This really got me thinking. Is reincarnation a reality?

[BigBird]

First of all let me say that this isn't a story that has been passed on to me through several other people. If it was I would have probably dismissed it without another thought. I personally know the mother, the boy and the grandmother and this was told to me by the mother and the grandmother about a year after it happened. This happened when the boy was between 4 and 5 years old, he is now 7.

The mother and the 4 year old boy were walking through the village on the way home. As they passed the church the mother decided that they would take a walk down into the churchyard to visit great grandma's grave. On the way to the grave they passed an old lady who was tending to another grave, The boy turned to his mother and said "I know that woman, her name is January". The mother didn't take him seriously and said that she doubted it very much because its unlikely that anyone would be called January.

On the way back through the graveyard, and as they approached the woman, the boy said it again. The mother again repeated her doubts. The woman must have heard them talking because she asked the mother "are you talking about me". The mother answered saying that the boy had said that he knew her and that her name was January. The woman replied "my name is January but I don't recall ever seeing the little boy before".

As they were leaving the churchyard the mother asked the little boy how he knew her and he replied "I knew her before I was born". A couple of hours later they called with the boys grandmother and the mother told her the story of what had happened. The grandmother then asked the little boy how could he have known her before he was born, and the boy replied "when I was an old man".

Is it possible that reincarnation is a reality and when we are young enough it may only take something familiar to trigger a past life memory. Most of the time the child probably wouldn't mention it to anyone because the child wouldn't think there was anything strange about it. Even if it was mentioned to a parent it would likely be dismissed as a childs imagination. In this instance however the child knew the woman's name which is something he couldn't possibly have dreamt or imagined; and I doubt it's just coincidence - how may people are called January?

These people are not just someone I know. They are very good friends. I am godfather to three of the grandmother's sister's children. They are serious people. They weren't joking or winding me up. I mentioned it to the grandmother's sister and she remembered them telling her the day after it happened. As an engineer and a very practical person I'm sceptical of almost everything I cant prove, but this certainly got me thinking. (">

Edit: Also Makes you think whether a child's imaginary friend is really imaginary, or is it that some children can see something we cant because they are closer to whatever world exists between the old life and the new having passed through there only a few years previously. (">