<p>*POLITE REQUEST - PLEASE RETAIN MENTION OF PSYCHIC-ISH PODCAST IN COPY*<br></p><p>Meet the woman who claims she can see and talk to spirits - and even sees her boyfriend’s dead grandma winking at her and dancing. </p><p>Lydia Thomas, 28, started seeing ghosts when she was just eight years old, after she saw her grandma - who has died before she was born - appeared in her bedroom doorway. </p><p>Lydia continued to see fleeting images of her relative until she finally plucked up the courage to tell her family when she was 10 years old. </p><p>As a teen she was terrified of the spirits she saw and struggled to sleep after she felt a hand stroking her face, she claims.</p><p>But after experiencing a concussion, she began to "control the spirits" and started to feel comforted by them, rather than scared. </p><p>Now she often sees her boyfriend Daniel's grandma, Dot - who passed away in February 2019 - who dances and sings for her.</p><p>Due to her apparent gift, Lydia will to do psychic readings for close family members - but refuses to do them for others. </p><p>Lydia, who works in dispute resolution, and lives with her boyfriend, Daniel, 34, a software engineer, in Vancouver, Canada, said: “I was terrified when I first saw my grandma, but I thought I was just dreaming. </p><p>“As a kid I didn’t really know what I was experiencing, and I was really scared. </p><p>“I had dreams about a little girl and heard her voice saying 'I'm Amy'. </p><p>“The spirits developed over the years, but I see them as if I’m in a memory. </p><p>“It’s like a burned-out image of someone. </p><p>“I can see my boyfriend's grandma winking at me but he’s really supportive of experiences.</p><p>"She's cheeky and wants a grandchild named after her.” </p><p>Lydia first saw the ghost of her dad’s mum when she was just eight years old in 2001.</p><p>“She’d passed before I was born and one night I saw this young woman in a wedding dress in the doorway,” she said. </p><p>“She came over and kissed me on the forehead. </p><p>“I realised later that it was my grandma when I saw a photo from her wedding.” </p><p>Lydia continued to see fleeting images of her grandma but didn’t pluck up the courage to tell anyone until she was 10 years old in 2003. </p><p>“I didn’t really understand it all as a kid,” she said. </p><p>“At first I thought I could have just been dreaming.” </p><p>When Lydia was 14 years old she remembers feeling a hand stroke her face in 2007.</p><p>“I was terrified, I pulled the duvet over my head so it would go away,” she said. </p><p>Lydia started to "control the spirits" when she got older by telling them to go away, so they wouldn’t bother her at night. </p><p>“I hadn’t realised I could control them and just tell them to go away when I was younger,” she said. </p><p>“Once I had concussion and the spirits left me alone and two weeks later, I saw my boyfriend’s grandma. </p><p>“But she seemed really comforting and loving so it didn’t seem so scary anymore. </p><p>“I realised she looked like Daniel’s mum and wondered if it was his grandma, so I asked her for her name, and it turned out it was her. </p><p>“I think Daniel was a bit freaked out but he’s very supportive and doesn’t think I’m crazy. </p><p>“Dot’s such a character - she dances and sings and winks at me. </p><p>“She’s a laugh.” </p><p>Daniel, a software engineer, is very supportive of Lydia and her psychic abilities. </p><p>“I’m like a councillor for the spirits now,” Lydia said. </p><p>“I realise that these spirits are just like anyone and they’re desperate to connect with their family. </p><p>“They used to scare me but now I’ve realised this I don’t mind them. </p><p>“I’m much more in control of it now - so I can shut them out.” </p><p>Find out more about Lydia's experiences from her podcast Psychic-ish.<br></p>