The Invisible Friend
Clearwater, Florida, 2004
In June, Paul
spoke at a conference in
A
staff member where Paul was staying and presenting a program – the huge
and historic Belleview Biltmore Hotel - approached him and said that
weird things were happening to her 11 year-old nephew, who could predict
all sorts of things about the future because of a companion nobody else
could see but that other members of the family could, at times, hear.
"I’ve always been VERY suspicious of 'invisible friends,' who all too often turn out to be parasites setting up their human dupes to be hot lunches, especially when it comes to older children," Paul says.
Well, young Tony’s case turned out to be
somewhat different. In visiting his home, Paul found to his surprise
that Tony was no introvert, as are many children with invisible friends. He
was a delightful, outgoing, straightforward boy who seemed more
interested in Paul's background as a journalist than he was in the
paranormal. He was interested in baseball, had a number of quite visible
friends, and he did well in school. He said he wanted to be a reporter
someday.
What he reported
that day was most interesting.
The invisible friend, whose name also was Tony, was entirely visible to
the boy. Except for the fact that he usually would arrive by walking
into the room through the wall, he was a great deal like Tony’s other
friends -- except for a few biographical details.
"I found it fascinating that Tony's mom felt a
vague connection to this invisible Tony, almost as if he was one of the
family. The house itself had a warm, loving atmosp
According to our Tony, the paranormal Tony was
“a relative” who was to be born on March 5, 2093, 100 years to
the day after our Tony’s birth. He also lived in
Our Tony seemed convinced that the paranormal
Tony had saved his life on several occasions, including pushing him out
of the path of an oncoming car and waking him up in time to put out a
grass fire while he was out camping with his other friends.
"I had a fascinating conversation with Tony – maybe both Tonys – because I felt the overwhelming presence of another boy from the moment I walked into the room and before Tony had told me anything. Very human, very positive, even good natured," Paul recalls.
"My conclusion: a friendship across parallel
worlds. Maybe a family relationship, or perhaps even a descendant of our
Tony’s?
“I think there’s some stuff he won’t tell me
because it might freak me out,” Tony told Paul, who adds:
"Well, I suppose that if you were 11 and talking
to your own great, great grandson or something, you might find it
'freaky'!
Paul continues: "I know. Once again, no real
'evidence.' No ghost photographs. No 'electronic voice phenomena.' As a
matter of fact, I deliberately left my cameras and stuff at the hotel.
Sometimes things like that get in the way – like standing on the edge of
the Grand Canyon and completely missing the view because you’re texting
about the visit to somebody back East. Sometimes you have to just let it
go and have the experience. If you don’t, you’ll miss the sheer humanity
of the whole thing. And you’ll learn and prove absolutely nothing.
Because, much as we might want it to, the paranormal doesn’t exist on
our terms. Just the opposite is true."
Tony took this picture as Paul was with his mom and little brother.