A woman who describes herself as ' psychic-ish ' says she can talk to ghosts and often sees her boyfriend's dead grandma dancing around her. Lydia Thomas, 28 started seeing spirits when she was just eight years old when her grandma - who died before she was born - appeared in her bedroom doorway.
Lydia continued to see fleeting images of her relative but kept her new power secret until she finally plucked up the courage to tell her family when she was ten-years-old. As a teen she was terrified of the spirits she saw and struggled to sleep after she felt a hand stroking her face, she claims. But after experiencing a concussion, she began to "control the spirits" and started to feel comforted by them, rather than scared.
Now she often sees her boyfriend Daniel's grandma, Dot - who passed away in February 2019 - who dances and sings for her. Due to her apparent gift, Lydia will do psychic readings for close family members - but refuses to do them for others.
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Lydia, who works in dispute resolution, and lives with her boyfriend, Daniel, 34, a software engineer, in Vancouver, Canada, said: "I was terrified when I first saw my grandma, but I thought I was just dreaming.
"As a kid I didn't really know what I was experiencing, and I was really scared. I had dreams about a little girl and heard her voice saying 'I'm Amy'.
"The spirits developed over the years, but I see them as if I'm in a memory. It's like a burned-out image of someone.
"I can see my boyfriend's grandma winking at me but he's really supportive of experiences. She's cheeky and wants a grandchild named after her."
Lydia first saw the ghost of her dad's mum when she was just eight years old in 2001.
"She'd passed before I was born and one night I saw this young woman in a wedding dress in the doorway," she said.
"She came over and kissed me on the forehead. I realised later that it was my grandma when I saw a photo from her wedding."
Lydia continued to see fleeting images of her grandma but didn't pluck up the courage to tell anyone until she was 10 years old in 2003.
"I didn't really understand it all as a kid," she said.
"At first I thought I could have just been dreaming."
When Lydia was 14 years old she remembers feeling a hand stroke her face in 2007.
"I was terrified, I pulled the duvet over my head so it would go away," she said.
Lydia started to "control the spirits" when she got older by telling them to go away, so they wouldn't bother her at night.
"I hadn't realised I could control them and just tell them to go away when I was younger," she said.
"Once I had concussion and the spirits left me alone and two weeks later, I saw my boyfriend's grandma.
"But she seemed really comforting and loving so it didn't seem so scary anymore.
"I realised she looked like Daniel's mum and wondered if it was his grandma, so I asked her for her name, and it turned out it was her.
"I think Daniel was a bit freaked out but he's very supportive and doesn't think I'm crazy.
"Dot's such a character - she dances and sings and winks at me. She's a laugh."
Daniel, a software engineer, is very supportive of Lydia and her psychic abilities.
"I'm like a councillor for the spirits now," Lydia said.
"I realise that these spirits are just like anyone and they're desperate to connect with their family.
"They used to scare me but now I've realised this I don't mind them.
"I'm much more in control of it now - so I can shut them out."
If you would like to find out more about Lydia's experiences, you can listen to her podcast Psychic-ish.
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