Encounters x312 - Haunted Holidays

Summary

Two Girls One Ghost — Encounters x312: Haunted Holidays (Dec 18, 2025) Hosts: Corinne Vien & Sabrina Deana-Roga

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Episode Overview

In this special holiday-themed "Encounters" episode, Corinne and Sabrina share listener-submitted stories of supernatural events coinciding with Christmastime and New Year's. The collection includes mysterious balls of light, ghostly apparitions caught on camera, unexplainable Christmas miracles, heartwarming animal encounters, generational traditions, familial visits from beyond, and even a harrowing brush with Bigfoot on a candlelit Christmas Eve. Throughout the episode, the hosts maintain their signature blend of warmth, humor, and earnest curiosity about the unknown, reminding listeners that sometimes the holidays are even stranger than fiction.

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Key Discussion Points & Listener Stories

1. Is Santa a Cryptid, Alien, or Fae?

Listener: Toni
[03:32 – 06:16]

• Toni recounts a vivid childhood memory from the early '80s: seeing a bouncing ball of light near her Christmas tree and instinctively "knowing" it was Santa.
• Toni reflects on the nature of Santa: "Does that make him a fae, or maybe is Santa an alien...a cryptid?"
  Corinne: "He’s definitely a magical being, not a normal human, no!"
  (06:07)
• The hosts discuss the commonality of seeing balls of light around Christmas (Corinne: "Why do I feel like this is a common story we hear of hauntings around Christmas?").
• They segue into the magic of Christmas lights and cozy childhood memories.

2. Ghost Caught on Camera at New Year's Eve

Listener: Brendan
[07:20 – 10:47]

• Brendan attaches a photo from a New Year’s Eve celebration in Irondequoit, NY. In the mirror’s reflection behind his friend, a figure with "Native American appearance" is visible, despite no one else being home.
• Sabrina and Corinne analyze the photo:
  Sabrina: "Doesn’t it look like the bottom of their face is like... blown off? I was thinking that exact same thing."
  (09:01)
• They discuss how many ghost photos go unnoticed in photo rolls and how mirrors can play tricks with perception.
  Corinne: "How does the mirror know what I look like if I’m covering up the mirror?" (10:24)

3. The Christmas Mystery – Presents Appear Out of Nowhere

Listener: Elise
[11:14 – 16:07]

• Elise recounts a story her mother shared: one Christmas, during hard financial times, her family awoke to an abundance of wrapped presents under their locked roof, with no explanation how they got there.
• The hosts speculate about secret Santa stories and holiday miracles, discussing community giving programs like "angel trees".
• Elise’s mother: "To this day it happened... it’s left her so stumped. So in the spirit of believing, this is my Christmas mystery about how Santa is very, very real."
• Sabrina encourages giving back: "Everyone deserves to have a little magic."
• Notable quote:
  Elise: "It was more presents than she had ever gotten for us before... How did Santa get us all of these presents... when everything was locked?"

4. A Christmas Cat Miracle

Listener: Sarah
[19:34 – 24:21]

• Sarah describes rescuing a stray cat named Fig at a gas station near Christmas 2021, who turned out to be her mother’s much-needed companion before both sadly passed within weeks of each other.
• The story is both tear-jerking and heartwarming, the hosts get emotional.
  Corinne: "Fig had to be the shepherd, the guardian... how lovely that you were able to save Fig in OA and that Fig got to return the favor by being with your mom." (24:10)
• Sarah believes "the universe sent Fig to my mom to be with her those last couple of months before following her to the other side."

5. A Visitation on Christmas Eve

Listener: Kenzie
[24:32 – 27:51]

• Kenzie’s husband, a skeptic, mourns his late grandfather on Christmas Eve. While reminiscing with family outside, the porch light explodes, interpreted as a sign from the departed.
• This opens Kenzie’s husband to considering the paranormal.
  Corinne: "It’s almost like grandpa wanted... had so much energy that it literally exploded the bulb because he was like, 'I need you to know I’m here.'" (26:35)
• Sabrina shares her own story about signs from the beyond, highlighting light phenomena as a form of communication.

6. New Year’s Eve: Grapes, Ghosts, and a Military Cemetery Helper

Listener: Alyssa
[27:51 – 33:32]

• Alyssa shares her Chicana tradition of eating 12 grapes at midnight for luck, and her family's pilgrimage to her great-grandfather's military grave. After a fruitless search, a mysterious woman in a military uniform and pink bandana appears, helps find the grave, and then vanishes.
• Alyssa’s mom later observes: "That was a military uniform."
• Alyssa: "How does a ghost use a flashlight?" (32:42)
• The hosts discuss "helping spirits" and family rituals, then invite listeners to share their own cultural holiday traditions.

7. Bigfoot’s Christmas Eve

Listener: Alexander
[37:11 – 47:12]

• Alexander recalls a haunting Christmas Eve in rural East Texas: after a power outage, his family—huddled in candlelight—hears mysterious scraping and banging on their trailer amidst howling animal calls, which his grandpa had always dubbed "Old Arkansas's Billy Bob" (local Bigfoot lore).
• After the incident escalates, Alexander encounters a towering, intelligent-eyed creature in the woods: "Eyes that I knew were now centered on my own. They held intelligence and potential harm... not like a killer’s eyes but the eyes of a man who would kill to protect his loved ones."
• The hosts analyze the narrative arc (from cozy to terrifying) and riff on the image of Bigfoot as an uninvited but misunderstood holiday guest.
  Sabrina: "Why do I feel like Bigfoot was not looking for this listener but for their dad... the way that they made eye contact..." (46:14)
• Alexander: "All I do know is I’ve gained a lot of respect for the forest."

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Belief:
  Corinne: "Why not believe in the afterparty?" (11:53)
• On Ghost Photos:
  Sabrina: "We have a highlight saved on our Instagram that has all the ghost photos..." (10:47)
• On Holiday Traditions:
  Corinne: "Now I’m curious—I want to know other people’s traditions, like what do you do that’s similar to the twelve grapes around the holidays, like do you do the seven fishes?" (33:32)
• On Animal Stories:
  Sabrina: "We can’t do animals too close to the heartwarming episode, we need some time." (24:28)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:32] – Santa: Cryptid or Fae? (Toni’s childhood ball of light)
• [07:20] – Ghost in Mirror on New Year’s Eve (Brendan’s haunting photo)
• [11:14] – Christmas Miracle with Mysterious Presents (Elise’s story)
• [19:34] – Sarah’s Christmas Cat Miracle (Fig’s arrival and loss)
• [24:32] – Christmas Eve Visitation (Kenzie’s late grandfather and the exploding bulb)
• [27:51] – 12 Grapes and a Ghostly Helper (Alyssa’s military cemetery encounter)
• [37:11] – Bigfoot at Christmas (Alexander’s Texas tale)

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Tone & Style

Corinne and Sabrina retain their trademark blend of vulnerability, curiosity, and dry humor. They intersperse lighthearted banter with genuine emotion—especially on stories involving deceased loved ones and rescued animals—while maintaining respect for each listener’s experience. Their reflections and playful asides, including their own family traditions and beliefs, lend warmth and relatability to the episode.

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Final Thoughts

Two Girls One Ghost’s "Haunted Holidays" is a festive, deeply human tapestry of the supernatural, affirming that strange, magical, and mysterious things often happen around the holidays—and reminding listeners to keep an open mind (and maybe check old photo rolls twice).

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For more listener encounters and to view ghost photos discussed, the hosts direct listeners to their Instagram highlights and Patreon, where an extra holiday story awaits.

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End quote:
Corinne: "We hope you get what you deserve."
Both, laughing: "Why does that sound so menacing?"
(48:06)

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Contact:
Submit stories to: twogirlsoneghostpodcastmail.com
Follow on socials for ghost photos and more spooky fun.

Transcript

[A]

Hi everyone it's jvn from getting better with jonathan van ness this season we've been talking a lot about hope not the fluffy kind but the grounded gritty we're actually doing something kind one of the places i term for that is americans united for separation of church and state they're this quiet and mighty force that's been working to keep religion and government separate so all of us can live as ourselves and believe as we choose as long as we don't harm others church state separation touches so many of the things we care about lgbtqi plus rights marriage equality reproductive freedom and abortion access americans united is out here being one of the vital voices of reason fighting in the courts and in congress and pushing back against christian nationalist efforts to force everyone to live by one narrow set of beliefs you can learn so much more about what au does and how to support their work at au dot org gettingbetter your support no matter the amount helps to safeguard our freedoms americans united is fighting for freedom without favor and equality without exception you can start a chapter in your hometown today you can volunteer money or time get involved in your community learn more at au dot org better.

[B]

Kids they grow up so fast one day they're taking their first steps and the next they don't fit into the tiny sneakers they took them in you blink your eyes and their princess dress is two sizes too small and their dinosaur backpack isn't cool anymore but don't cry because they're growing up smile because you can profit off of it for real there are a bunch of parents on depop looking for the stuff your kid just grew out of download depop to start selling very spooky hi everyone hello.

[C]

This is two girls one ghost two.

[B]

Girls one ghost and we are your ghostesses that is corinne hello hi i'm sabrina and this is sven oh yeah.

[C]

Hi sven who's joining us an elf on the shelf who i'm ignoring because i find them very creepy he's been.

[B]

So benign he's just hanging out yeah.

[C]

He hasn't moved so far he does.

[B]

Have very cute freckles look at his.

[C]

Freckles no they kind of look like.

[B]

The glitter gems that you can put.

[C]

Under your eyes oh the people like back when everyone did that for coachella or whatever or like the year everyone went as an alien for for halloween.

[B]

For halloween yes i was like when where to coachella as an alien i mean yeah sure okay but this is.

[C]

A holiday episode because it's the end of the year and so we usually try to do an encounters themed with holiday related stories that you guys send.

[B]

In or like encounters that happened around.

[C]

Around the holidays so we have those.

[B]

I picked mine so long ago that i don't remember if i went scary i feel like it would be natural.

[C]

I can't remember either who wants to.

[B]

Go first should we rock paper scissors.

[C]

Shoot i think i have to go first because i have four oh you.

[B]

Have four yeah oh my god what.

[C]

A treat some of mine are pretty short so okay i was excited to.

[B]

Rock paper scissors shoot we can still do it okay ready rock paper scissors.

[C]

Shoot i go first see it's still.

[B]

Fair i feel deflated but yeah you.

[C]

Won okay go ahead okay is santa a cryptid an alien a fae this is from tony hi ladies hey i've written to y' all several times probably enough for y' all to block me i wouldn't blame you we love when.

[B]

You email multiple times i know we.

[C]

Ask for that like if you have a story email it however you guys and heart starts pounding shout out to kaylin moore are the only two podcasts that i've ever interacted with anyway most of my experiences are with ghosts and demons but while listening to y' all which i do nearly every night while walking through an empty haunted building it occurred to me i'm sorry i need.

[B]

To know more about this yeah are.

[C]

You this is like a night shift.

[B]

Job it must be scary probably in another one of the emails you're very.

[C]

Brave it occurred to me that i have one thing that i cannot explain let me transport you through time to nineteen eighty three or maybe it was eighty four anyway my parents divorced when i was very young and i spent every other weekend with my mother this also meant that i spent every other christmas with her my mother stayed in a small apartment with two bedrooms my sister and i seven and eight at the time shared the bedroom whose door was facing the living room we always slept with the door cracked open and the hall light on however during christmas the tree lights sufficed for a night light as we could see the whole right side of the tree on christmas eve i woke up and i don't remember hearing a noise i just woke up i looked at the door and i saw a small little ball of light bouncing back and forth in front of our christmas tree why do i.

[B]

Feel like this is a common story we hear of hauntings around christmas the.

[C]

Ball of light specifically my little heart jumped with fear and with joy because i just knew this had to be santa joy and i didn't want him to catch me peeking so fear i watched for a few moments and then i fell back to sleep the next morning i so badly wanted to tell my sister and my mom what i'd seen but out of fear that he wouldn't come back if he knew that he had been spotted santa sees everything you know i didn't tell anyone my mom passed away in the spring of eighty five so i was never able to share my story with her but i think she knows it now now forty years later that memory still sticks in my mind i think you kids call it a core memory us kids us kids that raises my question though being that i only saw a ball of light and i just knew it was santa does that make him a fae or maybe is santa an alien could he be a cryptid i mean i definitely would consider him a cryptid.

[B]

He'S not for sure he's a magical.

[C]

Being a normal human no yeah anyway i hope you all have an amazing day please keep doing what y' all do see you on the other side.

[B]

Toni tony that's so special how cool.

[C]

I love around the christmas tree too like checking out all the ornaments maybe like scoping out like the cookies the layout of like where the presents are.

[B]

Gonna go that is something that i'm always impressed with santa for doing is presenting the gifts under the tree in.

[C]

Such a beautiful way yes and like understanding the space stacking knowing how many presents will fit in the corner santa.

[B]

Would be the best at packing a trunk for a trip of course the tetris game magical that was special yeah also that just made me think about we used to do those like victorian candles in the windows for every christmas and i remember those being my nightlights for all of the winter and there's something so peaceful and safe about that even to this day like i feel.

[C]

Especially my suction cups for my candles are coming in today oh stick them on the window because we did that too i was so scared of the dark that my parents kept my candles in my all your own lights like yeah i love that it's also like very new england it is very new.

[B]

England it's like colonial homes yeah yeah colonial homes okay this one that i picked is a new year's story but it also has a ghost caught on camera whoa this is from our listener brendan hi ladies i attached a photo of what appears to be a ghost or spirit of some sort that i captured on new year's many years ago this photo was taken of my friend holding two dogs at the time he and i were decorating for a new year's eve party at my house and he and i were the only ones home at that time i lived in iro donquitt new york right near the bay of lake ontario where the french landed and slaughtered the native americans so a lot of history there i lived on high ground at the top of a big hill and i really do believe there was a lot of bloodshed that happened in the area that i found out about later the apparition in the photo appears to be of native american appearance and you can see in the photo also at the time i did not notice the ghost in the photo until i looked at it years later i was living in the home for years not knowing that i captured.

[C]

It oh my gosh imagine how many people have captured things and just like never revisit the photos they're taking it's like you take like thirty of one photo you just pick one i mean.

[B]

Think about art how easy it is to take pictures now on your phone there's so many photos that i don't go back and look at no so we're gonna pull up the picture the ghost is captured in the mirror behind my friend on the right side of the photo notice how you can see the white ladder in the reflection the shelf yeah but the ghost appears in front of it in the reflection in.

[C]

The mirror oh my god this is.

[B]

Really gruesome but doesn't it look like the bottom of their face is like.

[C]

Blown off i was thinking that exact same thing it does look like they were shot in the face oh geez and we have like long dark hair it looks like it pulled back in like a ponytail or something they look.

[B]

Injured it's a scary image just because they do look really injured but otherwise it looks like they're just passing through yeah like they don't seem to be interacting with brendan or the person in.

[C]

The photo at all no wow they got thick hair too nice healthy hairline on that spirit and the dogs are.

[B]

Not reacting like you know nothing odd was happening at the time even like.

[C]

The light is reflecting on its forehead that is wild okay i'm trying to like look at exactly where things are in the mirror oh you know what's weird okay so the ladder is to the left hand side of the photo yeah but it looks like they're coming through the door and the door is cracked right behind him right behind his left shoulder like right next in the mirror it's like almost impossible it feels like impossible for that to actually be.

[B]

Happening happening right also just the way that mirrors work and like the way that light reflects is so crazy like you literally just those videos where people are standing in front of the mirror covering themselves yeah but then if you're standing over here that person can see you your reflection in the mirror still yeah that's it blows my mind i.

[C]

Hate it i don't understand it and it feels it feels illegal it's scary yeah it feels scary it's like how does the mirror know what i look like if i'm covering up the mirror.

[B]

Because the light knows what you look like and it's reflecting off of light.

[C]

Mind your business mind your own business except mind all my business because i'm afraid of the dark so i want you around light yeah jeez oh that's.

[B]

So creepy we'll put the photo in youtube and then we will also put it on our socials so that you can see it damn also if you ever are looking for ghost photos we have a highlight saved on our instagram that has all the ghost photos probably not all of them we've ever talked about but like if we share them on our story or on our feed we'll save it in the highlights to make it easier so you don't have to scroll back a hundred years okay.

[C]

This is called the christmas mystery hi ghostesses my name is elise and i just discovered your podcast about a month ago i've been binging it ever since and i have many stories to share with you guys which doesn't really make sense because i feel like i've been a skeptic for so much of my adult life you're right it doesn't make.

[B]

Sense but this is you're not the.

[C]

Only one like this anyway listening to your podcast on youtube has helped me feel more like a believer again yay i love that you think of all the ways a ghost story could be real before any of the ways that it couldn't be that does i'm embracing that more now because because life is short so why not believe in the after party exactly i love calling it the after party the afterparty it's great.

[B]

That'S the only after party i i.

[C]

Will go to yeah oh i'm saying can you imagine having to stay up late it's awful okay enough of my rambling and onto the story i have a christmas story to share with you all today my mom told me about this a couple years ago for the very first time my parents were very young when they got married and they had all four of us kids back to back so it didn't really give them much time to settle financially until until their twenties how young were they and how did they get money in.

[B]

Their twenties i feel like could have been a typo yeah maybe their thirties.

[C]

I don't know there was one christmas where we were so stressed and we were getting older now i believe i was about seven so we were at the ages where we would really be holding on to memories from our childhood and this worried my parents they had absolutely no money we were in debt they had cars repossessed they were barely managing the roof over our heads which was never an easy thing during the holidays my mom was really upset because she couldn't get us many presents and was concerned about how many santa would bring for us it really stressed her out every time someone said be good for santa this year my parents didn't tell anyone about their inability to get us anything they spent christmas eve trying to come up with something to say they were concerned maybe santa was also going to run late to our house the next morning my mom woke up like most parents do on christmas day with all of us kids jumping on her and urging her to get down to the tree and that is when she saw it in our living room surrounding our tree were so many wrapped presents i'm going to cry my mom was stunned she looked at my dad he didn't know what to say again they had not told a single soul that they were not able to get us any presents my mom said that it was more presents than she had ever gotten for us before it was just a ridiculous amount they checked all the tags on them nothing they gushed to us about how good we must have been for santa that year but after we were all done opening presents and we went off to play with our new gifts my parents began checking the doors the windows everything everything was locked shut so how did santa get us all of these presents how did all of these presents get into our house when all of the doors are locked no one had a key and there was no chimney how did they do it while my parents had been up for so much of the night how did they do it without any of us hearing my mom and my dad started calling wren and asking everyone seemed confused i was really shocked my mom had never told me the secret before when she finally did she ended by saying that this is the strangest thing she has ever experienced she said she still doesn't understand how to this day it happened she says she thinks about it a lot it's left her so stumped so in the spirit of believing this is my christmas mystery about how santa is very very real from elise wow that is beautiful yeah i.

[B]

Have a very this is not about elise at all i don't think this is true i want to believe in the miracle too but i just did an episode with meredith for rattled and shook and one of the stories that she shared with me was this horrifying like right before christmas burglar who was going house to house and like stealing literally the grinch like literally stealing all these christmas presents and stuff and the encounter is horrifying because he had like a gun and he was very very scary and he was never caught but like he stole a bunch of gifts and i always i'm like what did he do with those gifts so what happened to them we were conspiring like what happened to them but i'm like what if it was her dad oh.

[C]

My god that's where all the gifts.

[B]

Went no but i don't think that's.

[C]

True interesting it's santa i'm curious how.

[B]

Many other people have mysteries like that because also as a child or as a parent you would never tell your child that until many years later right cause you want them to enjoy the miracle enjoy the magic of christmas even though you as a parent are plagued by this mystery like what the hell.

[C]

Yeah like how am i gonna address.

[B]

Yeah but i'm curious how many other people out there how many other parents have experienced this i like to believe.

[C]

It'S just magic it is magic you know what i loved doing what i should look if they have stuff like this around here too but when i lived in vermont every single year me and my mom there was like this giant warehouse in burling where all the donations of presents got sent to this one warehouse and my mom and i would sign up for shifts and it was so fun cause it's like you get to shop amongst all the donated things so you'd get your tag of what your kid wanted and then you get to go around to like just try to find as much as you can for that and i loved doing it it was like personal shopper i.

[B]

Feel like there are so many iterations of angel tree yeah if you are looking to give back this holiday season i highly recommend finding something like an angel tree or this donation center where you can gift gifts you can find tags of like specific gifts that specific kids want because everyone deserves to have.

[C]

A little magic also some years the mcdonald's would have seniors so sometimes we would pick seniors and do gifts for.

[B]

Seniors that is very special i feel like with the new year i am constantly thinking about what changes i want to make to my life and my routine and one thing i really want to start focusing on in twenty twenty six is my hair growth and that's why i'm so grateful that we have.

[C]

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[B]

Health and it's probably not something you've ever thought of as a gift but i have given it as a gift to multiple friends and i think i win as best gift giver everyone is always so grateful and it's something that they actually need but yeah you can feel great gifting nutrafol and also you can feel great knowing that nutrafol's hair growth supplements are backed by peer reviewed studies and nsf contents certified the gold standard in third party certification give the.

[C]

Gift of confidence this holiday season with nutrafol whether you're treating yourself or someone on your list visibly healthier thicker hair and is the gift that keeps on going right now nutrafol is offering our listeners ten dollars off your first month subscription plus free shipping when you go to nutrafol dot com and use promo code tgog that's nutrafol dot com comma promo code tgog for ten dollars off i feel like as i've gotten older i felt a little bit lost when it came to makeup like my skin was like drier and it was more texturized so what do you do what.

[B]

Do you use now okay well now.

[C]

I use jones road so if you're.

[B]

Looking at us if you're watching this on video yes we are glowing and yes it's jones road beauty and starting.

[C]

November jones road is launching their most giftable and exclusive holiday collection yet okay.

[B]

Well we are also obsessed with their.

[C]

Miracle balm yeah that sits on my skin right now and i do feel like there's like a natural glow and it kind of looks like you're not.

[B]

Really wearing makeup natural dewy it is yes and i love that you can it's a product that you can use in multiple places like you can use one thing for blush but it's also eyeshadow and it rubs on and it's on your lips yeah and you warm.

[C]

It in your hands like i don't i don't use anything to apply it except for my hands you just pat.

[B]

It in oh luxurious we love genre beauty and we know you will too so this holiday season simplify your routine with makeup that's clean strategic and multifunctional and don't miss out on their limited edition holiday sets they won't be here for long and once they're gone they're gone also as a treat for our listeners you'll get a free cool gloss on your first purchase when you use code tgog at checkout just head to jonesroadbeauty dot com and use code tgog at checkout after you purchase they'll ask where you heard about them please support our show and let them know we sent you everyone deserves a little christmas miracle and this is a story from our listener sarah it's called fig our christmas time miracle hello lovely ladies my name is sarah and i found your podcast near the beginning of twenty twenty five when i caught up with all my other spooky podcast when i first saw i had like seven years worth to catch up on i was a little intimidated and upset that i hadn't discovered you years ago but that quickly went away because then i just got excited about how much content i had to binge i'm now on encounters one hundred five and i just listened to the story about the cat who jumped on the gurney to go inside with the woman who was dying oh heartbreak all over again it was that story that made me realize what i wanted to send to you even though technically it's not a ghost story in mid december of twenty twenty one on a very cold night i stopped at a gas station and this skinny little cat came running over to me instantly super loving i crouched down and he jumped in my lap purring like crazy i immediately video called my mom and was like i can't leave him it's supposed to be an extremely cold night and it was already very cold and this did not look like a house cat he looked like he'd been on the street for a long time so i brought this cat home and i called him fig we decided we would contact the vets and different pounds in the area where we found him just in case someone was looking for him yeah but no one ever contacted us we ended up calling him our christmas miracle because what are the odds that i would find him at almost midnight at a random gas station when it was supposed to be below freezing oh i'm so glad they did it's like cat distribution system i know we instantly fell in love with him because he reminded us so much of multiple of our cats that we had lost over the years but especially our cat aurora who was about seventeen and had passed in october of twenty twenty aurora had been my mom's cat she was the only other cat that we had who loved drinking out of the sink and the vet said that fig was at least a year old or maybe two so we didn't think he could be her reincarnation but it was so coincidental that they were so similar the reason i'm telling you this is because i had so badly wanted my mom to have a companion cat again and then fig found his way into our life at a perfect time he slept with my mom every night he brought us so much joy until march of twenty twenty two my mom unexpectedly passed away sorry within two weeks of my mom's passing fig got very sick i brought him to the vet and i found out that his heart was not only enlarged but it was in the wrong place they were amazed that he survived at all and i ended up sadly having to put him down as there was nothing they could do i fully believe that the universe sent fig to my mom to be with her those last couple of months before following her to the other side it hurts remembering how devastated i was to lose them both so close to each other yeah but it was truly a miracle that not only had he survived but that he made it to us this sad yet happy little miracle felt like one i needed to send i'm so happy i found this podcast and have so much content to catch up on i'm the type of person that has to start at the beginning so i probably won't catch up until like twenty twenty six love you guys i feel like we would get along so well i've attached a picture of fig because he was the cutest boy with the sweetest eyes and a photo of me and my mom the day i brought her out for a hike and food a few days after her cat aurora had passed away looking forward to eventually catching up and who knows maybe by the time i do this will have made it onto the podcast ps i named fig after a lazy sun loving forest creature in a book i'm writing his personality fit it too well i absolutely believe.

[C]

Fig i know look at his beautiful eyes his tiny little pink nose oh cat noses are so cute i know.

[B]

And the way that aww well this is like very sad i fully believe like fig's heart broke too when sarah's mom passed right and was like i have to go be with you fig.

[C]

Had to be the shepherd the guardian but how lovely that you were able to save fig in oa and that fig got to return the favor by being with your mom yeah i love.

[B]

Animals i know they're so sweet we're.

[C]

Due for an animal episode cue the tears for that one i know we can't do animals too close to the.

[B]

Heartwarming episode we need some time yeah.

[C]

We do okay this is called a christmas eve paranormal experience i feel like most of mine actually happened like on christmas hi girls hope you both had a very merry christmas i'm just gonna jump right into it so my husband's a pretty big skeptic when it comes to the paranormal it's partly due to the fact that he's never experienced anything firsthand until christmas eve this was sent just a few days after christmas back in twenty twenty so like it just had happened i think so quick backstory last year in early december my husband's grandpa ernest passed away they were very close and my husband looked up to him and he always aspired to be like his grandpa ernest when my husband was younger he spent a lot of time with his grandpa hunting fishing working on just about anything you could imagine etcetera he learned so much for him okay back to present day my husband's family has a tradition of getting together every christmas eve for a party this party is normally held at his grandparents house the house where ernest had lived or at his aunt's house which is directly across the gravel road from his grandparents this year the party was at his aunt's we were all drinking and having a good time when my husband got overwhelmed in the moment and started missing his grandpa pretty bad so he went outside to go collect himself and seeing how upset he was one of his cousins and my brother in law followed him out they all stood out there reminiscing and talking about how much they missed ernest and how crazy it was that he wasn't there with them anymore all of the sudden while they're having this conversation the light bulb outside of their grandparents basement door exploded they were all mind blown it could very well be a coincidence but i personally think that it was their grandpa stopping by to say hello and to let them know that yeah he heard them talking about him i'm pretty sure that's what my husband thinks too oh i love that it was able to bring him some comfort and also open his eyes to the paranormal world a little bit thanks for reading kenzie that is.

[B]

Very sweet and special i hope you.

[C]

Guys cleaned up the glass though so grandma didn't have to do it yeah.

[B]

Yeah a light bulb exploding is pretty inconvenient but it's almost like grandpa wanted so like had so much energy that like it literally exploded at the bowl because he was like i need you to know right so cool that reminds me a lot of the encounter i had with my grandma after she passed away do you remember this i was it was like two days after she had passed and i was walking into i lived in playa del rey at the time i was walking into the front gate and there was a woman like an older woman on a bike and so i held the gate open for her and she just stopped me and started talking to me and literally starts telling me about how she went to columbia for grad school for teaching which is what my grandmother did and i just like instantly knew it was like a message from my grandma and as i was walking into my actual building thinking about and like feeling her presence all of the lights oh that's.

[C]

What it was the lights for some reason i thought it was the fire doors closing but it was the lights all of the lights flickered that is wild yeah i was like i also wonder too specifically for this story if kenzie's husband got really sad thinking about his grandpa because his grandpa was already there like felt his presence and then it was just like extra confirmation with.

[B]

The light bulb i do think that happens a lot yeah sometimes if you feel or if you're thinking about someone who has passed a lot i think sometimes it means they're there because they're there okay so this is a ghost warming a void a ghost warming a ghost warming this is a heartwarming ghostly story it's about family traditions and help from the other side to make it happen it's called ghost story new year's eve twelve grapes a lost gravestone and a ghostly helper from alyssa hi ladies i was introduced to your podcast through national park after dark and i've been binging it ever since after listening to two encounter episodes i knew i wanted to submit a story of mine and this is an important story because it's the only time i've talked with a ghost other ghosts i've seen lurking in a classroom riding a bike down the street or just being in the same space as me but i had never talked to them or had them talk to me or even seem to acknowledge that i can see them so this is a story that happened on new year's eve when i was eleven years old i'm from a proud chicana culture in denver colorado and on new year's eve we eat twelve grapes at midnight to bring us good luck in the.

[C]

New year i love that yeah but is it like specific can you eat green grapes red grapes i don't know.

[B]

My great grandparents often recanted to us younger generations that the only years they didn't eat grapes at midnight was during the strike to support the united farm workers movement that's the only time wow power to them my great grandfather so.

[C]

That means i have to stay up until midnight what's up my alarm i.

[B]

Know i don't think i've made it to midnight in years my great grandfather salvador suffered a stroke and died in two thousand three he served in the army and was awarded a purple heart and because of this he is buried in the military cemetery in denver so on new year's eve in two thousand six my mother was feeling extra sentimental and missing her grandfather who was basically her father so to honor him and our tradition she packed up some grapes and we planned to visit his gravesite before midnight it had been a while since we visited his grave but we knew generally where it was so we decided to go before sundown because a cemetery at night seemed like no thank you about an hour before sunset my mom packed my two younger sisters and i in the car and as we entered the cemetery we noticed just two people visiting other graves it seemed pretty empty otherwise and my mom mentioned we should be quick because the cemetery might be closing soon we drove to where we always park when we visit my great grandfather and other family members who were buried close by my mom got out and gestured over to an area where my great grandfather is buried we start looking for his name my youngest sister couldn't read so she was just following us around complaining about how long it was taking we had to double back row by row and for some reason we could not find salvador's headstone so my mom considered going to the visitor center for help but it was already closed for the day and it was getting dark the moon that night was half full so there was very little light just as we were about to give up and get in the car a woman approached us she asked my mom if we needed help finding a gravestone and we said yes she took a flashlight out of a utility belt around her waist and proceeded to walk with us as we searched i remember her and my mother walking side by side and within a minute my mom caught a glimpse of my great grandfather's gravestone she said thank you she touched the gravestone and placed the twelve grapes on the ground i looked back to say thank you as well but the woman was gone it was dark we didn't see her walking away and we didn't see any car lights anywhere i asked her i love this where the woman went and she told me to stop talking about it so she.

[C]

Clearly clocked it too we went back.

[B]

To the car and she was like let's go home to watch the ball drop and i could tell my mom was uneasy about the disappearance of the woman and my love of spooky stories overcame the feeling to leave it alone so i asked my mom what was she dressed as mom like a park ranger my mom replied no alyssa that was a military uniform i didn't at the moment connect the military cemetery with a woman wearing a military uniform so i said is she still in the military like i thought she's old how come she's not retired yet my mother far more observant than my preteen self began to point out the fact that she was also wearing a pink bandana on her head with a pink ribbon she seemed to just disappear when we were in a military cemetery i began to put the pieces together and realized we saw a ghost now that i think about it the ghostly helper didn't talk to me only my mother so i personally have yet to speak with a ghost and i'm okay with that it was just very kind of her to help us when we were about to give up as i process the fact that a ghostly woman just helped us in a cemetery i had a final question for my mom how does a ghost use a flashlight thanks for.

[C]

Reading alyssa that is a good question how do ghosts do anything it's so interactive right and it does it keeps making me think like was it someone but then it's like where would she.

[B]

Go and why would she be wearing a military uniform and how would she.

[C]

Being older and having a flashlight just disappear suddenly without them being able to see where she is in the night.

[B]

This reminds me someone on campfire stories last week shared a story very similar where like when she was in high school they lost a friend and they went to go to the cemetery and it was like her sister's story and they were looking for the grave couldn't find it couldn't find it and an older man showed them to it yeah and he too disappeared which is kind.

[C]

Of an amazing thing to do like if you're a spirit who's wandering around a cemetery to just like help other people find people people i like that.

[B]

Helping spirits damn damn it's very cool also now i'm curious i want to know other people's traditions like what do you do that's similar to the twelve grapes around the holidays like do you do the seven fishes my i mean i don't eat fish but my italian yeah my seven fishes we go to my cousin's for christmas eve and they have the seven they do it yeah.

[C]

Brian'S family does is the danish side they do there's like a nut in pudding and everybody gets a scoop of the pudding and you have to eat your pudding and then whoever finds a nut in their pudding gets a present.

[B]

Oh that's fun gets a prize kind of like a fat tuesday or king's day it's exactly like that yeah but.

[C]

There'S no little baby there's just a nut what's the prize it's whatever my mother in law buys usually it's like a bottle of wine or something like.

[B]

That i love that yeah i've been loving all like the family games on tiktok where you like have a long counter everyone gets like a little ping pong ball and there's like little cups on the edge of the counter but you don't know where they are oh so you're just rolling so you're rolling and there's like one gold cup that matches like a gold cup with like a prize in it yeah and like that has like the best prize but like every cup correlates to another cup i'm like that's fun i love holidays.

[C]

There'S so many like fun things like.

[B]

That yeah my family doesn't play them.

[C]

No but we pitched it me and lainey pitched games to my family last year nobody wanted to do it i was like god that's so boring the.

[B]

Best thing about having your own family is that you get to do those things you get to create those yeah.

[C]

Yeah and once we start hosting it's like sorry you have to play the.

[B]

Game you have to play the game you have to play the game which also at the same time sounds like my nightmare like going to someone's house.

[C]

Forced into playing have to be forced.

[B]

To play a game yeah yeah i want to play a game when i want to play a game i'm going to toot my own horn for a second i am a great gift giver to others and to myself but i can't take all the credit because i feel like it's all due to quints quince pretty much has everyone on your.

[C]

List covered mongolian cashmere sweaters from dollar fifty when you would normally pay like dollar two hundred or more yeah wild there's denim that goes with everything some silk tops skirts and now they have italian wool coats which are absolute top of my list because they look so designer feel luxurious they're made with premium materials but like everything with quints because we've talked about quints a million times and ordered so much from that website the price doesn't make you panic because we are talking way less than what.

[B]

Other brands charge yeah they work directly with trusted factories that maintain high standards and ethical practices and they cut out the middleman which basically is why quince can pass those savings on straight to you and corinne you and i both have become obsessed with quince's home stuff too oh my god yeah their towels their sheets their like truly everything yeah.

[C]

Like the quilts the bedspreads just ugh.

[B]

You can't go wrong with quints it.

[C]

Is so nice find gifts so good you'll want to keep them with quints go to quince dot com tgog for free shipping on your order and three hundred sixty five day returns now available in canada too that's q u dash i dash n dash c dash e dot com tgog to get free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns quince dot com tgog so good.

[B]

So good so good score holiday gifts everyone wants for way less at your nordstrom rack store save on ugg nike rag and bone vince frame kurt geiger london and more because there's always something new i'm giving all the gifts this year with that extra five percent off when i use my nordstrom credit card santa who join the nordy club at nordstrom rack to unlock our best deals it's easy big gifts big perks that's.

[C]

Why you rack okay i have one more story to share okay hello ghostesses my name is alexander i recently started listening to your show i was listening to podcasts haunted places and they advertised tgog you did when is this twenty nineteen yeah i feel like a long time ago oh well thanks again thanks parka appreciate you i immediately subscribed my podcast subscriptions consist of about ninety percent horror and supernatural podcasts hell yeah the first episode i listened to was one that featured railroad stories and you mentioned shame road in san antonio texas which i am very familiar with though i've never visited the road myself ooh i am from and currently live in texas i've grown up and lived all around the eastern and northern eastern portion of the state most specifically the dallas and fort worth area and i have a few creepy happenings from my life in texas and i would like to share them so let's start with east texas when i was a young boy all the way up to when i was around eleven i spent a huge portion of my childhood on what was our family land at the time my memaw and pawpaw's home was settled on the red dirt road in the middle of the whole heap of texas pines in a small town called sugar hill it got that name due to all of the sugar that was toted up and down the town to produce moonshine way back in the prohibition era have you.

[B]

Ever had moonshine yeah you like it.

[C]

Um well i had when we were in college and it was like was it the same my big in sorority worked for that company like the moonshine that like specific brand like moonshine cause they had a distribution center like the.

[B]

Only time i've had moonshine is like when it's like the peaches soaked in it and i don't mind i didn't mind those cause it was like i ate the peach yeah it still tastes.

[C]

Good the only time i've tried it was like i don't think i tried it on its own it was like mixed into something and it was super flavored yeah so i'm sure i wouldn't actually i don't like alcohol generally alcohol alcohol alcohol at all anymore i don't drink hard alcohol anymore i drink wine every once in a blue moon very.

[B]

Different from very moonshine to ends of.

[C]

The spectrum yeah there was a single old oil top road that led to the arteries that would take you into town arteries a creepy way to maybe.

[B]

Say road maybe i guess it kind.

[C]

Of makes sense okay there's no limit to the frightening things that this little slice of southern pie had to offer i'm talking ghosts demons sasquatch native animals at every turn we would hear angry wild hogs everywhere bobcats would jump through the tall grass behind our house you'd hear the sound of them at night the screeches of the mating bobcats the loud snorting terrifying angry wild hogs the hoot of the owls peaceful as a toddler this would really frighten me but after a while you did get used to it and you were able to pick out the individual sounds of each animal but there was a specific vocalization that we never could quite put our finger on a very primal scream shit bigfoot it was all at once animalistic and human something like the sound of a tropical bird screeching and and a pained man's yell and a lion being heard in unison i asked my pawpaw what it was and he told me it was just old arkansas's billy bob it was years later that i realized that that was another name for bigfoot.

[B]

Old arkansas's billy bob billy bob interesting never heard that before it's just big.

[C]

Old billy bob bill bob sometimes you'd hear the sounds too close for comfort you'd feel the thumps of elephants walk right through your backyard they would get bored it seems and sometimes they would start throwing debris at the trailer which they they do holy moly i never really thought about bigfoots in texas before.

[B]

I guess they could be anywhere yeah.

[C]

It was one night on christmas eve and our power went out it was freezing and all the trees would just snap and fall over the power lines so that's what happened and the power was out yikes we sat around our candles eating canned ravioli one of my family's favorite pastimes was telling some scary family stories and so we also did.

[B]

That why do i feel like this is kind of a magical christmas eve.

[C]

Like i know this sounds great it's.

[B]

Not ideal to be in the cold and only have candlelight but there's also something like very victorian and romantic about.

[C]

It yeah it's different so it's like fun it's like getting to go camping or like a different type of sleepover we were only halfway through my dad's famous horse story when we started to hear the sounds of something scraping across the side of the trailer back and forth and then on the other side we sat silent not knowing really how to act rationalizing what it might be but it continued and we continued to stay silent listening until it stopped some minutes went by and we all started to regain the courage to talk and start speaking again we just shrugged it off and kept telling our stories and also telling ourselves that it was just the branches brushing up against the trailer.

[B]

Never mind and you know no one actually thought that because they all sat there in quiet right listening to it.

[C]

Any rights never mind the fact that that night everything was still and though we were surrounded by trees there were none close enough to touch the trailer yep after a little while i suppose our creature or creatures did not like our lack of feared response to its actions so next thing you know there are loud continuous but unstudied bangs on either side of the trailer it reminded me of the sounds of large hail hitting a tin roof nope this time around we were not so quiet my two cousins katie and mandy and i were shouting at the verge of tears my aunt and my mother stood up saying what the hell both at the same time and my father being the hulking tough guy he just cussed in anger he said this shit has got to stop assuming that it was some local people on drugs just screwing around my father goes and grabs a pellet gun and goes outside screaming and yelling and cursing and bluffing that his pellet gun was certainly more than a pellet gun i sat there in hesitation for a few moments part of me wanting to be a brave little kid for my dad and the other part just so scared for my dad so i finally worked up the courage to go out there ignoring my mom and my aunt's demands for me to stay inside i leaped out the front door and i was immediately taken aback by a crime scene what there were several rocks of various shapes and sizes from golf balls to softballs all there several dents on the side of the trailer bare tree branches on the ground so i picked up one of the branches as.

[B]

A weapon a crime scene as in like the evidence not an actual like bloody crime scene well a crime scene.

[C]

Doesn'T have to i know but i'm.

[B]

I'M i'm picture when i hear that in a story i'm thinking that there's a murder you assume dead body yes.

[C]

Crime also doesn't always involve no it doesn't i was not sure which direction my father went in but i had an idea so i headed back down the oil top road to my grandparents house from my aunt connie's trailer which is where we were currently at my aunt and my grandparents had oh my god the way that they said it's just so abrupt my aunt and my grandparents had been dead for a few months now so we constantly were having to go check on my grandparents home to make sure that no one was trying to cook meth in the house which was something that happened a lot in that area none of us wanted to stay in the house so we stayed at our aunt connie's old trailer.

[B]

I love how you chose the most terrifying christmas story to end this one.

[C]

As i kept a steady pace down the road inching closer and closer to my intended destination in the distance i heard that old guttural man lion bird scream so i picked up the pace you could probably imagine how scared i was i went from a speed walk to a sprint in less than a second still clutching the large bare branch in my hand i finally made it to the old house but my father was not there no one was i quietly shouted dad where are you dad.

[B]

Seems like a scary place to be.

[C]

Outside alone but no reply then to the left of me i heard the rustling of the trees just across the small watering hole beside the house i reluctantly twisted my neck to that direction and i dropped the bare branch what i saw nearly made me shit myself caught only by the glimmering moon nestled between the trees was what appeared to be a very tall man with dark shaggy hair he had hazel eyes that glowed with the moonlight eyes that i knew were now centered on my own i couldn't see the rest of his body through the shade of the trees but i didn't want to his eyes were enough they held intelligence and potential.

[B]

Harm we always knew bigfoot was intelligent.

[C]

Not like a killer's eyes but the eyes of a man who would kill to protect his loved ones the man huffed loudly and then turned around i finally got ahold of myself and i jetted back down the road to connie's my dad met me about two thirds down the road yelling at me reprimanding me for running off and i told him what i saw and though he was scared he did not seem surprised.

[B]

Why do i feel like bigfoot was not looking for this listener but for their dad like the way that they made eye contact and the bigfoot like huffed like kind of like ugh you're not who i'm looking for you're just.

[C]

The kid i know because it attacked the trailer like someone in the trailer had pissed off this daddy o made.

[B]

A promise to bigfoot and didn't uphold.

[C]

Right supposed to get invited to the.

[B]

Christmas eve celebration i was gonna bring wine or moonshine moonshine bigfoot sorry just obsessed with the idea of bigfoot just out in the woods making moonshine moonshine.

[C]

In the watering hole i don't know what i saw that night i'm not entirely sure it was sasquatch and i'm not entirely sure still if sasquatch even exists i'm the kind of person that likes to find a rational conclusion but.

[B]

You came to the wrong place you.

[C]

Just can't all i do know is i've gained a lot of respect for the forest thanks a million love alexander alexander well that is a terrifying christmas.

[B]

Eve it started out so like yes spooky but magical like under candlelight ghost.

[C]

Stories you're with your relatives and power goes out and everyone's just like oh we're just gonna have a fun time.

[B]

Together you got party crashed by bigfoot that is a terrifying one to end on thanks alexander thanks alexander and thanks to all of you for sharing your.

[C]

Stories surprise if you're watching on video outfit change outfit change and no more christmas decor in the background and if.

[B]

You loved today's christmas stories or holiday themed stories we've got one more for you over on patreon so join us over there if you are if you're interested if you just itchin' craving got that bonus yeah bonus over there so.

[C]

We hope you guys all have well do we hope you have hauntings i'm.

[B]

Not sure positive hauntings or whatever hauntings you want we hope you have it we hope you get it or that.

[C]

You collect ghost stories we hope you.

[B]

Get what you deserve get what you deserve why does that sound so menacing.

[C]

It sounds very threatening but if you.

[B]

Deserve good things then it's not right however you interpreted that maybe that's the.

[C]

Mirror wow we're really looking inwards right now so much holiday cheer are you going home for the holidays are you going to spend it with family of.

[B]

Course we might have nieces yeah yeah.

[C]

This is our first year doing christmas.

[B]

Here you're hosting you can make everyone.

[C]

Play games i know what christmas because i said now we have the young child yeah everyone comes here so santa comes here for him so you guys have to come here too we're not going to pack it all up right.

[B]

My sister and shani are hosting too.

[C]

Yeah it makes sense how are you gonna get your nieces oh man i'm.

[B]

So excited i got noemi because she's gonna be upgrading to a big girl bed so i got her a princess quilt and princess sheets and princess towels that are embroidered with her name that's so cute and then i'm getting her and delfina this like play they're like those cushions that you can fold into a bunch of different shapes and stuff oh the nugget couch no it's like a more of like a jungle gym.

[C]

Type of couch thing you got noah a ball pit last year and he loves it and he like jumps into it but this reminds me of one of our producers emma she has a child and she posted on instagram saying like this happens multiple times a day and it's her daughter just like gently giving her like the sweetest little kisses over her face and i responded and i said that's so funny i get a different type of experience multiple times a day and i sent her a picture of noah just like climbs on me and then diaper slam just like repeatedly tries to like slam his diaper.

[B]

On my head that is so funny.

[C]

It'S like oh we're both getting something.

[B]

You'Re both getting something sven what would you like for christmas would you like to go haunt all of our listeners you're more than welcome to you already do without our permission anyway so for.

[C]

Those who did receive our holiday card there is potentially sven in the picture.

[B]

I know it's wild we can talk.

[C]

About it now because they've already been sent out people yeah we were told if you missed it sorry you missed the deadline join patreon so you can be a part of it next year but we went to house witch which is where we recommend everyone who ever goes to salem to go to get their auras photographed we've gone so many times to get our auras photograph there.

[B]

It'S our go to so we're like.

[C]

Oh holiday car let's go get our.

[B]

Auras photograph so we each did an individual photo that was also wild because it's the first time my aura has ever been something other than blue and white emotion and openness it was like fricking fall colors everything boss era yours was back to normal yeah with some.

[C]

Like semi fight or flight moment blue.

[B]

And then ours together was beautiful but we were photobombed by she was telling us she was like it's a spirit that clearly is connected to the two.

[C]

Of you together because it doesn't appear in the individual shots but like when you look at the aura photograph if there is like the bright lights above your head like at the top of the frame it's usually representing spirit guides so it's like oh you have like three spirit guides or you have five spirit guides or whatever whatever yeah so we both had those yeah but what was really interesting is two of ours were both brighter really really bright and so she was like i wonder if you guys share the same spirit guides and then only in our photo together was one of the balls kind of.

[B]

Like it wasn't it was like on it wasn't even a ball anymore it was like a body almost right next.

[C]

To us like bled through like a person like a white being behind us.

[B]

And she was like it only shows up in the photo of you together.

[C]

So someone for both of you not just one of you it has to be sven that has to be like.

[B]

Who else yeah that was crazy so cool yeah but yeah that also reminds us we do holiday cards every year and if you missed it this year join patreon you can get it next year you have to be a patreon member in november into december of next year to get it we hope you have an amazing wonderful holiday we love you all so very much if you have any ghost stories of your own or if you experience anything or learn anything fun and spooky from your family and friends this holiday season please email it to us at two girlsmongostpodcastmail dot com and thank you so much to our editor and producer jamie ryan thank you so much to our producer producer a producer with a little accent emma la venter we are so grateful for all of you as well thanks for.

[C]

Listening and we will see you on the twenty twenty six very spooky limu.

[A]

Kimu and doug here we have the limu emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with liberty mutual fascinating it's accompanied by his natural ally doug limu is.

[C]

That guy with the binoculars watching us.

[A]

Cut the camera they see us only pay for what you need at liberty mutual dot com liberty liberty liberty liberty savings very underwritten by liberty mutual insurance company and affiliates excludes massachusetts.