All language subtitles for T.G.I.M.C.S02E07.Family.Drama.and.Military.Trauma.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

My son was
remembering events that

did not happen in his life.

And he said, are we
going to see my old dad?

When his old dad came
back from the war,

the house had to
be dark and quiet.

When he would get
upset or angry,

he would pound his
head on the floor.

And he started saying, when
my old dad was in the war,

his friends had to pick him
up and carry him to safety.

And he said that there
was blood spilling.

Then he said he was in a car
driving like this on a road

and that his car wrecked.

That was the moment that
I realized that Riley might

be remembering a past life.

I thought that they
would think she's crazy.

Am I really hearing
what I'm hearing?

I was convinced that my
brother's soul had come back

to me and my son.

My name is Joanna, and I have
two sons named Riley and Aiden.

My two sons are 6 and 3.

Sacramento is a really
great place to live.

It's the capital of California.

There's about
500,000 people here.

We live in a smaller area.

When you go downtown, it
feels like a big city,

but it's a great
place to raise kids.

Hi, I'm Nick.

I am Riley and Aiden's father.

I'm an attorney.

I work with abused and
neglected kids or children

at risk of abuse and neglect.

My work deals with the
most difficult things

you can imagine that
happen to children.

And so I've heard lots of very
difficult stories from kids.

I am a marriage
and family therapist.

I work with kids 0 to 21
and I see a lot of trauma

and a lot of families
that are struggling.

So I'm more careful about
how I parent and how I'm

raising the boys so that we
create a loving environment.

We had actually been
told that we weren't

going to be able to have kids.

I had some abdominal problems.

And they never figured
out what it was.

I was definitely afraid because
I didn't understand what was

going on with me physically.

It was it
was a shock to us.

And I think we were both
trying to adjust to that.

Nick was in law school.

I was in grad school.

And our plan was to start
trying after we graduated.

My OB said try now because
it could take up to a year.

So we started trying and we
were pregnant within a month.

We were, like, in shock.

And we just stared
at each other.

And he hugged me.

And I hugged him.

And we were like, oh my gosh.

What just happened?

Riley was gorgeous
when he was born.

He came out, he looked perfect.

He had this beautiful
little face.

He was loving.

He was very sweet.

And he started
talking really young

and had a great vocabulary.

He was always
comfortable with older folks.

Even as a baby, he was
very engaging to people.

We noticed Riley was
having a hard time sleeping,

I think, in the hospital.

He was a horrible sleeper.

He always was.

He'd sleep about 20 minutes
and then wake up screaming.

I remember Nick and I looking
at each other one night.

And we're like,
what have we done?

This is just so exhausting.

We never thought it
would be like this.

We were exhausted a
lot and fussy as parents,

because he'd wake up.

When he was
about three or four,

he would wake up and be
having night terrors.

He would wake up in the
middle of the night screaming.

And we would go in and
realize that he was not awake.

And so we would sit there
with him until he settled back

in the bed.

I remember feeling just sort
of at a loss for what to do.

I ended up being hard on
myself because I thought

I was doing something wrong.

I'd say probably four or five
times out of the week he comes

into our bed and we're
not really sure why.

And then one day, I
think we were driving,

and he said something like,
are we going to see my old dad?

Nick and I kind of looked at
each other and we laughed.

Oh, haha.

And then I made a joke.

I kind of hit Nick
on the shoulder.

I said, he just called you old.

He said, no.

I'm not saying you're old.

I'm talking about my old dad.

And then we were very shocked.

He started giving more
details about his old dad.

It would be in the car ride.

I'd pick him up from daycare
and say, oh, how was your day?

And he'd say, my old dad used
to ask me that all the time.

And are you going to take
me to see my old dad?

And then he would say things
like, thingamajigger and wonky.

And I'd say, oh, where'd
you learn that word?

Oh, my old dad.

It was at least one
conversation a day

he would mention his old dad.

For me, I'm like,
well, I'm your dad,

so what's this about?

I just wanted to hear
what he had to say.

I think sometimes it would come
up for him when I would ask him

to do something.

And the response would be,
well, my old dad wouldn't

make me do that stuff.

I said, well, he's
not here right now.

I thought, OK,
what's going on here?

Because for months he's been
talking about this old dad.

I sort of freaked
out because I thought

there's way more to
this than we thought.

Nick just said, there's
nothing more to it.

Don't read so much into it.

As he gave me more
detail, then I

started to feel
confused and worried

about what was going on for him.

Centennial is a
city southeast of Denver.

Centennial is great because of
its close proximity to Denver.

Centennial was
formed 15 years ago.

There's a lot of kids
in the neighborhood,

has great schools,
lots of parks,

walking trails,
community centers

that are good for
families to have around.

My name is Trenny.

I have four children--
one girl and three boys.

My pregnancy with Noah was
probably the easiest out

of the four.

I gained very little weight,
ate super healthy, jogging

and walking up until
the day he was born.

Noah was a very hard
headed and loving baby.

He was just a
happy-go-lucky, free spirited

little boy.

Fun to be around.

Fun to play with.

He walked
at about nine months

and just took off running.

When he was 18
months old, he jumped

on a battery-powered
four-wheeler

and took off across the
cul-de-sac in his diaper.

He just-- he was all boy.

Noah was very much a rebel.

Very stubborn.

Definitely had his own
agenda from day one.

When he would get
upset or angry,

he would pound his
head on the floor.

I remember telling Noah
not go down the slide when

my daughter, his
sister, was still

sitting at the bottom of it.

And he looked at me and
laughed and did it anyway.

And then his teeth
went into her head

and she ended up with stitches.

Going into toddler
and preschool,

he had some very bad
speech impediments.

And he could not speak clearly.

And it was very hard for
people to understand him.

My mom had a really hard
time understanding him.

I even had a hard time.

When Noah was around
three years old,

I was driving and had
my daughter with me.

And he kept looking at me in
the rear view mirror trying

to get my attention.

I was totally tuned out,
totally ignoring him.

I just thought he was being a
kid because they'll say Mom,

Mom, Mom, a dozen times.

All of a sudden, my 3-year-old
son glares at me in the mirror

and he says,
dammit, Hanny, listen to me.

Listen to me.

I had to pull over
because my toddler just

swore at me.

And to hear that name come
out of my son's mouth really

shook me up.

I was at work and Trenny
called me and she was crying.

And I said, what is wrong?

And she said, you're not going
to believe what just happened.

The last time I heard someone
call me Hanny would have been

before my brother's passing.

No one else
called her Hanny--

not her friends,
not her dad, not me.

It was a name that Craig had
for Trenny and called her that.

My brother died in
1993 and Noah was born in 1998.

So there's no way anyone
would've told Noah what

my nickname was as a child.

Hanny.

When he said
damn it, Hanny,

it was crystal clear.

His voice lowered and it
sounded a little spooky.

Listen to me.

The hard noises in the
back of his throat like g,

c, those things,
he could not say.

So for him to
actually make a sound

with a g in the back of his
throat was very shocking to me.

Listen to me.

I don't even know what
was going through my mind.

I actually started
to shake and I cried.

And while I'm doing that, my
daughter's in the back seat.

And she said, why are
you calling Mommy Hanny?

And he looked at her and he
said, because she is Hanny.

And he looked back at me and
he said, you know you're Hanny.

Clearly, it was an
emotional moment for her.

I could hear it in her
voice when she called me.

But I did not think that there
was a connection with his uncle

Craig at the moment.

I tried to explain
the situation to her,

and I think she was a little in
disbelief at what I was saying,

maybe because he did
have poor speech.

But I knew what I had heard.

There is no way that Noah
could have known those words

because we never
talked about it.

When Noah
was 3, I didn't

think he had a concept of
what death actually was.

And I didn't feel it was
appropriate to discuss with him

how his uncle had died, because
it was somewhat violent.

To hear that name come
out of my son's mouth,

it really shook me up.

But I could have never
predicted what happened next.

I was super
excited when we found out

that we were pregnant
with Riley, because just

a few months before that we
were told we weren't going

to be able to have kids.

Soon after we
brought him home, we

noticed he had some
difficulty with sleeping.

It was it really
exhausting few months.

I remember feeling
really lost and confused.

I started thinking,
is he mentally ill?

Is he hallucinating,
seeing or hearing things?

It was probably one of the
first places my brain went.

But I also knew that he was
probably too young for that,

because I work in the
mental health field.

I remember
specifically one night,

me and Riley were in his room.

And then he started saying,
when my old dad was in the war,

he used to have
this old uniform,

and he wore this old hat.

And it was gray.

And he got stabbed
in the shoulder.

And his friends had to pick
him up and carry him to safety

because he almost died.

And he said that there was blood
spilling out of his shoulder.

And they couldn't
stop the blood,

so they were trying to put
clothes and stuff on the wound.

I was shocked.

I didn't know what to believe.

I just let him continue
talking because I thought,

what is he going to say next?

He described them as looking
tired and having smoke

on their face.

He describes them as having
blood on their uniforms.

He said that when his old
dad came back from the war,

the house had to
be dark and quiet.

And if he made noise,
he would get in trouble.

He described his old dad
as very sensitive from when

he came back from war.

I remember feeling
devastated, because I thought,

why should any 3-year-old
have these images in his head?

I'm a little bit more
skeptical, I think, of things.

To me, Riley has a very
powerful imagination.

It was more like his
creative mind working.

I was very much like that
when I was a kid, too.

It really tortured me.

I had a difficult time
sleeping that night

because I thought, why is my
3-year-old thinking about war

and blood and his
dad being injured

and an environment where it had
to be very quiet and sterile?

Nick is an awesome dad.

He's very easygoing.

We never watch any adult
programs around Riley.

We were very careful with that.

We always had some
kind of kid show on.

So I started asking
all of our friends.

When Riley's been at your house,
have you watched any adult TV

around him?
No, no, no.

All the answers were no.

So I went to a friend who's a
marriage and family therapist.

If somebody that knew
him for a long time

and sort of knew our
lifestyle and how we live,

hoping that she would
at least maybe say, no,

don't even worry about it.

He's fine.

So I just reached out to her
and I said, hey, you know,

Riley started talking
about this old dad.

Do you think I
should be worried?

And the look on her
face was like, yeah,

you should be worried.

You might need to take
him to the doctor.

There might be something
wrong with him.

I just broke down in tears.

And I called Nick immediately.

If you're a therapist,
any time somebody tells you

something that's--

maybe it looks a
little bit different,

they think mental illness.

Didn't want to hear that.

I didn't think Riley was crazy.

He's not crazy in
a clinical sense.

He's crazy like a
little boy is crazy.

I was concerned.

I felt alone.

I was afraid to tell people
because I thought that they

would think he's crazy.

My son Noah was happy
and healthy and stubborn and

funny and it was such a
delight to have a son.

My daughter would
listen to any direction

that you gave her
and followed it,

but Noah always had his own
agenda and doing his own things

and not listening to us.

He actually had no memory of
saying any of those things,

and he was right back to Noah
with the speech problems.

I chalked this
behavior up to him just

being a very hard-headed boy.

Then another thing happened.

We were watching TV and
there was a bunch of planes

and helicopters flying over.

Noah pointed and said,
that's a spy plane.

He did not have his stutter.

He did not mispronounce words.

He was using and saying
all consonants properly.

I said, you don't know
what a spy plane is.

And he said, I do too know what
a spy plane is because my daddy

took me to see one.

I asked him about the
spy plane that he said

his daddy had taken him to see.

He did say it was black.

I called my husband and I asked
him had he taken Noah anywhere

to go see any black planes,
specifically spy planes?

And he said no.

He had no idea what
I was talking about.

Maybe he had seen
story books, maybe

he had seen a movie, because
little boys have fantasies

about those things.

And it would be
natural for children

to imagine in their mind that
they had actually been in one.

My father was in the Marines.

He was a lieutenant.

And my brother had been
stationed with him and my mom

over in Okinawa during Vietnam.

So I called my dad and asked him
if he had ever heard of a spy

plane.

And he said yes he had,
that one came on base

and he had taken my
brother to see it.

And when I asked him what color
it was, he said it was black.

Noah's father had not taken
him to see a spy plane.

Craig's father had.

There are no pictures of my
dad in the military at all

in my house.

There's no pictures of my
brother living in Okinawa.

There was none of
that in the house.

He kept saying, but I
was there with my daddy.

My daddy was there with me.

He took me to this plane.

It wasn't like he was imagining
that he had been in a plane

somewhere, but he was very
specific that his daddy had

taken him to that plane.

There is no way
that Noah could have known

about the spy plane and that
my brother had gone to go see

a spy plane with our father.

And my dad was living
out of state at the time,

so he had very little
contact with the kids.

So he would have not
ever said something

about this story or anything.

My dad actually had to stop and
think when I called and asked

him about it.

I felt confused.

It was just a lot to process.

I started to feel like there
was some inexplicable connection

between Noah and
Craig, but I was

shocked by what he said next.

My
six-year-old son Riley

started talking
about his old dad

from the moment he could talk.

He gave me details about his
old dad coming home from the war

and what that was like for him.

I reached out to a friend
and my worst fear happened.

She thought that there was
something wrong with him.

I felt worried and
confused and scared.

The logical part
of my brain knew

that it wasn't mental illness.

I've worked with chronically
mentally ill kids and adults

for 16 years.

Yes, there are cases
where young children

do hear voices and respond.

But it is so rare.

My fear was that he was
going to be different

and that people would
treat him differently.

I never really thought
about past lives,

but then I started
doing research

and I contacted this doctor
and told her Riley's story.

She seemed to think
that it was a past life.

I wasn't that sure.

Riley described his
house as kind of light

before his dad went to war.

And then when dad came
home from the war,

it was that it was dark.

His dad needed the house to
be dark, like the curtains

couldn't be open.

There couldn't be any lights on.

He described things before
the war as in fast motion

and after the war that
things were in slow motion.

And he had to be quiet.

And if him and his brother
ran through the house

and made noise, his dad
would scream and yell.

So it really needed to be very
quiet and physically very dark.

I immediately thought
he was describing PTSD.

Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder, usually when

people have something
traumatic happen to them,

they have flashbacks
or nightmares.

And so generally, people
that are going through this

want things quiet or dark or
they want to be left alone.

There is no way a three-,
four-year-old could describe

PTSD like that, without
having maybe experienced it.

That was the moment that I
realized that Riley might

be remembering a past life.

It's not what I
believe, necessarily.

But Riley, it's
very real to him.

And he was really little
when he was describing it.

So it was fascinating to hear
him have all of these details.

But it makes me a little bit
sad that he has this memory

of something that was hard.

I was heartbroken
when Riley was telling me

that his old dad
was mean to him.

Which guy am I?

And Nick does
not need a quiet house.

He's fine with the boys running
around playing and being silly

and being loud.

I came as far as I can.

The boys adore their dad.

I was very
interested to hear what he

had to say about those things.

I wanted to hear more about
these details as they arose.

Some of the stuff he described
sounded almost like Civil War

era or World War I era.

And I don't know where
those would have come from.

I have no idea why, but
I just said, does your old dad

have a name?

I was not expecting
him to say a name.

My son called me by a
nickname only my brother used.

Hanny.

Then he remembered seeing a
plane that my brother had only

seen.

I was really
confused and worried

about what was going on.

When Noah was around
4, Noah's dad and I

had taken the kids out to eat.

And we'd already
ordered our food.

We were just sitting there
having normal conversation.

The kids were drawing
on the kids' menu.

And Noah abruptly
stands up on the booth

and holds his arms
up in a big circle.

And he said, when I was
here before, I died.

And I asked him,
when you were where?

And he said, here, Mom.

Here.

And I said, on Earth?

He said yes, on Earth.

And he took his hand and he
said he was in a car driving

like this on a road.

And that his car wrecked, caught
on fire, and that he died.

This really made the
hair on my neck stand up,

because that's exactly how
my brother died, five years

before Noah was even born.

The night my
brother passed away,

he had gone to the state
fair with some of his friends

to go to a concert.

So at 3:20 AM on Sunday,
I woke up, just woke up out

of a dead sleep.

I looked out my window
and the car was not there.

So I knew he wasn't home.

And I couldn't go back to sleep.

The next morning,
the telephone rang.

It was Craig and Trenny's
father, my ex-husband.

And he told me that Craig had
had this accident and had died.

It was just-- it was awful.

It was a single-car crash.

And the car had rolled.

He had been ejected
from the car.

The car had burned.

I learned later that Trenny
and I and Craig's father

had all woken up at 3:20 AM.

We were in three
different locations

and we all woke up
at the same time

because we believe that's
the exact time that he died.

I know there was
definitely drinking going on.

And I know there was some sort
of discussion at some point.

Somebody had tried to take
his keys away from him.

He got quite belligerent
and said, no, I'm going,

and would not let
them take his keys.

And he left.

Losing my brother, even though
it's been over 20 years ago,

still deeply affects
me to this day.

By the time Noah was
around three years old,

I didn't really talk
about my brother a lot.

I'm not sure at that point he
even knew that I had a brother.

I don't remember anyone
talking about Craig's car

crash in front of
Noah as a young child.

When Noah talked about
being here before

and hearing him recount
his own physical death

was pretty freaky.

We thought we had put
the past behind us

when my brother passed.

But I started to
believe more and more

that Noah was reincarnated.

My mom wasn't so convinced.

But that changed one night
when Noah said something to her

that he could have never known.

My six-year-old
son Riley believed

he had an old dad
who fought in a war

and was injured while
fighting in that war.

I was shocked.

I didn't know what to believe.

I mean, he would tell these
details like it was just

like reading a book.

It was just matter of fact
and that's the way it was.

He actually drew a picture of
his old dad's house one time,

showed me where everything was.

It was almost like I could
have been there with him.

And I can really visualize
what he was talking about,

because that's how
specific he was.

Things that he drew and
said about his old family

is nothing like how we are now.

The memories that Riley shared
about himself when he was young

was that he
remembers being small

and his mom would
take care of him.

But this old dad must have
made an impression on him,

because he was the focus of a
lot of Riley's early memories.

The person
that he described

was consistent throughout.

After that, he
shared that his dad used

to fly a plane and
that it had guns on it.

I have no idea why,
but I just said,

does your old dad have a name?

And he said, Cedric Pokker.

I was not expecting
him to say a name.

We don't know
anyone named Cedric.

And usually if you
see the name spelled,

sometimes people
pronounce it Cedric.

But he said specifically Cedric.

And I said, well, where
did you hear that name?

And he said, well, he told me.

Later that night
I put him to bed.

And I started doing some
research on the internet.

I typed in Cedric
Pokker and what came up

was a Cedric Popkin who
shot down a Fokker airplane.

And it sounded just like Pokker.

My heart just sank.

And all of a sudden I
was like, oh my gosh.

I can't believe I
found something.

A lot of the details
of Cedric's life

matched what Riley has told me.

My name is Riley.

I'm six.

My old dad's name is Cedric.

He flew a plane with guns on it.

He came back from
the war different.

Cedric Popkin was
born in Australia in 1890.

In 1916, when World War I
broke out, Cedric enlisted.

He was stationed with the
17th machine gun company based

in France.

And they happened to
wear gray uniforms.

It's believed that Cedric
Popkin fired the shot that

is famous for shooting
down the Red Baron.

The Red Baron was
famous, and this

is something that
followed Cedric

for the rest of his life.

About two months after
killing the Red Baron,

he suffered wounds that
resulted in his right leg being

amputated.

After that injury,
Cedric returned home.

Cedric had two sons.

His sons were Rollin and
Michael that both died over

50 years ago.

The interesting thing
is that they both died

before their father.

It was interesting that
there were so many similarities

between some of the facts
that Riley had described.

All this time we
thought we had a little kid that

was talking about an old dad,
maybe it was his imagination.

But as soon as I saw that
connection, I thought,

wow, this is real.

There's validity to
what he's saying.

It could be a possibility that
Riley is one of Cedric Popkin's

sons, but I'm not sure.

I don't know the answers.

I don't have any proof or
disproof of any of that stuff,

because in my view
you can't have

proof of those kinds of things.

At least I haven't seen it.

I don't know what it
would take to convince me.

I guess I would know it
when I saw it, right?

It would have to be something
definitive, which I don't

expect is coming anytime soon.

When I was doing research, I
realized that most people who

have experienced a past life,
they experienced it themselves.

Riley's case was
a little different

because he was really
experiencing a past life

from his dad's perspective
and what his dad went through.

For him to hang on to those
memories in that relationship,

the relationship must
have been very powerful.

In my research, I did find
some photos of Cedric.

I just kind of wanted to
see what he would say.

So I put down an array
of old time pictures.

And then put one in of Cedric
just kind of in the middle

and asked Riley if any of
those look familiar to him.

What I saw next amazed me.

My six-year-old
son Riley believed

he had an old dad
from a previous life.

He said his father
had been injured

and that the men
wore green uniforms.

What I saw next amazed me.

I put down an array of photos.

Some were just pictures of
soldiers from the old days.

And one of them
was Cedric Popkin.

And when I put those photos out,
Riley touched Cedric Popkin's

picture first.

I didn't want to be like,
oh yeah, that's him.

But inside I was
like, oh my gosh.

I can't believe you
just picked this guy.

This is the guy that matched
the name in the airplane.

So yeah, it was kind of
an eye-opener for me.

His old dad could
be Cedric Popkin.

I'm not sure.

But I'm OK with either way.

It's interesting to think that a
boy that had traumatic memories

in his past life is now with
a family that has a dad that

is an advocate for
children and a mom

that's a marriage and family
therapist for children.

And things are much
different for him now.

As somebody
who works with kids,

I just try to be
supportive and encouraging

and let them know that that's
not how we roll in our family.

Nick is an awesome dad.

He's funny and very loving.

And they have a
very special bond.

We talk a lot
about making sure

that he knows that we love him
and that we're here for him.

And I have no doubt that he
understands that I love him

and that I am his father
and that he doesn't have

another father,
certainly, at this point,

and that he can come
to me with anything.

And I think he believes
that and understands that.

I love my mom and dad.

I'm happy that I
have my parents.

I think if you met Riley and
you didn't know this about him,

if he never told you
about his old dad,

you would never know that
there was anything different

about him.

I would say that he's a normal
six-year-old who plays soccer

and t-ball and hangs out with
his friends and goes swimming

and eats pizza.

He just happens to
remember having an old dad.

Pedal fast.

There you go.

That's it.

I don't think that this is going
to be something that troubles

him later in life or
anything along those lines.

You're on your own.

I'm too tired to keep running.

You're on your own.

He's a super engaging person.

That's my boy.

And he sincerely
cares about the kids.

Victory dance.

The thought that
maybe he did go

through some of those hard
times, it makes me feel sad.

But I also feel happy
knowing that he's come out

on the other side with us.

Watch out for the tree.

We're going to make this life
for him a very positive one.

My son remembered dying
in a horrific car accident.

My brother died in a
drunk driving accident

before my son was ever born.

I knew that my son,
Noah, had a past life,

and that past life
was my brother.

My mom wasn't so sure.

When Noah
was seven, he was

having a sleepover at my house.

I was getting ready
to tuck him in.

And he looked up at me and
said, Nana, I need froggy.

And I stopped in my tracks.

And I said, what do
you mean, froggy?

And he goes, you know, the
froggy I always sleep with.

I'm in disbelief.

And I said, what
color is froggy?

He's yellow, Nana.

You know froggy.

All of a sudden I'm having
flashbacks of Craig.

He always slept with froggy.

Froggy is a handmade
stuffed animal made

by my sister, Craig's aunt.

She gave it to him
when he was 6 or so,

and he just always loved
it and slept with it.

I had, of course, kept certain
favorite things of my kids,

froggy being one of them.

But it hadn't been
something that I brought out

for my grandkids to
sleep with or play with.

I was thinking, am I really
hearing what I'm hearing?

So I went to the closet
and had to get it down

off the top shelf.

And I said, are you
talking about this froggy?

And his eyes got really big and
he broke into this big smile

and took it from me and hugged
it and said, there's my froggy.

I was immediately a little
weepy, because it brought back

so many memories.

I mean, we couldn't go
anywhere without that froggy.

Craig took it everywhere.

Noah had never seen
this frog before.

It had never been
talked about before.

That was the moment for me,
because now it was something

really tangible in my house.

That was the first time
that I thought to myself,

there's something really
special about this boy.

All of these other things
that have happened now

really hit home with me.

I remember my mom
calling me when Noah had stayed

over at her house.

And she called me crying.

I felt like she was fully
convinced at that point.

It was a
realization that night

that Craig's soul was with us.

I felt like there was
no other explanation

but that Craig was
reincarnated through Noah.

He's not my son, but
they share a soul.

To watch Noah and see
the traits of Craig

through him, once I
totally embraced it,

it was a comfort and a blessing.

It's a blessing.

As he was
reaching middle school,

the anger that Noah
was starting to exhibit

reminded me of my
brother at that age.

If he was my brother
reincarnated,

there may be anger and rage
he would bring forward.

And I was really worried.

My brother's soul had somehow
come back to me as my son.

Noah called me by a nickname
that only my brother would use.

Hanny.

Noah talked of a spy plane
that only my brother had seen.

When Noah asked my mom for
a stuffed animal by a name

that only my brother
would have known,

then she started
to believe, too.

I would see him banging his head
on the ground and on the walls

and really acting out.

I was worried that
if he was my brother

reincarnated that there may be
some difficulties that he would

bring forward.

My brother had some very
tough times in his adolescence

where he fought a lot of
internal anger and rage

and didn't always make
the best decisions.

And I was really worried
that something like that

might come through with my son.

As much as I miss my
brother, Noah was my priority

and I wanted to make sure
what happened to my brother

did not happen to Noah.

My mom helped me find a very
good therapist that helped Noah

with the anger that
he was feeling inside.

And in some strange,
connected way,

I felt like maybe I was
helping my brother, as well.

Noah's 16 now.

He's really grown into a
really balanced human being.

My name is Noah.

I do believe I was my uncle.

The fact that I
was my uncle just

amazes me and I think
it's pretty cool.

Being different and
having a story behind it.

I feel like the memories
are carried over with me

because there's
no way I would be

able to know all those stories
like my mom's nickname.

Hanny.

known any of that.

Never met my uncle, so
there's no way I would

be able to know all those.

Makes me feel like I am
getting like a second chance.

I think the reason he came back
as me is because he messed up

and he wants me to make
it right and carry on

from what he left over.

I think that there
was troubled times for Craig

and I think this is a
way for him to heal.

His soul is being
healed and Noah

is learning from Craig's
soul and moving forward

in a more positive way.

Noah is driving now.

I think he understands there's
a lot of responsibility

with that.

Every decision can impact his
life and somebody else's life.

But he's very careful
and very cautious.

So far he's made really good
decisions behind the wheel.

But like my friends,
you know, they got stories

about how family members died
from drinking and driving.

But I feel like I've been there.

And I feel like I've
been through it.

With my uncle's mistakes,
this is not another story.

I feel like my uncle did
come back to my mom as me

because they're very close.

And my uncle watched
out for my mom.

So I feel like I'm going to
still do the same-- watch out

for her and help her with
everything that she needs

and do what I can and make
sure I don't go down the path

that he went down.

I think Noah has
lived a much happier life

than my son did.

I think it's another
chance for Craig's soul

to be happy and enjoy
life with his family.

It's made him
a really good role

model for not just his
brothers, but also his friends.

He's just a really good,
even-keeled young man.

I am beyond proud of
where Noah is at today.

I am nervous for Noah
to turn 21 and to go

through his early 20s.

I'd be lying if I said it
wasn't in the back of my head

after what we've been through.

But I also have confidence that
he will make better decisions.

I've done everything
I can up until this

point to control
breaking the cycle.

But now Noah's 16.

So I have to hand over the keys.

And now he's in control
of the rest of it.

I feel like my uncle
did come back to my family

so we can break that cycle.

And I'm going to
break the cycle.

What I learned from
this experience

is anything can
happen at any time,

so don't take life for granted.

Just be you.

Be smart.

And live life.