Now that my mom has grown older and carried this story in her heart, she still claims the events as real; and personally, I believe her every bit, because I too can recall paranormal moments of my own, so I know what it's like to have these experiences. Even though the credibility of this story has been question in the past, mostly by my stepdad who is not a believer in ghosts, she still holds certain to the fact that this story really did happen, and that the events she experienced are true. Especially, with my mom's family being rooted in catholic beliefs, finding these stories to be "fake" or "made up" seems simply absurd.

What seems to make my mom connected to this story compared to her other paranormal experiences in the past, is the fact that not only did the "ghost" in the story hold significance in her life, but she was also close and friends with the family of the "ghost" (a.k.a. her late friend), and so she also had to experience her close friends become affected by this loss. The traumas that we have as humans will always have a lasting impact on us, and our development, and can affect our outlook on life. Our ghosts from the past symbolize heavy trauma for us, and looking at these encounters through a rhetorical and personal lens can help us find peace with the traumas we’ve faced

During the conduction of my research, I found that many of the people use the story my mom gave as a sort of a way to connect with her friend who had passed, and the family also loves to recollect on the story, hoping to share some fond memories. The story seems to uphold itself positively, in terms of relational impact, as every time it's told, it's used as a sort of "last" memory of him, showing that my mom's story holds some pretty strong beliefs and many people seek comfort to this story. we as people must learn to accept ghosts instead of run from them (Parham, 3)

The methodology of land-based research also seems to hold itself pretty strongly in terms of this story being told, as it relies heavily on my mom and the memories of his loved ones who all still live close within each other. The story isn't a widely known one, but instead it's one that holds significance over these families. In order to understand the full impact and context of the story, we must first consider the narrative of my mother and the way that he was viewed amongst his family and close friends.

Using this methodology, I'd also like to understand who my mom was a little more too, and being able to explore the specifics of this story, I am able to also see how she was when she was young, and being able to discuss this story means that she's able to talk about her past experiences and the way that she grew up. Now, my mom has told me everything about herself, she's definitely an open book, however hearing her stories and experiences as a person, made me start to want to know more about her childhood and her growing up. And also by being able to talk to the family of her late friend, who was also clsoe and friends with my mom, I'm able to see how my mom was as a person, not only through my mother's eyes but her peers and friends as well.

The personal history that I share with this story is that this was a story that I grew up hearing all the time. Growing up, I would hear this story in the car, on the way to grocery store, during dinner time, and even during those few times where my mom feels like she has encountered some type of ghost presence in our home. My mom is a very spiritual person, in the sense that she believes in ghosts and other-worldly entities. She felt that the entity was her friend saying a final goodbye, in a sense. "A ghost is a becoming and an un-becoming- they exist at the same time as they do not" (Heholt & Niamh, 6)

the true solidification that this story has to me, or what it makes it seem real is that fact that she also had many other stories of her friend who had passed, although they weren't ghost stories, they were REAL stories. She would reminisce on memories of how they would mess around in class together, rebel against their parents and hang around town, and overall she would describe fond memories of them both. The solidification of the friendship they had with each other was greatly established. Over time, her friend became less of a "ghost" to me, and he instead started to become a real person. He had this beautiful life and it was sadly taken from him.

This story seems to hold some connection not only to my mom and I, but also to our community because she also told this story to her friends and even to the family of her friend who had passed; whom my mom also happens to be close with as well. My mom also grew up catholic, and so alot of these ghost stories seem to stem from her catholic beliefs from when she was younger, and studies seem to show that more than a third of Catholics in the US have had a paranormal experience (Catholic Digest, 14) My mom believes in the afterlife, a higher power, and ghosts. Or legends such as the cucuy, where it presents itself as a pumpkin headed monster, that could be either masculine or feminine; and the monster eats children and leaves no trace. (KTRK-TV, 2) Stories like these are where our paranormal fears stem from. However, my mom's story haunts me because it makes me genuinely think about the afterlife and how we as individuals, particularly those who were raised in a religious household, seem to perceive and describe these stories.

As adults, the experiences that we take in children will continue to have some form of influence on us as adults today, and even though adults may not feel this story is real, the inner child in them will always believe it. Stories like the cucuy and many others are what influence us when we grow up.

With tragedies like Elisa Lam, we as the public understand that it's devastating and hard, so when we add a paranormal explanation to the story, we give it a sense of understanding, such as by contextualizing them. By using the explanation of ghost stories in contexts like this, we use it more so to process a sense of grief or loss, as these ghosts help people come to a more definite conclusion, even if it's not exactly scientific or logical.

With the narrator of the story feeling unsure about what is happening, it coneys this sense of vulnerability throughout the story and make you on the edge of your seat. We as the reader are left in our imagination throughout the story, trying to figure what's real and what's in the narrator's head.

However, it’s not always a retelling of the story, but rather the basic elements of the story, added with some new details or background information. My mom also grew up catholic, going to church every sunday and being reprimanded by her mom, my grandmother, everytime she did something bad or “sinful”. My mom believes in the afterlife and a higher power, as I do too, so finding reason to believe this story was real wasn’t that difficult. I find this story haunting because it makes me truly wonder about the afterlife and how we as people, especially those who grew up with religious beliefs, seem to view and characterize these stories.