Paul's Goodbye

Witness: Jeanne G. Pocius
Location: UCONN, Storrs, Connecticut
Date of Encounter: February 1980

I had a good friend who was one of the bus drivers (team buses) at the University of Connecticut, his name was Paul. We would often chat on radio as we were both CB'ers (my handle was "the copilot"). One afternoon I was teaching a trumpet lesson around 3 PM in a large practice room at UCONN when I heard Paul's voice in the hallway calling my name. It sounded like he'd been looking for me and was relieved to finally find me.

I didn't stop and go out of the room because I only had a few minutes left to teach and I figured he'd wait for me. When I finished the lesson, I went out into the hallway to look for Paul. He wasn't there, and the few folks who were out there said they hadn't seen him. But I was sure that I'd heard him call out to me.

Two days later I learned that Paul had died in the very early morning hours of the day I'd heard his voice (he died around 2:30 AM). I think he was trying to say goodbye to me. A couple of weeks later I dreamed of him, and everything in the dream was normal, except that instead of his brown eyes, there were lights shining from his face.