by Nanette Piotrowski

Created on: April 06, 2010   Last Updated: June 10, 2010

It used to creep me out when I realized I was experiencing a Deja Vu moment. It started when I was 15 and I continue to have 'them' today at 59. I did not know what Deja Vu was at 15, but the more it happened, I started being concerned.

I asked my Mother about it, since I could ask her anything and she'd be happy to give me answers or help me find the solutions. Mom said what I was experiencing was Deja Vu and she had had it for years.

She said she didn't know if it was a hereditary phenomenon or if it just happened. Research hadn't really proven it one way or the other but she said since humans generally only use approximately 1/10 of the brains capacity, anything was possible.

Now my daughter and granddaughter also have Deja Vu experiences. My daughter had had a dream, vision (whatever you want to call it) a week before I was rushed to the hospital from a ruptured appendix.

She had told me at the time that she 'felt' something bad was going to happen and that I needed to be careful. When my friend called her on that Sunday, my daughter asked her what hospital I was in and this was before my friend even told her that I was in the hospital.

My daughter told me later that on that Sunday at 5pm her stomach started hurting. That was the time that the ambulance picked me up. The pain in my abdomen was excruciating.

The Deja Vu experiences that I have had come to fruition sometimes within a week and sometimes not til years later. The most recent experience was this last year.

I am the Secretary for a non-profit animal rescue organization. I had leased some of my property so we could build the kennels.

One day the President of our organization was here and she was just talking to me, when I had the realization that I knew exactly what the next words were going to be out of her mouth. It was verbatim.

Now that might not sound like such a big deal, however, this conversation took place 20 years ago before I ever met this lady and 17 years before I ever moved to Texas. I had had this 'feeling' while I still lived in the state of Nebraska.

I believe that Deja Vu happens when we dream. Some people are able to remember their dreams after they awaken. I have never been able to do that, so I don't know if my Deja Vu experiences are because I can't remember the dreams with the frontal lobe but it stays in my subconscious and comes out later.

Which brings up another thought. Is Deja Vu an experience of time travel or out of body time warp? How can I explain knowing word for word what that lady was going to say to me when it had been 20 years and I didn't even know her then?

How can we explain meeting someone for the very first time and know you 'know' them. Since the mind is a very complex organ we may never know.

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