Overview of The Waiting Game
This episode of Snap Judgment (featuring stories from Spooked) explores the age-old question of who, or what, waits for us at the end of life. Through two firsthand supernatural accounts, it blends grief, folklore, and comfort: one storyteller describes a father and grandfather appearing at the moment of death, while another recounts being saved from a deadly lake accident by a mysterious woman in blue who may have been a ghost. The episode closes with a reflective meditation on death, sorrow, memory, and laughter.
Story 1: Joe Conrad — The Relatives Who Come at the End
Joe Conrad shares a family history filled with strange, comforting encounters around death.
His mother’s visitation from his father
- Joe’s father died after a long illness, and the family gathered in the grief that followed.
- About ten days later, Joe’s mother heard a knock, opened the door, and saw her husband standing there looking young, healthy, and smiling.
- She felt a cold rush in the room, then warmth after asking why he was there.
- She understood he had come to reassure her that he would watch over her and that everything would be okay.
- She didn’t tell anyone for years, fearing they would think she was crazy.
Joe’s own experience with his grandfather
- As a teenager, Joe was watching over his sick grandfather while his grandmother ran errands.
- His grandfather, near death, joked that “the death coach is coming.”
- Joe heard the sound of a strange black coach arriving outside: wagon wheels, hoofbeats, but no visible horses.
- He watched his grandfather’s spirit rise from his body, step into the coach, and disappear.
- Joe later comforted his grandmother when she returned, saying Grandpa was okay.
Joe’s conclusion
- Joe says these experiences convinced him there is life after death.
- He’s no longer afraid of dying; instead, he wants to know what comes next.
Story 2: Elise — The Woman in Blue at Lake Lanier
Elise, who grew up in Atlanta, tells a near-death story from a jet ski accident on Lake Lanier.
The accident
- As a child, she was spending July 4th at the lake with her dad and his friend.
- While on a jet ski, it suddenly took off without control and headed straight for a rocky shoreline.
- Just before impact, a woman in a blue crocheted top appeared beside her, floating above the water.
- The woman calmly said, “This may hurt a little bit, but everything will be okay.”
The rescue
- Elise hit the rocks, flew through the air, and then fell into the water.
- She was then pulled to safety by a stranger who shouted that she was alive.
- She ended up with a scar on her forehead, but no serious injuries beyond stitches.
The mystery deepens
- Elise told her mother about the woman in blue, and her mom suggested it may have been an angel.
- Years later, after posting the story online, listeners identified the figure as Delia Mae Parker.
- Delia was a real woman who disappeared after a night out in the 1950s and whose body was later found in the lake.
- Elise realized the being who saved her may not have been an angel but a spirit tied to the lake.
- She now believes Delia protects others from suffering the same fate and says she owes her a thank-you visit from shore, not from a jet ski.
Key Themes and Takeaways
Death as connection, not only loss
- Both stories suggest death does not sever all bonds immediately.
- Loved ones may return, or their presence may remain in subtle, comforting ways.
Grief can include laughter
- The opening and closing narration emphasize that sorrow and laughter can coexist.
- The episode suggests that grief is not just pain; it can also be memory, love, and even healing.
The supernatural as comfort
- In both accounts, the unexplained figures are not frightening in the end.
- They arrive with purpose: to guide, protect, or reassure.
Sorrow as part of love
- The closing monologue reframes sorrow as something that follows love.
- Rather than being a curse, sorrow is presented as the cost—and proof—of deep attachment.
Notable Closing Idea
The episode ends with a poetic cosmology: Death and Sorrow travel together, but sorrow remains behind with the living. Far from being purely destructive, sorrow is described as a force of healing, memory, and joy—an echo of the love that made the loss possible.