Summertime Spirit Encounter

Of A Florida Angel or Surfer Ghost

By Dikki-Jo Mullen

Usually the bright days of late spring in small Florida beach towns don’t immediately suggest visits from friendly ghosts and angels. Palm trees silhouetted against an oceanside sunset aren’t otherworldly. Usually. But things aren’t always as they seem. The still, damp heat can be hypnotic. When punctuated by frequent rain showers it can foster glimpses of other dimensions, revealing the various specters and entities that exist in the world along side of us. Actually credible accounts of spirits and supernatural events are quite common between May Day and summer’s end in the Sunshine State. Paranormal encounters can be fueled by the shimmering veil of still sunshine and growing heat.
Here are some thoughts to ponder about such a visitation which took place in unincorporated Indialantic, a barrier island community off the coast of Brevard County. My beloved and beautiful mother Elayne lived there for many years, tending to her exceptional tropical garden while producing her arts and crafts to sell locally. She was content to live alone, remaining very spry and active into her early 80’s. Then, as is oftentimes the situation with many people, everything began to change. It was shortly after her 83rd birthday in January, 2002 when Elayne started to grow more frail. I was driving the 70 miles or so from my home and work in Orlando to check on her and bring her food several times each week by the time Memorial Day came. On one visit I was horrified to notice large purplish bruises on her arms. Elayne said that she had fallen near her mail box. This would seem to be just a sad and all too common account of an elderly person becoming less independent and in need of added assistance except for one detail.
Elayne started talking about her guardian angel rescuing her. She was quite a practical person, almost an agnostic, and not given to religious observances. Mentally she was as astute and clever as ever. Elayne said that she was struggling on the ground, having trouble getting up, when her angel came. He wore blue jeans and a T-shirt and arrived driving a large black pickup truck which screeched to a halt by her mail box. He picked her up, she said, and carried her to her door. After making sure that she wasn’t seriously hurt, he and the truck disappeared. She said he seemed to know her, but she couldn’t speak. This phenomena is commonly reported by those who encounter angelic beings. They seem to not need or be interested in chatter. Elayne usually had plenty to say, so this silence was unlike her.
The house is on a dead end street. The few vehicles that pass by tend to be recognized by the residents, who mostly know each other. Elayne was usually outdoors and always curious about who was who. She even had been accused of being a nosey neighbor. She had never seen either the black truck or the man, whom she described as rather good looking, before. We asked around. None of the neighbors had ever seen him before or since the incident either. From the description I wondered if the entity was the ghost of a young surfer who had drowned years earlier. The unfortunate surfer’s truck had been found parked by the beach across the oceanfront HWY, A1A, just a stone’s throw from Atlantic Avenue, Elayne’s little street.
Elayne insisted that he was her handsome guardian angel and had been there for her. She added that since she was OK, he must have just driven his shiny black truck back to heaven!