NENE KING KARINA MACHADO
QI was always brought up with good manners and I did the same for my children. I sent a present to my granddaughter and great-granddaughter a few weeks ago just because I wanted to. All I ask of them is a thank you and I haven’t received one. I also have sent my daughter-in-law’s mother an 80th birthday present and have not yet received a thank you for that, either. Am I asking too much for a simple thank you from any of them?
DEBORAH, VIA EMAIL.
ATheir silence is rude. It must make you feel neglected. Expecting a simple thank you is not too much to ask. Where are their manners? Perhaps it is time to pull back from your generosity. I was taught to respond to a gift, and I wonder if your granddaughter and great-granddaughter have been. You must not allow the silence to upset you. You are a kind, thoughtful person. Put your money towards those who really need it.
QI recently joined a mother’s group one year after the birth of my daughter. I’ve noticed that there seems to be an unspoken competition among the other mums. It’s a race to be first to have teeth growing or be crawling and I can’t help but feel like I’m losing the race. It makes me feel like a bad mum. Should I be worried about this ‘competition’? SANDRA, VIA EMAIL.
AWho cares how the other mothers are behaving? It is ridiculous to feel that you are not keeping up with the rest of the group. Unspoken competition is nonsense and feeling this way must make you anxious. All new mums are proud of their child’s progress. Speak up and inform the group how proud you are of your beautiful child. Is this the right group for you? Check out options, there may be another that would make you feel more comfortable.
Karina Machado is a journalist, host of the
Spirit Sisters podcast and the author of Spirit Sisters, Where Spirits Dwell and Love Never Dies, a non-fiction series exploring the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people. Now, on The Ghost Files podcast each week, Karina will introduce a guest who’ll share their personal encounter with the spirit world.
PHANTOM OF THE FARM
Just when I think I’ve heard it all where spooky stories are concerned, someone comes along to prove me wrong. Take Susan, for instance. Susan grew up one of 10 siblings on the NSW North Coast; that in itself piqued my interest, as I’ve observed a connection between very large families and paranormal experiences.
“I have been having experiences for as long as I can remember,” says Susan. One of her earliest memories is of seeing “glowing tombs and crucifixes in our hallway of a night” (the eye-opening story mentioned above). “I think I was probably only around 5 or 6 when I would see these, and I’d have to run through them to get the bathroom or my parents’ room.”
Susan was still only a child when she began having very disturbing and vivid dreams. In one, she saw a person being lynched and embodied the intense pain of the injustice being committed. “I felt that I was watching myself,” she remembers. “I just felt that it was me.” Did Susan have a glimpse of her horrific end in a previous life? She’s not discounting it.
In 2011, Susan experienced a series of inexplicable events on a farm she and her fiancé had bought as their first home. “We were living our dream, planning our wedding and our future on the farm,” says Susan, who shared this story on a recent episode of The Ghost Files podcast.
Tune in to hear how the dream soured, courtesy of a bullish spirit man. Despite the fear she’s faced throughout her lifetime of encounters, Susan still finds solace in their overall message.
“It’s a very humbling feeling when you think that we’re not just wandering around alone,” she reflects. “There are always other people around.” Even if most of us can’t see them.