I am one who believes strongly in the spirit realm, paranormal activity, etc. Even with such a strong belief, I am often told by skeptics that such things are foolish and nonsense. While I accept people have the right to feel however they want, I have often shared stories with people that are hard to explain with logic and find others have events like this too. Here is one that happened to me, and I will share it.
I graduated from High School in 1989 and living in a mid size American town, I did not have a huge graduating class; about 225 people. Of those people, about 20 of them were people I started kindergarten with and know all thirteen years of school. While the mixing of different schools, from elementary, to Junior High and on to High School, made friendships weaker or nonexistent; you still knew each other and your names. One such person was named Michael Hastings (real name). He was always the class clown, from a young age to senior year, he was in to anything that made him seen. He always had a sort of "Howdy Doody" look to him and in general was one of those guys that everyone knew and basically liked, as he was always involved in everything. He was in class government, drama and it seemed to me now, most of the yearbook pictures (as he was in yearbook class).
Being a raised Witness (although not baptised), I had to go through the same crap most of you describe here; being singled out, shy, and in some cases a little to different for most people to get close too. After all, you're in that wacky cult that does not celebrate Holidays! Well graduation comes and life starts. I did college for awhile and then my parents divorce and I decide "Jehovah is for me!" and next thing you know it is 1992 and I am baptized, a Ministerial Servant in no time and living several hours from where I went to high school. By 1990 I had lost touch with everyone from high school, but one who I spoke too about once every six months and soon that faded (that person too had me as their only connection to High School.)
Well 1995 hits and the generation revision happens, and I am looking for the back door to exit and finally leave the cult in 1997. I am fortunate, my wife left the religion too and we are trying to find anything we can to live like normal people. One such thing is my reunion of 1999, ten years. I feel uncomfortable with going and do not even look in to going, and figure it is a waste of time to drive down and see a bunch of people who I had not spoken to or seen since I saw them in cap and gowns. Well, one night I am dreaming and I am in high school again. The halls are empty and I am eighteen, I walk around and remember trying to think of my locker combination. Suddenly Michael Hastings is walking along and has a bunch of people with him. They are all people I went to school with and he looks to me and speak, "You going?" I explain I am not, as if knowing he means the reunion. He starts explaining how I should and how fun it would be to show all those people how much I changed and left the religion, and became a better person, etc. I wake up and think, "Maybe?"
I did not look in to it at all, and it was a week before the reunion and I kind of knew it was arriving. Again, another dream and Michael is in it again and we are at a Basketball game from 1989 and he was there and everyone is scream and he turns and speak, "You really should go." Well this got stuck in my mind and I told my wife. She thought, "Why not, after all we are not Witnesses anymore." So I call the organizer that is listed on the Internet (Which I connected to with my fancy AOL dial-up, it was 1999 after all). We get tickets and head down.
Well going in to the reunion was funny. I saw people I remembered, but the woman were larger and the men were balder (the men were larger too). So I speak to a few and we are enjoying reviewing ten years and such. One guy I knew mentioned that they had a room of high school stuff to look at and we should check it out. It was a small room with pictures of things from 1986-1989; jerseys, pictures, even a video set up, tons of things and even old fashion looks (which are back by the way.) In the corner was a sign that said "In memory of ... " and I knew it would be those who had died from our class. I expect to see two guys I graduated with, as they died in a car accident the summer of 1989 when they drove 100 mph drinking off a road and down a steep embankment. There was a girl who died of cancer I barely knew and then there was something I did not expect, "Michael Hastings!" Died in a motorcycle accident in 1992 in San Francisco. I was shocked, as I wanted to see him at the reunion and joke with him that I dreamt he did not leave me alone in dreams telling me to come. Yet instead I found out he died many years earlier.
So was it coincidence or paranormal? I think the latter, as it would have been just like him to be the one to get the party going and get involved. Apparently, that energy level did not end at his death and kept going. I thought it was wonderful to experience.