I believe in reincarnation because of something my daughter Talisa told me. Here's her story:

I was cleaning my then six-year-old daughter Talisa's room when I spotted a small luggage-type case under her bed. A friend of mine had made it for her to put keepsakes in. I decided I'd take a peek at what was inside. When I opened the box, I was shocked to see that, in addition to a few of her favourite items - photos and small trinkets - she was also saving some non-perishable types of food.

I called her upstairs to explain what all this stuff, especially the food, was doing in her case. She said that it was all she needed in case we had to leave in a hurry because of a fire. I tried to reassure her that we would get her out safely in case of a fire, that we had alarms and so on, anything that would put her mind at ease. But she insisted that she really needed all these things.

I asked her why she was so afraid, and was shocked to hear her response. She said that when she was Sally she was sleeping in her house, and she died in a fire. I said, "No, your name is Tali and you're fine." (We sometimes called her Tali and I thought she was confusing the name with Sally.)

She then went on to tell me of a vivid recollection. She had been a child about seven years old who lived on a farm. Her house was built of wood and she slept on the top floor. One night, there was a big fire. She was trapped upstairs and nobody could get to her. The fire began coming through the floorboards and her long white nightgown started to burn. In desperation, as she tried to put out her flaming nightgown, she jumped out of a window, but died of her burns anyway.

I think my mouth was hanging open when she finished this story. But what is most bizarre about it is that she has vitiligo all over her body (white patches). Many people have told me that they originally thought that those patches were the scars resulting from burns.

Sylvia Caballero
Toronto, Canada

Posted 5-14-2008