a reply to: headcheck
To be clear, mine is not a story of something "materializing" strangely out of thin air, relating to my past. However, it is more about the
astronomical odds of being reunited with something reasonably significant from my past, seemingly by pure coincidence. Emphasis is on synchronicity
more than anything else, and I think this aspect bears significance for your story too Headcheck. That is, whether or not that particular brand of
battery is or is not extremely common and could have had a mundane reason for existing in that ceiling space - still, what are the chances it would
fall at your feet at that particular point in time, given there was a very specific incident that cemented that object and brand in your mind and
memory?
So my story. Several years back, my wife and I joined what I will call a "spiritual group" in our city. (The group was based in a neighborhood
relatively close to where I grew up...) During one of our weekly group meetings, there were some activities planned outdoors, and as such, we were
asked to help gather some blankets and sleeping bags to be taken out to a grassy area on the organization's property, to be laid down for people to
sit on etc. As I reached over to pick up some items, I realized instantly that there in front of me was my childhood sleeping bag. There was no
mistaking that this was my sleeping bag. The color and pattern of the fabric on the outside shell, as well as the inner liner, were immediately
recognizable to me.
Not only was it visually a match, but that sleeping bag even smelled exactly like mine had smelled, which in this case was not an insignificant
detail. As many will know, odor is a very strong trigger of memory, and when I came within a foot or so of this sleeping bag, I immediately recognized
the smell, for a very specific reason. The last experience I had with that sleeping bag was when I was about 7, and one of our family's dogs was aging
and lost bladder control, this sleeping bag was used for his bedding, and was in our vehicle when the dog was taken into the vet's office, and
ultimately put down. 30+ years later as I picked it up to take it out to the grass, it had the same feint odor of must and urine that I had remembered
from before. Also BTW, I recalled distinctly that we had not brought the sleeping bag home from the vet's but left it there for them to dispose of. I
have no idea how it would have ended up in the possession of this group so many years later, with no direct connection to myself or my family
whatsoever. ( However, this was relatively close to my old neighborhood, unlike the OP's experience spanning Seattle to Hawaii, etc.)
Besides the memories involving the dog, that sleeping bag held a lot of memories of friends and family sleepovers, family camping trips, so there was
a broad range of associated emotions. It was just extremely unexpected to find myself encountering it once again so many years later, as an adult,
and so purely out of the blue. Ultimately, I really felt disturbed by the "synchronicity" and because of the context, it almost felt like a warning to
me that something with that group was not right. Not long after that incident, several red flags came to my attention regarding this group and we
discontinued our involvement with them.
edit on 24-8-2014 by AeternusLux because: Addressing OP with reply.