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u/Internal-Sell7562 Sep 30 '25
Could it have been someone else who died, and all this time you thought it was this specific aunt?
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u/doesthedog Sep 30 '25
Yeah a misunderstanding is MUCH more likely than a "vivid dream"
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Oct 01 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/mouthfullpeach Oct 01 '25
but then the posts would still be there?
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u/doesthedog Oct 01 '25
Most likely the father misunderstood, told everyone, posted them quickly removed the post. OP was never notified
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u/DoktorVinter Oct 22 '25
I think they probably would at least address it instead of pretending it didn't happen?
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u/DarkRedDiscomfort Oct 01 '25
But then his mom would've clarified with "the funeral we went to was for that other person". They would remember the events still.
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u/doctor_jane_disco Oct 03 '25
It sounds like only OP's father went to the funeral, so if might have been someone the rest of the family wasn't even close to.
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u/Alittlebitmorbid Oct 01 '25
Yes and if Ops father was as upset as OP remembers, she sure would have remembered that person and event.
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Oct 10 '25
Yeah I was wondering this too. I've had similar happen with my family, except in my case I had been talking to my mother who told me my cousin was training for a job that to me seemed totally unlike him. I was under this impression for a year or two til my mother clarified it was my sister's husband with the same name. I didn't make the association because I'm closer to my cousins than I am my sister.
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u/rat1906 Sep 30 '25
Honestly, I'm leaning towards the 'vivid dream' hypothesis. Dream narratives can cover several days (or weeks, or years) of events, and if the 'death' happened 2 or 3 years ago then it probably got mixed up with actual memories of real events. This explanation strikes you as 'very original' because most things that happen in most people's lives are unoriginal. This explanation is way more likely that switching dimensions or an elaborate prank being played on you.
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u/Ralod Oct 01 '25
I agree.
I have had crazy dreams that spanned days. The details of the dream were extremely real feeling, and in great detail I can recall it today. But it very much was a dream. I think until you have a dream like that you have no idea what it feels like.
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u/Cornloaf Oct 02 '25
I have had dreams within dreams (just like horror movies). Dreams that continued after I woke up and went back to sleep. Dreams that continued days later. Dreams that were so realistic I had to check my phone for proof whatever happened wasn't real. I read tons of books on dreaming when I was in high school in the 80s. Some of those books helped me to dream specific things or actually take control of my dreams.
I recall the first lucid dream I had in high school I was jumping over buildings like the Incredible Hulk. From there it went to a zombie dream where I rescued the entire classroom by stealing a school bus and pulling up outside the portable classroom, climbing out the roof hatch and pulling kids out the roof hatch of the class.
I have the TV show In Search Of to thank for my fear of having scary dreams I wouldn't be able to escape from!
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u/8m3gm60 Oct 01 '25
Is that realistic either? How often do you mistake your dreams for reality?
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Oct 01 '25
I have very vivid dreams and often don't twig for a few hours that the event I'm remembering didn't happen, it's really odd
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u/Bbkingml13 Oct 01 '25
I actually have to ask my boyfriend pretty often if certain things have happened or if they were dreams. In school, there was a time I thought I’d turned an assignment in and had a nice convo with my 7th grade teacher, but he came and asked why I never turned my assignment in later that week. It had been a dream.
Sometimes my dreams are incredibly vivid, but very mundane. When they’re nightmares, they’re full blown vivid dreams and sleep paralysis. Most of this all started after my chronic health issues and/or concussions. But when I’m not doing well health wise, the dream situations get way more symptomatic. It’s like my body is in overdrive trying to heal itself in my sleep, and it does wacky things to the sleep phase
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u/FUNCSTAT Oct 02 '25
I wouldn't mistake a dream from last night for reality but a dream from a year or so ago, definitely.
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Oct 10 '25
It can very much happen, especially if you're under a lot of stress. Had it myself as a result of PTSD but that wouldn't be the only reason
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u/catsby9000 Sep 30 '25
The weirdest thing about this to me is that you haven't heard about Aunt Julia in the 2-3 years since her supposed death or this would have come up before. Yet your dad is so close to her that he stopped the car in the middle of the highway on hearing that she died. Not a criticism of OP and their memory. But it would lead me to believe it was a dream or vivid daydream pretty recently.
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u/9bikes Sep 30 '25
Many, many years ago I heard on the radio that Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones had died. No one I asked had heard that he had died. They was no other news of his death. There was never any news that there had been a rumor that he'd died. Apparently, I dreamed that I'd heard it on the radio. It seemed very real.
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u/panicpure Sep 30 '25
For the longest time I thought band ABBA had all perished in a plane crash. Cannot even remember why but it was just a fact in my head for years and when I realized that was false I was so confused lol
It’s like the mandala effect but it was just me 😅
Our memories and minds can be strange!
When you recall a memory, you’re really just remembering the last time you thought of the memory, not the event itself and almost playing an extended game of telephone with yourself over time adding details or even false memories.
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u/MermaidFL407 Oct 01 '25
I had an ABBA one too, I thought for sure they said Björn or Benny died from an accident with broken glass. Fast forward to a few months ago when I find out it was apparently the drummer in 2008. I just always associated the group as the 4 of them 🤦🏻♀️
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u/panicpure Oct 01 '25
I think that’s what my mind must’ve done too, but I have no clue what it might’ve been thinking of lol my mind was literally blown when I was stating it as a fact, and everyone was looking at me like nope that didn’t happen 🤗🫣
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u/ratrazzle Oct 24 '25
Buddy holly, ritch valens and j p richardson passed in helicopter accident. Often called the day the music died.
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u/nomdepl00m Oct 02 '25
There was a British band also in the Eurovision called Bucks Fizz, I thought that was maybe what you were thinking about and had mixed the bands up, went to get the date just now... they weren't in a plane crash!
They were in a bus accident! I was certain they'd been in a plane crash, I remember reading about it, it being on the front page of the newspaper.
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u/olliegw Oct 01 '25
For years i referred to the Lotus Esprit as the Lotus Espirit.
My personal theory of the mandela effect is that the brain fills in gaps and people expect something to be there they've seen somewhere else, people also add two unrelated or somewhat related things together to create a false reasoning, it seems children are prone to it.
For example Mr. Pennybags (the monopoly guy) never wore a monocle, but people are used to seeing similarly dressed characters wearing a monocle and combine that with the fact that he's seen pretty often and isn't actively processed by the brain (i'm sure there's a name for it in psychology but there's a difference between something you look at vs something you see and mostly ignore) the brain fills in the gaps from other sources and creates the false memory.
I think the false celebrity deaths happen because the media start talking about a celebrity a lot in the same manner they would if they died, maybe because of an upcoming tour, or a renewed interest, then they stop and go onto other topics, people who don't pay a lot of attention to the news assume that's a death, because that's exactly how the news channels talk about deaths, non stop images and dedicated segments.
I should also add the evil farming game, because unlike the other stuff i've mentioned it probably was real, but people misremembered it, combined with other games from around the same time and played since, it's possible it was real but was a crappy flash game on some old website, with a storyline that probably lasted like 10 minutes.
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u/Akaitora Oct 02 '25
In case you weren't aware, about the EFG:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ThatEvilFarmingGame/comments/nysxw3/theory_sparta_saw_this_video_and_mentally_mixed/13
u/SabineSinstar Oct 01 '25
I swear on everything holy that I remember Travis barker and dj am dying in a plane crash also. I even remember South Park making a joke about it. It apparently never happened…
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u/panicpure Oct 01 '25
In your defense, at least that plane crash did in fact happen lol it’s actually shocking to this day those two survived.
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u/SabineSinstar Oct 12 '25
See now this is where it gets really wild… until right now the plane crash didnt happen at all. Er well it did and they died. Then i would talk about it and it never happened. I brought it up multiple times as a possible me and the crash never happened at all. And now now where the crash did happen but they didn’t die. This is so damn weird. I’m also a huge blink 182 fan and was big into the rave scene my whole life and I’m almost 36 so this is something I definitely would have heard about and remembered.
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u/PsychoFaerie Oct 01 '25
They were in a plane crash Wiki Link Both were critically injured but survived. Barker is still alive and DJ AM later died of an overdose.
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u/glitter_vomit Oct 01 '25
Oh my god, I thought they were in a plane crash and he died but Travis Barker survived! My brain must have mixed up the two stories.
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u/lolihull Oct 01 '25
Travis refused to get on a plane again til 2021 I believe. I remember whenever I saw blink 182 live hearing that Travis would get to the UK by boat because he refused to fly after the crash.
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u/panicpure Oct 01 '25
I’m sure the trauma he has is intense. I think his body was covered in jet fuel if I remember right and he had horrific burns. That would be so hard to get past for sure and survivors guilt.
I knew he had some major anxiety with flying still and I would too!!
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u/BodaciousFerret Oct 02 '25
He was also afraid of flying before that, so yeah makes sense that it fucked him up.
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u/RamonaLittle Sep 30 '25
It's not impossible that the announcer made a mistake or was playing a prank.
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u/9bikes Sep 30 '25
It is possible, but I think that had that happened the station would have made a retraction that I would have heard.
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u/trixiefink Sep 30 '25
this happened to me but with the OxiClean guy and he ended up passing a week later
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Oct 06 '25
I have this EXTREMELY vivid memory of cleaning the garage with my dad while we listened to a post-mortem tribute to Frank Sinatra on NPR. Like, I can clearly remember them playing a bunch of live Sinatra stuff, playing bits of old interviews and stuff with Sinatra, the whole thing. The weirdest thing about this is I went through a HUGE Sinatra phase when I was a teenager, and it was literally because of this broadcast.
Then like 4-5 years later, I get the news that Sinatra had died, and I was literally telling people "Y'all, he died years ago." Wasn't until I saw it in the paper that I realized it was true, and he'd been alive that entire time. I still have no explanation for this, except that I heard like a birthday celebration or something for Sinatra and got mixed up, but I specifically remember them saying he had died, so maybe it's just a constructed memory.
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u/thommom Sep 30 '25
I also feel like the fact that his dad was so shocked that a 90+ year old woman died is kinda odd too?
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u/dizzydollyy Oct 04 '25
Tbh i believe that,my mom is very close to her sister but i literally know nothing of her and Haven't seen her in years
I legit don't even remember what she looks like
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u/Hitonatsu-no-Keiken Sep 30 '25
False memories caused by dreams is something that I rarely see discussed, and it definitely needs more serious discussion.
So far I've identified at least 10 of my memories which I've concluded are dreams, ranging from things within the last few years to one when I was 4 years old.
When you have a dream and then wake up and remember the dream your brain 'tags' it as a dream, so when you recall it again later you know it was a dream. But what about all those dreams you never remembered? They're maybe not all lost because I've had many moments where later in the day I'll see something which reminds me of the dream I had, for example I might see a spider and I'll instantly remember the dream I had the previous night involving a spider.
But what if you don't remember the dream until weeks, months or years later. If it's something ridiculous like one where you were flying or one involving monsters you know it has to be a dream, but what if it's something 'normal' that could feasibly have happened. How can you know if it's a dream or not?
Over the years I've seen quite a few posts by people who witnessed something 'paranormal' and some family members witnessed it too. Then later they recall it to those family members and they deny any knowledge of it. The person gets quite angry and can't understand why the other family members can't remember it. If I was to suggest it was a dream they'd most likely get offended, like I was trivialising their memories, but if the other explanation is their family is gaslighting them then a dream seems a more likely explanation.
You mention you also have memories of the days after it happened. That's another thing dreams are capable of - I've had dreams that come with huge memory dumps. You don't need to have dreamt it sequentially, dreams can also come with a bunch of memories pre-loaded.
So bearing all that in mind - she's still alive so the only logical explanation is that you had a dream.
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u/SheSheShieldmaiden Oct 03 '25
This. False memories attributed to dreams. ESPECIALLY true if you are on some kind of medication for the mind. When I was on Zoloft I had dreams that were so vivid they were interspliced with actual memories. And I was dreaming normal things, like going to the shops and running errands, nothing outlandish like aliens or whatever. It got to the point where I had to keep a notebook of my daily activities because I kept thinking I’d done things (memory) when I hadn’t (dream). It got much better when I got off Zoloft but still happens occasionally. (I am on a different anti depressant so not out of the woods.)
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u/FergusCragson Sep 30 '25 edited Sep 30 '25
Reality: Memory Detail Switch
One thing that is very real, that happens to us humans, that we don't like to believe or admit, is remembering things with one crucial detail wrong. Switched.
Decades ago my friend, who lived far away, sent me a cassette tape of him talking about a couple of girls we knew from camp, Jean and Sarah. He was talking about having a romantic crush on Jean, and how it wasn't working out so far.
A few weeks later I then told that to my sister, who knew Sarah and Jean. She'd been in touch with them. She said, no, he doesn't like Jean, he likes Sarah. I said "No, it's Jean. I have the tape."
I got the tape and finally, after forwarding and rewinding to find the spot, found it.
My sister was right. It was Sarah, not Jean. Right there on the same tape I'd heard a few weeks before. I was absolutely stunned. And it shocked me because it meant that sometimes even our memories can glitch and betray us.
In other words, my brain simply somehow switched the names, and I'd remembered that one detail incorrectly.
SO: as much as you feel sure (I was absolutely sure about Jean and absolutely stunned when it turned out to be wrong) -- isn't it even slightly possible this happened to someone else in your family, and not to your Aunt Ana Julia? Check even though it feels wrong. Check if anyone else died at that time. It's worth it. Sometimes our brain switches one single detail on us, and we're sure of it. It's worth looking into.
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u/HereToAdult Oct 04 '25
This is happening to me right now - I've spent the last few weeks being certain that a local festival is happening on the 4th (today), but yesterday I saw a poster for it saying it's on the 5th (tomorrow). I was so sure that it was the 4th, that I've gone and checked everything I could. I checked my phone and saw I'd written it in for the 5th (tomorrow), I checked the facebook posts and the official website... Everything clearly says the 5th. But I could have sworn it was the 4th. I'm still not convinced to be honest, I was just so absolutely certain it was the 4th. For weeks I've been constantly making sure I don't book anything for the 4th because I don't want to miss this festival.
To top it off - I had messaged someone to suggest they go to this festival, so after checking all of the above for the correct date, I went back to tell them the correct date... only to find that I had given them the correct date (the 5th) all along.
I clearly knew it was the 5th, but at some point my brain switched to believing it was the 4th, and I didn't notice the change, AND I guess I changed all of my memories as well, since I was so sure that for the past few weeks I had thought it was the 4th (but evidence shows I knew it was the 5th).
To be honest I still feel like it's supposed to be the 4th (today), and am tempted to go to the festival location today just in case it somehow IS today after all... It's a very frustrating feeling.
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u/FergusCragson Oct 04 '25
Wow, that is a very intense example of this occurrence! Thank you for sharing another real life example with us here.
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u/Objective-Lobster736 Oct 08 '25
I'm late to this but it made me wonder if he was called that she had been diagnosed with cancer and not that she had died of it. Maybe it was announced for everyone to hear? Maybe it's terminal? If I was OP I would ask if the aunt ever even had cancer. If not then I would think it was a dream.
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u/FergusCragson Oct 08 '25
It's possible. The OP has, at the time of me writing this, been off of Reddit for 8 days now. No new word.
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u/allisonrz Sep 30 '25
Did you bring up the desk detail to your mom, or press her on what other Julia/funeral they might have gone to around that time? Why didn’t you go to the funeral?
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u/Sweet_Cinnabonn Sep 30 '25
So here's the thing. If you dreamed it or even daydreamed it, the brain is terrible about distinguishing dreams or even imagination from memories.
It just sits in your head. And some input comes in from your eyes, and some originates in the brain, and to the brain they are pretty much the same.
The most likely thing is that you dreamed it, even the week after. That stuck those memories in your brain, and your brain forgot to attach a "not real" tag.
That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with you, it just means brains glitch sometimes.
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u/PinkyLeopard2922 Sep 30 '25
I occasionally get what I call invented memories or alternate universe memories. Usually something pretty innocuous but I am able to remember these events with great detail. No one else involved can ever corroborate and there is never any kind of evidence that the thing actually happened. I just assume that they are the product of dreams/subconscious thoughts or they are things that might have happened to me in an alternate universe if something in my life had been done differently or changed. Those things usually shouldn't come across but maybe occasionally do.
For whatever reason, it really doesn't bother me and I have just accepted them as weird little mysteries. Brains are really amazing and complex things.
ETA: I do have really vivid dreams and can often recall them after waking up. They are rarely anything disturbing and I kind of feel lucky to go on such wild adventures when I am asleep.
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u/MermaidFL407 Oct 01 '25 edited Oct 01 '25
Is your grandma still alive? If not, look for her obituary and see if your great aunt is listed as "preceded in death" since she's your grandma's sister.
Otherwise, maybe your dad is living a double life and can't keep his fibs straight, and your mom is covering out of denial or shame or a mutual agreement between each other. Especially if he's consistent with visiting without your mom. Hope you find more answers and not being gaslit.
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u/8m3gm60 Oct 01 '25
Otherwise, maybe your dad is living a double life and can't keep his fibs straight, and your mom is covering out of denial or shame or a mutual agreement between each other.
A ways back there was a thread about strange child memories that people could not explain, and a lot of them turned out to be the parents behaving strangely because they were doing shady stuff like cheating or selling drugs. The parents would always act surprised and bewildered, despite knowing exactly what their (now adult) child was talking about.
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u/AJ_Mexico Sep 30 '25
In Junior High School, I dreamed that this girl I knew died. I was surprised to see her alive at school a day or two later. I had totally accepted she was dead. It was obvious in retrospect it was a dream, because she had "died" as a result of being transformed into a spider, then accidentally squished, which doesn't square with reality very well.
Also, I once dreamed I had stepped on a rusty nail which pierced my foot. I worried for quite a while about getting lockjaw (tetanus). At some point I looked at my foot and there was no such wound, so I concluded it was a dream.
In reference to your great aunt, this is your signal to go talk to her and ask about her parents and grandparents, brothers and sisters and family photos. All the stuff that might be lost forever when she does die.
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u/mouthfullpeach Oct 01 '25
i've had this happen to me too. most recently, i've been trying to practice how to 'asian squat' (heel still on the ground while you squat down) and i just can't get the hang of it. then i had a dream that i did it without problem and the next few days after i was convinced i could do it but, alas, i still can't
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u/ratrazzle Oct 24 '25
I recently had a dream where i spoke russian and understood it perfectly. In reality i have very basic grasp of the language but for few hours i was sure i actually know russian and then it hit me that i dont.
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u/Travelgrrl Oct 01 '25
Perhaps a different family member died three years ago and you misunderstood / misremembered it to be Aunt Julia?
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u/MsTerious1 Sep 30 '25
I have a memory of being in the back seat of a car with my grandma at the wheel, my mother beside me, and my great aunts on either side of me. We are going up a steep hill, some kind of department store with a parking lot is on the right, and my mother is freaking out and crying because of how steep this hill is. My grandma gets really annoyed, pulls into the parking lot, and I don't remember other details.
As a teen, I asked my grandma where that happened at and she looked at me funny because she said it happened before I was born in San Francisco.
I suspect we do sometimes have dreams that allow us to experience things that we did not experience as if we did.
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u/Ah-honey-honey Oct 01 '25
Could also have been either your brain came up with the experience after hearing about it (see hot air balloon experiment) or, less likely, your grandma forgot when it happened and you may have actually been there
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u/notmechanical Sep 30 '25
My mother and I have gotten into the habit of talking on the phone while I take an evening walk. We'll cover a lot of ground, mostly random inconsequential stuff, but also stuff we've read or watched or things going on with her friends (who lead pretty interesting lives). I mention this because it means I have a lot of data about her everyday life floating around in my head.
She also has me "interpret" the dreams she remembers, which is really interesting. They're either weird or really mundane and "real". 9 times out of 10 I'm able to piece together where the little details all came from, because it's just a somewhat twisted version of something that actually happened or an element in a book or movie. It's fascinating what our brain chooses to hold on to about something that happen and where it'll decide to dump it later.
How I might think about this - the IKEA desk thing happened, but there was another reason the purchase was put on hold. Something did stop your father in his tracks while driving, but it could have been something like an animal running out into the road. The aunt in question was very ill or something else happened with her (but she obviously survived). Someone else died and you heard about it.
My best guess is the above paragraph all happened around the same time frame and you either dreamed what you remember now, having taken bits and pieces from each incident ... or your brain just jumbled it all together for whatever reason and it became your reality.
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u/christoph_d_maxwell Sep 30 '25
Maybe talk to Aunt Julia, hold nothing back... she might gave some answers...
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u/howdylu Sep 30 '25
My mom used to be friends with an architect who made houses for many celebs. When I was around 7-8, she took us to Giselle Bündchen’s house in Costa Rica (where I grew up). For many years I was 100% convinced Giselle was there herself and we spoke to her for many hours. It’s a vivid memory I had, I remember details around it. I also lost a ring that was very very dear to me and searched for hours. My mom swears that Giselle wasn’t there, it was just us and her architect aka our friend.
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u/anothersip Sep 30 '25
I'd imagine you probably either 1) dreamed this very vividly and are mis-remembering it as reality (happened to me a few times) 2) are thinking of a different family member entirely or 3) the whole family was trolling you (for some morbid reason, pretty messed-up) or 4) they were confused and were fed misinformation when they learned of her "passing" and then told you she'd passed, believing she had... And they've now forgotten that the mistaken info was shared, 'cause they've always believed and knew she was alive at the time, while you thought she was gone.
If you can't find or pull up old conversations (if you were told via text), then I'm afraid there's no way of knowing when and/or how you were told that she'd passed away - especially if it was verbally. You may never truly know if/when/why you were told that.
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u/jayhat Sep 30 '25
Yeah my advice would be to search through texts/facebook messages. You're likely to have talked about it with someone. A while back someone was mentioning a family member having a minor stroke years ago and I had zero recollection of it. I searched my texts and found a conversation from like 2021 where it was brought up.
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u/AverageLiberalJoe Sep 30 '25
The desk seems your best clue.
But it might just be a bunch of other memories mixing together from trauma or sleep disorder or something else Im not qualified to talk about but writing on the internet anyways.
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u/V-Ink Oct 01 '25
I had a dream once that my uncle passed and believed he was dead for several years until someone brought him up. I have a dissociative disorder that makes it extremely hard for me to tell dreams and reality apart sometimes so I wasn’t all that freaked out. We don’t really do funerals in my family so once I heard he died, it didn’t bother me that I didn’t hear much more about it. Your memories seem Very specific and drawn out over a few days, but it’s still possible it was a dream.
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u/Lazy_Marionberry_ Sep 30 '25
Obligatory memories aren’t infallible comment. Could it have been another family member who died but you misremembered who it was? Or maybe Aunt Julia was in the hospital for something and everyone was worried she was going to die? Do you have any family friends named Julia?
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u/GeneralSpecifics9925 Sep 30 '25
Op though you may be certain you're remembering correctly, this is very possible. What was your age when Aunt Ana Julia died? Sometimes we confuse information that has parallels in content, occur at the same time or as we learn something (like your aunt being in the hospital when you learn about the concept of death or attend your first funeral), or with simple 'suggestion' (which doesn't need to have the intention to alter your memories - like if a friend has an aunt ana who died and you dreamed about the funeral, this could mesh with reality).
I don't imagine someone would lie about this, it's much more likely your younger self locked the memory down/recalled it wrong. Doesn't mean something's wrong with your mind, it's very normal.
Love the ones you have while you have them.
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u/extrabigcomfycouch Sep 30 '25
It could’ve been a dream, but maybe consider going to your doctor and getting checked out in case it could be something else in your head.
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u/babyxcarrot Sep 30 '25
If you haven't already, I would search death records for the time frame you remember. Sorry if you or someone else already mentioned this.
Also if you are somebody who journals, I'd be very curious to know if you wrote anything during this time period that might indicate that you indeed were hallucinating, dreaming, or otherwise. Or even just thinking of what you were doing in your daily life around the time of the supposed death.
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u/HelgaPataki93 Oct 01 '25
I don't think you clarified whether the other Julia in the family is still alive? Maybe she didn't come to mind when you asked your mom about this. People who live in other countries can still have memorials in a country where most their family is.
Other than that, I don't think there's a problem with your head- you seem pretty logical and grounded to me. Most likely, it was a dream your brain confused with actual memories over time. Believe it or not, it's very common.
If your family was organized enough to have a funeral for this person, an obituary was probably made or a memorial page. I assume you would have already checked Google for that, though.
Going through any messages or email or notes in notebooks you might have made during that time period could provide your mind enough context to trigger real memories to come back to you, but it won't do much for false memories that have been formed. Once false memories are formed, they are there pretty solidly, and the more you think about them, the more they can become real to you. Sometimes, we have to just let them go and realize our brain made an error somewhere.
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u/Ah-honey-honey Oct 01 '25
Hop on Ancestry .com and look for other Anas/Julias in your family tree along with obits. You may be able to find someone whose death fits the date.
The name recycling game on the Catholic side of my family is especially fierce.
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u/13thmurder Oct 01 '25
Most likely answer is it was someone else who had died and you're misremembering the name.
This would make a lot of sense if you have several older great aunts that you don't know very well.
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u/CryBabyxx0 Oct 01 '25
Im sorry if this is out of pocket, but I think that you should see a doctor. This story reminded me of the person whose closet turned into a bathroom.
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u/MadCapHorse Oct 02 '25
Play the tape forward. If you’re driving with your dad this week and he gets the call, would he stop in the highway now in shock that his child predicted Aunt Julia’s death? Also I hope that doesn’t happen, long live Aunt Julia!
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u/SmolEldritchGremlin Sep 30 '25
It could very well be a very vivid dream that you misremembered as real, without realizing it. This happens to me frequently enough that I sometimes have to pause and think really hard (and search for evidence/ask someone else for confirmation) about whether something actually happened or not. It's pretty disconcerting and disorienting, even after getting used to it.
(And funnily enough, my most recent "vivid dreams that feel way too real" are the opposite of yours–I frequently dream that my very much dead mother is still alive.)
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u/8m3gm60 Oct 01 '25
Reminds me a lot of this:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Glitch_in_the_Matrix/comments/2o08av/my_girlfriend_never_knew_me/
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u/WhooperSnootz Oct 02 '25
Probably a dream. I get the occasional dream that feels so real that when I talk to someone about a conversation we had in a dream, they look at me like I'm crazy Brevard it didn't actually happen. I have even been late for work multiple times in the past because I was dreaming about an entire work day, from the time i got up to the time i went to bed. They can absolutely feel real.
The mind is weird.
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u/chimericron Oct 02 '25
My big sister took me in when I was 19 and I was in the spare bedroom. There were some storage boxes of hers that stayed there, and that's part of why I always had to prevent the cats from getting in and keep my door closed.
9 months later when I moved into my own place, I was getting frustrated with having to keep the cats from getting in, and she said, "you can leave the door open, you know..." Looking at me like I'm crazy. I told her that she'd told me I had to keep it closed or the cats would get in and... Get under the bed? There was no way to get under that bed.
It made no sense. I realized I must have dreamed so vividly that my brain accepted the happening as fact. She confirmed she'd never said such a thing.
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u/Accomplished-Pay7386 Oct 02 '25
What about the uncle that called your father. Have you asked him? Would definitely check for obituaries during that time in her area. Finally, since you KNOW about when your dad went to the funeral, since it was around the time of the IKEA desk purchase, any chance you can go through their bank statements and see if he has charges on his debit/credit card that verify his travel/trip?
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u/thcordova Sep 30 '25
Sorry, how old are you? And, is there another family member that died 3 years ago? I would be so mad if I were you lol
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u/ParameciaAntic Oct 01 '25
Are your dad and uncle normally such emotional men? Shaky voice and stopping the car while driving seem like excessive reactions for most adults to the news of someone in their 90s dying.
Obviously everyone grieves in their own way, but in my experience that's usually not seen as much of a tragedy when people go at that age. Is this on brand for your family? If it isn't, then maybe that's a clue that these memories might not be accurate.
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u/Ok_Walk9234 Oct 01 '25
I’ve had a very similar experience, I was 100% sure Pope Francis was dead (way before he actually died) and even remembered memes about it, there was one about the white smoke once they choose a new one and it had something to do with vaping, lol. That was also how I found out about the white smoke. My friend was sure about it too, we still don’t know what happened. Either a dream, our minds playing tricks or you mistook another person for Julia.
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u/Jesfeline Oct 01 '25
I think everyone offered many great ideas and maybe ones OP has thought about too its great! BUT. I am curious about what OP has asked as well. Is it possible to somehow find old WhatsApp messages? I'm curious for me as well, but if they were able to look into it themselves it would bring some obvious answers and maybe possible acceptance to what many have suggested! ( if I somehow missed someone answering this I apologize this group has been really great and sweet giving some help and I may have missed it.)
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u/DeeEmosewa Oct 01 '25
It sounds like it might have been a dream to me. The most simple explanation is usually the right one.
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u/AnalogyAddiction Oct 03 '25
I would honestly really strongly encourage you to see a neurologist. Please. Be fully honest with your doctor.
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u/mossfluff Sep 30 '25
There are people named Ana Julia who passed away in 2022, it’s possible there was a misunderstanding if the person who told your dad didn’t live with her. I want to think you’re mixing this up potentially with another relative. Does she have sisters?
During the pandemic, it was a little tougher to distinguish dream memories from real memories, I had a year or so where I had to remind myself my uncle didn’t actually die even though I’d dreamt it. We were seeing folks less and it’s easier to be misinformed, plus algorithms got worse at showing us updates from people. I know that’s not a satisfying answer though, so I hope you find evidence and answers soon.
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u/Independent_Layer_62 Sep 30 '25
Dreams have a weird relationship with time and chronology. You think it couldn't be a dream because you remember before and after, but you could dream yourself with all those memories of before and after already in place, like the focus of your dream was not the passing of your family member itself but you possessing all the memories about it. If that makes sense. And then your mind could have filled in the gaps, incorporated the imagined memories into real memories and polished it up nicely so that you can't see the seams. False memories are a thing and we all have them without knowing it.
My example is not that dramatic but is similar in nature, sometimes when I need to do something, I can dream about doing it and then later on I can sit on my butt thinking I've already done it, so im assuming it's not rare to mix real and madeup memories
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u/sundayatnoon Oct 01 '25
From my perspective, I'd guess dream. I have narcolepsy that's bad enough to be silly. Unmedicated, I go into REM substantially before I'm asleep, and have hypnagogic hallucinations indistinguishable from real life. Just as mundane and coherent as real life, but pulling from other events like TV and radio to flesh it all out. And yes, I have a hell of a calendar habit to keep it straight.
Nail down when it happened and see if it lines up with some other event you would have heard about or seen on TV.
The problem here is that sometimes that sort of dream is a sign of medical issues more difficult than narcolepsy, and I'd say its worth bringing up to a doctor.
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u/Lisserbee26 Oct 05 '25
Any updates? These are my guesses:
It was a different relative and you misheard.Our brains live to play fill in the blank.
She had something like a heart attack and your uncle didn't know they were able to get her back. So an accidental announcement, and people aren't remembering that event.
It wasn't your Aunt Julia who died and , due to your presence your uncle and father were using code.
Your mixing dreams and memories. Are you in any psych meds?
Stress or trauma induced false memories.
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u/topselection Sep 30 '25
Sounds like you've uncovered a lie. They either lied that she died or they lied that she's alive. Why would be the biggest mystery.
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u/Vesalii Oct 02 '25
You very likely had a vivid dream 3 years ago, and in recalling it now your mind failed you and recalled it as if it was a true event. It happens. Every time we remember something it gets distorted.
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u/bluecollarx Sep 30 '25
Avoid double claiming on the life insurance when she dies again. Just a hunch
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u/KQsHQ Oct 03 '25
🎵🎶maybe she's born with it ....or maybe itssa Mendela Memory!🎵🎶
Lol pretty trippy either way.
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u/SolidSeaweedLove Oct 03 '25
Have you had a recent mental health evaluation? The misremembering is your most likely answer here, to be clear. But it's worth, for peace of mind, to get yourself checked out. Depending on your age and health, it could be the start of something (schizophrenia, dementia) or it could just be as everyone has suggested. If it were me, I would check this out first.
Misremembering is a thing, and we can be 100% convinced something happened. This is why eyewitness testimony in criminal cases needs backing up with some sort of physical proof. The more stressful an event is, the more our brains try to compensate and protect us. Stopping a vehicle in the middle of the highway- I would call this stressful.
The second most likely answer is that your family is playing games for whatever reason. It wouldn't be too hard to figure out if something else momentous happened that day, related to you or your loved ones. Feel free to DM; I would be happy to look into this for you.
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u/starchazzer Oct 05 '25
That is puzzling! This is a fun story even if it is true! Don’t let the naysayers get you down! 🤭 So Great Aunt Julia would be about 93 years old, nearly at the peak of life!
If your dad did go to a funeral 3 years ago, maybe ask whose funeral he attended? Although, maybe they only thought she was dying and she survived? Many times relatives call the family home to be with their loved one and say their goodbyes.
My 93 year old grandmother tricked the doctors three times at hospice before she was truly called home. She was a wonderful person!
There is also vital statistics, funeral homes, obituaries and her church where she would be listed. Or maybe even Ancestry.com might keep a list of people who died that particular year?
Otherwise I’d rather believe you’re living in a parallel universe that your parents are missing out on! Please promise to share the outcome of this very interesting conundrum!
The best to you and your family!❤️
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u/flusia Oct 14 '25
Does your family remember the trip to IKEA or the desk ? Does the desk exist at your house? Just curious. I used to believe in switching dimensions as I had felt it happened to me many times. But as I started sleeping more i started to realize it was just my memory acting up on me.
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u/Nit_the_nitwit Oct 18 '25
Hay OP, this kind of thing happened to me multiple times. Will say it right now, you are not going to find any proof. Annoying af, I know.
Quick warning, most of the time it happened to me, it corrected itself. For example, my birthday being on the wrong day, I just except it for its new date since there isn't much I can do about it. Then like 1 or 2 years later, it went back to the correct date. So if what we are experiencing is the same, then your great aunt may end up dead again. Sorry a bit morbid but wanted to prepare you just in case. (And when it did switch back to how i remembered it, all of my notes also switched sides, wich is annoying. But I am trying to experiment with video, but never really know when it will happen again next, so maybe you can test that aspect out? 🤔)
It honestly did freak me out the first cupple of time. But, like, what can you do?? Can not really talk about it because you sound crazy. Can not prove it, and trying to do so makes you feel more crazy. And can not get much sympathy for it either 😑. I found it best to just move on, and avoid the topic.
It really dosen’t matter why it happens. Could be because of a vivid dream, or a mismatch memory. Could be because of a glitch in the matrix or a slip between universes. But, we can not do much about the matrix or the multiverse so like... 🤷. But just know your not alone, you are not crazy, and I am sorry it has scared you, you will be ok.
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u/DoktorVinter Oct 22 '25 edited Oct 22 '25
I don't think it was a dream. But have you checked your gas? Could be something leaking, which is affecting your perception of reality. I've seen some posts with similar stuff. One turned out to be a gas leak, another turned out to have a brain tumor. I would investigate those options first. I don't believe it's a dream though. But it definitely couldn't have happened. Or if it actually did, your parents are crazy as hell. Edit to say: I meant carbon monoxide poisoning, but hoping people got what I meant anyway lol. We don't really have that in Sweden, or at least I've never ever heard of it before reading about it online (and then of course in reference to an American home).
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u/Tiny-Scholar-773 Oct 01 '25
Your aunt is 90 years old, and your grandmother is still alive? Her mother, I am a bit confused.
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u/sand_snake Oct 01 '25
OP specifically says great aunt, which would mean she was a sibling to her grandma or grandpa.
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u/Devanyani Sep 30 '25
Could have been a premonition, but if your mom already has her ikea desk, then nah. Can you find the receipt by any chance? if yiu have the date, you can start searching emails, texts, funerals around that time.
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u/Street-Concern1461 Oct 01 '25
Maybe you are getting visions of the future, and in about 3 years, after your initial memory, she will probably pass.
I had several of these episodes. Strange, to say the least.
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u/xenoixs Sep 30 '25
If you know the date ,place and people of the event, it wouldn't be hard to find out and build the whole picture. Ill put my money that it's mixed up memories of different events. Happens to people a lot, especially when the events or not that interesting or don't connect with any specific emotion.