Spotify. I was officially

7:42

in the zone. After

7:44

all the ads were finished and I'd

7:46

gotten 30 minutes of uninterrupted music my

7:49

curated playlist started. Papa

7:51

popped into my head and then

7:54

the song Sweet Little Angel started to play. I

7:57

started laughing and crying again.

8:00

and I shouted to my husband, he's here, he's

8:02

here, oh my God, Papa is here, he's saying

8:04

hi. And I ran out to

8:06

the living room with my little speaker so I could hear the

8:08

song and hug my husband tight. He

8:11

knows how much it means to me. He

8:13

just held me and let me happily cry it out.

8:16

I finally got another Papa visit after a

8:18

long dry spell. Fast forward

8:20

to just last month, March, we decided

8:23

to renovate my in-laws vacation bedroom for

8:25

their visit in June. We

8:27

were excited and happy. It

8:30

is my turn again with the painting and I think I

8:32

wonder if it'll happen again. What are

8:34

the chances? I kind of put it out

8:36

of my mind. I have so many

8:38

songs I can listen to on my playlist for

8:40

a couple of hours and not repeat a song,

8:43

nor come across a single B.B. King song. The

8:46

chances of hearing B.B. King, let alone Sweet Little

8:48

Angel, are very slim. A

8:51

couple of other songs played, but then

8:53

it happened. His song came

8:55

on and I knew that he

8:57

was with me in that moment once again. I

9:00

listen to my playlist all the time and that

9:02

song never comes on. But now

9:05

while doing my first nights of painting in

9:07

both my rooms, I got a little nudge,

9:09

a little high there. Me

9:11

becker boo from my Papa. Anyone

9:14

can believe what they want, that this is

9:16

coincidence. But I know in my heart

9:18

and my mind that it is simply not so. My

9:21

Papa visits and he will play his song

9:23

or come in a dream or as a

9:25

blue butterfly messenger. When

9:27

my husband and I got married, we married at

9:29

my grandparents property. Papa's energy

9:32

was all around. My

9:34

arch had a blue butterfly garland.

9:37

And as traditionally so, my something blue

9:40

and all my girls wore something blue,

9:42

had small blue butterfly brooches so that

9:44

Papa could be with us too. Oh,

9:47

this is all so beautiful. Except

9:49

for healthcare systems where you have to pay loads of

9:51

money for basic healthcare

9:53

and medication. That's less beautiful. And

9:56

I can totally understand that feeling of envy,

9:58

that feeling of like. Oh,

10:01

your sister got to have

10:03

this visitation dream and you didn't I

10:05

would feel really envious to admittedly I'd

10:07

be like why not me? But

10:10

then I'm so glad for you that you got to have

10:12

that visitation dream and I totally

10:14

get it. You're right I mean people say

10:16

all the time that visitation dreams just feel

10:18

different And I love these

10:20

stories where loved ones are able to send

10:23

you a sign via musical choices you know,

10:26

I think it's such a beautiful thing to

10:28

be bopping along listening to a song and

10:31

Then all of a sudden you're hit with a

10:34

beautiful nostalgic meaningful song that

10:36

is Really pertinent to

10:38

that person. I think it's lovely and I'm really

10:40

glad too that you're able to Find

10:43

a way to include

10:46

your Papa in your wedding in the form

10:48

of having a little blue

10:50

butterfly Motif that is beautiful. What

10:52

a gorgeous story One

10:58

size fits all seems like a good idea

11:00

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11:27

Why don't more infant formula companies use

11:30

organic grass-fed whole milk instead of skim?

11:33

Why don't more infant formula companies use

11:35

the latest breast milk science? Why

11:37

don't more infant formula companies run their own

11:39

clinical trials? Why don't more

11:41

infant formula companies use more of the proteins found

11:44

in breast milk? Why don't

11:46

more infant formula companies have their own

11:48

factories instead of outsourcing their manufacturing? We

11:51

wondered the same thing so we made by

11:53

heart a better formula for formula learn more

11:55

at by heart comm Answer

12:01

number two comes from Gavin. I've

12:04

been threatening or promising on social

12:07

media to send you a long listener story

12:09

of all my weird experiences, but

12:11

I'm still working on making it more than a

12:13

bullet point list of short sentences, so this is

12:16

not it. What I can

12:18

send you and want to send you

12:20

is an experience my dad had when he was

12:22

younger. My dad is

12:24

a skeptic, strong and true. He

12:27

is a very sensible person, hard

12:29

to shake and even harder to scare,

12:32

but aside from dealing with

12:34

his diagnosis, I've seen him

12:36

scared and upset twice in my life. The

12:40

first was telling me about the only

12:42

ghost story he has ever believed in,

12:44

the one he lived himself. He

12:47

won't even watch a TV show or a

12:49

movie that is not firmly set in the

12:51

real world, denouncing it as rubbish or too

12:53

far-fetched for him. So the

12:56

fact that he believes in this adds to its

12:58

credibility. I did ask

13:00

him if he remembers this, hoping to put

13:02

some of it in his own words, but

13:04

he is currently going through the middle stages

13:06

of Alzheimer's and he seems to have forgotten

13:08

most of it, so I will

13:11

do my best to recall what he told me when

13:13

he was still well. Before

13:15

I was born, the youngest of four, my

13:17

dad went through a period of unemployment.

13:20

He is a proud man and refused

13:22

to sign on to any sort of benefits,

13:25

so he spent his days looking for any

13:27

and all work he could do to tide

13:29

him over until he found a more steady

13:32

income. He had gone

13:34

through school to become an accountant and

13:36

luckily, a local shoe factory needed

13:38

someone to do the books. It

13:41

would not be full-time work, but it

13:43

was the 70s and any accountancy work was

13:45

going to pay just enough to get by.

13:48

His new job would mean that he would head into the

13:50

factory late in the day, just in time

13:52

for the workers to head home for the night. He

13:55

would then do the books while the boss would keep

13:57

him company, watching over him to make sure he was

14:00

trustworthy. After a

14:02

month or two the owner decided my dad was

14:04

competent enough to have a set of keys and work

14:06

alone from then on. He

14:08

was tasked with closing everything up after

14:10

finishing the accounts of an evening and

14:13

shutting off the lights on his way out. My

14:16

dad was thrilled. The extra

14:18

responsibility he felt meant that he

14:20

may end up with more permanent

14:22

and maybe full-time work. He

14:25

went in on his first night alone with a spring in

14:27

his step. His walk

14:30

to and from work passed through a

14:32

large cemetery, fairly modern for

14:34

the time and open without

14:36

much shrubbery or plant life to make

14:38

it feel unsafe despite the creepy atmosphere.

14:40

But as I said my dad is

14:42

a skeptic. He said he

14:45

used to like the quiet and rarely saw anyone so

14:47

it was extra strange that evening to see

14:49

a small frail-looking old

14:52

woman sitting on the

14:54

bench looking out into the graves. He

14:57

nodded and smiled and went on his way and

14:59

she smiled and nodded back. He

15:02

soon arrived at work. He

15:04

explained that the factory was exactly like you

15:06

would imagine. One big

15:08

rectangular building with all the offices built

15:10

into the back of the single main

15:12

room looking out over the work area.

15:16

That was where he would go to do the books. He

15:19

locked the front door behind him and went in and

15:22

did the job. He said there was

15:24

nothing strange about his experience up to this point

15:27

and as he finished the books he

15:29

left them on the owners desk and he

15:31

was in a good mood satisfied at a

15:33

job well done. As

15:36

he left he had also been instructed that he

15:38

had to shut off the lights before leaving. Each

15:41

row of lights were isolated on their own

15:43

circuits. Large metal light

15:46

shades cast spotlights down into

15:48

the workspace with

15:50

a heavy industrial switch for each row

15:52

set into the steel pillars running down

15:54

the center walkway of the factory. He

15:57

had to turn each one off as he passed. leaving

16:00

only the light in front of him to see by.

16:03

And by this time it was dark outside, with

16:06

the windows small and high up so visibility

16:08

was low. As

16:12

he got to, by his estimate, about halfway down

16:14

the aisle, pitch darkness behind him,

16:18

he heard a bang coming

16:20

from the office he had just left, the

16:23

sound of the door that he

16:25

had just locked slamming shut. He

16:29

walked back and checked, turning

16:31

the lights back on as he went, but

16:34

found the door still locked and nothing

16:36

out of place. Assuming

16:39

it was something to do with the electrics

16:41

being shut off, maybe a particularly old fuse

16:43

or something, he went back towards the

16:45

way out, turning the lights off as he went. Again,

16:50

halfway, a loud

16:52

bang. This just

16:54

solidified in his mind that it must be something to

16:56

do with how the lighting system worked, so

16:59

shrugging it off, he kept going. When

17:03

he got to the front doors of the factory,

17:05

he fished in his pocket four keys, standing

17:07

in the remaining pool of light. He

17:11

suddenly heard a shout coming

17:14

from the office area again, followed

17:16

by the sound of heavily stamping

17:18

running feet. Telling

17:21

it, this is when he became visibly

17:23

scared. I've only seen

17:25

him that scared one other time, which I

17:27

will get to, but it

17:29

was the pale skin and cold sweat sort

17:31

of fear that a person can't really fake.

17:34

He explained that he unlocked the door

17:36

and slammed it shut behind him, before

17:39

locking it back up and leaving, still

17:42

hearing bangs and screams from

17:44

within. Shaken

17:46

but relieved to be out of there, he

17:48

began his walk back home, his

17:51

walk through the cemetery. As

17:54

he walked briskly, given the environment, he was stopped

17:56

in his tracks to see the old woman from

17:58

earlier still sitting on the floor. the bench. He

18:01

stopped. "'Is

18:03

everything okay, madam?' he asked her. "'I'm

18:07

fine, darling, just enjoying the peace and quiet,

18:09

my love,' he recalled her saying. He

18:12

offered to wait with her or walk her home.

18:15

Given the time it was the chivalrous thing

18:17

to do, and my dad has ever been

18:20

the gentleman, but she declined. I'll

18:22

be okay a while longer, I'm just waiting for

18:24

someone,' she insisted. My

18:27

dad walked on. By

18:29

his recollection he walked less than ten steps before

18:31

he decided he had to wait and make sure

18:34

that she was okay. The

18:36

cemetery felt safe, but it was still very

18:38

dark and very empty, apart

18:40

from the occasional street light like

18:42

the one she was sitting under. But

18:46

when he turned around she had silently

18:48

vanished. He

18:50

ran the rest of the way home and took

18:52

our large German shepherd in to work with him

18:55

for the remaining weeks he worked there. Luckily

18:57

he found a well-paid and full-time job

19:00

somewhere else not long after. The

19:04

only other time I've seen him so shaken

19:06

was after a dream he had. In

19:09

this dream, he said, he started in bed, but

19:12

my mother was not there and it was daytime. He

19:15

got up and went out into the hall and heard

19:17

a noise coming from our spare room. He

19:20

described going in as if it was a

19:22

door to another place. And

19:24

the room itself, although the right size and shape,

19:27

was decorated differently. All

19:29

blue sky themed with clouds and balloons

19:31

and a small blonde boy sitting in

19:33

the middle of the room playing with

19:36

a toy train. The

19:39

boy had glasses and was wearing

19:41

the shorts and shirt of an

19:43

old-fashioned school uniform. As

19:46

he looked up, the child appeared freshly burned

19:48

and horribly scared all down one side but

19:50

didn't seem to be in pain. Hello,

19:55

do you know where my mum and dad are?

19:57

He said. No, I'm sorry, this isn't your

19:59

house. I help you?" my dad answered. But

20:02

I live here and I've lost

20:04

my parents somewhere, the boy said

20:07

before starting to cry. My

20:09

dad explained how he sat down and took the

20:11

child in his arms and held him while

20:13

reassuring him that he would find his parents for him

20:15

and he would be okay, the

20:18

burn sticking to and staining his

20:20

own clothes. My

20:23

dad woke up crying that morning and cried every

20:25

time he told the story since. The

20:28

weird thing is, my

20:31

dad was blonde as a child and

20:34

wore glasses. His parents

20:36

didn't have much money so

20:38

he often had to wear his school uniform

20:40

all day and at weekends. Both

20:43

of his parents had long passed at this point. I

20:46

never met them and they had passed before I was

20:48

born. Two

20:51

years after having this dream he had a stroke

20:53

that he never really recovered from. During

20:56

what little recovery he made he

20:58

kept asking where his parents were and

21:00

even after recovery the stroke

21:02

left him weak down one side.

21:04

I've always wondered if it was some sort

21:06

of premonition or warning that he had received either

21:10

from some supernatural source or because his

21:12

body had somehow told him about the

21:14

weak spot in his brain. Anyway

21:17

I'll get back to working on my own

21:19

ever lengthening list of spooky encounters soon. I

21:22

hope this little tale was as interesting

21:24

as it was short. Gavin

21:26

it absolutely was as interesting as it was short.

21:29

I love when stories center around skeptics. I

21:31

don't know it just brings a little je

21:33

ne sais quoi for me you know but

21:35

I'm curious about this story right because it

21:39

sort of sounds like your dad had two

21:41

entirely different paranormal

21:44

experiences on the one night. Like

21:46

what are the chances? I wonder

21:48

what night it was specifically because

21:50

obviously if he's more

21:53

skeptical not remotely interested in anything

21:55

along that along that line would

21:57

like turn off TV or film.

22:00

if it mentioned ghosts or the paranormal. What

22:02

night was it? Because was it a night

22:04

I wonder where you know

22:08

the veil was thinner? But besides

22:10

that first of all the

22:13

slamming door I can get on board with you know

22:15

you know your dad sort of suspected

22:17

that the slamming sound had something to do

22:19

with the lighting system yeah totally get that

22:21

totally understand that. I would probably rationalize it

22:23

the same way you know I'd be like

22:25

oh okay that's what it was but

22:29

the shouting and the

22:31

sound of running feet shut

22:35

up you I would not be waiting to see

22:37

if that was human or not I'd be out

22:39

that door locking them in I don't care. I

22:41

think the sound of feet running towards you is

22:43

far scarier than anything else it's far scarier than

22:46

shouting it's far scarier than door slamming oh it

22:48

just it really really scares me. I

22:51

would love to have known whether

22:53

or not your dad spoke to

22:56

the other members of staff about this afterwards

22:58

I imagine not because I'd be thinking I

23:01

need to hold on to this job for

23:03

dear life and I don't want to say

23:05

anything that may jeopardize my chances of holding

23:07

on to this job. I wonder what like

23:09

the history of that factory was whether it

23:11

was always a factory and if it had

23:13

always been a factory was it a factory

23:15

since like you know way

23:19

older times when people in

23:21

factories maybe didn't have good

23:23

working conditions and good working rights was

23:25

it something else did other people experience

23:27

these things so many questions

23:30

and as for the woman in the graveyard

23:32

like presumably she was completely separate to the

23:35

whole incident because if I was your dad

23:37

I'd be thinking fucking hell

23:39

who has two separate ghost experiences

23:41

on the same night that is

23:43

so strange and that second

23:45

part of the story where your dad had a

23:48

dream about a little boy burnt on one side

23:50

oh that's really giving me the heebie jeebies as

23:52

well because I wonder if as

23:54

you said at the end whether it was like

23:57

his brain knowing something wasn't

23:59

right I mean if it was

24:01

that or if it was premonitory it's

24:03

still absolutely terrifying and I'm presuming the

24:05

implication is that the burn

24:08

on the child is representative

24:10

of the damage done by the stroke

24:12

that your dad had later.

24:15

Oh that's really rattled me.

24:17

Thank you so much for listening to today's

24:20

episode. Thank you to Indigo and Gavin

24:22

for sending in your stories. Remember the

24:24

last story came from 30th of April

24:26

2024 and if you

24:28

would like to send in your story you

24:30

can do so by emailing it to reallifegostoriespodcast.gmail.com.

24:32

You can also check out the website reallifegostoriespodcast.com

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and if you are desperate for some extra

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24:50

on that note I shall see you next time. Hi,

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