Thriller Thursday

I was raised by a mother who did not believe in ghosts. Her father, my grandfather, however did. He often told my Mom that unless you believe in them, or open yourself to see them, then you never would.

Mom never saw a ghost her entire life.

My grandfather did. Perhaps the last ghost he saw was when he actually came to visit us when I was 15. He and my grandmother arrived one evening, and were expecting to stay for a couple of weeks at least. But my grandfather got up sometime during the night, and was awake when my Mom got up (which was always before the chickens). He told her he had to go home that very day. She tried to convince him to stay longer, but he refused. He wouldn't tell her why he had to go home at first. But after (much) persuasion, Mom finally got the story out of him.

Grandpa and Grandma were given the best bedroom during their visits, which was of course, Mom and Dad's room. Grandpa said he had gone to bed, and was lying on the bed nearly asleep, with the blanket and sheet down around his feet, as the room was warm. He was brought wide awake by the touch of a hand in the dark. He looked and an elderly woman was standing beside the bed. She touched his arm, and then she reached down, took hold of the blanket and sheet, and covered him up.

That wasn't Grandpa's first experience. But it was the most profound for me.

We had only lived in the house about 22 months at that time. We had moved from a large city, to a community of about 1000 people. The nearest grocery store, was not only 10 miles away, but was the size of very small convenience stores. To do any real shopping you had to travel 30 miles. So, the move was life changing by itself.

We had gone from a tri-level modern 1960-built home, to an old farm house on about an acre of land. My first view of the country house, and I screamed and begged my parents to let me go to boarding school. It was in terrible disrepair! Wall paper was peeling and hanging. there wasn't a proper bathroom. No laundry hookups. What was to be my bedroom was really an upstairs sitting room back in its day. The paint was peeling on the exterior. And the place was overgrown with weeds. The house itself reminded you of a neighborhood haunted house. At that time I didn't know if I believed in ghosts or not. I did have nightmares if I watched too much scary television shows!

Mom and Dad's bedroom was on the first floor of this house. Across the hall from the living room. The room was always ice cold. I could never go into it without freezing! And once we got hookups for a washer and dryer, I would beg out of taking Mom and Dad's clothes to place in their closet. It simply scared me so badly. I didn't know why at the time.

Once, during our first winter there, we didn't have any heat. So Mom had me put a cot in her room for myself, and my sister slept in the bed with Mom. She ran an electric heater that night to keep us all warm. (Dad was still in the Navy and was on ship near Israel.) That night I felt very uneasy lying on the short camp cot in Mom's room. I brought my little dog, Sandy, and put him in bed with me. I fell asleep finally, after much tossing and turning, to Sandy's dismay I'm sure. But Sandy woke me. He was a small Chihuahua, and he got up on the pillow beside my face and stood up growling. I raised up to see what he was growling at, and an elderly woman was standing beside of the bed staring down at my Mom. I made a gasp, and she turned and looked at me. I threw myself down on the cot, and pulling Sandy with me, laid trembling with my head covered by the blankets. I must have fallen asleep that way, as it was how I awoke the next morning.

I tried to tell my Mom about it (I was about 14 at the time). She told me it had all been a silly dream and to forget it. But when less than a year later my Grandpa saw the same woman, I felt like had validation in what I saw.

But it has been only the beginning.

Since that time, I have seen many apparitions. I have felt others. One common apparition I have seen more than others has been that of my mother-in-law. She passed in 2003 in Texas. I live in West Virginia. So, why would she be seen here, especially since she had never even visited us here?

Well, I believe it's because I took care of her as she was dying. And I was by her side when she did pass. And, frankly, as far as I know, a ghost can appear anywhere it wants to! But I have seen her twice in the nine years I have lived in this house. Both times, she was standing on the far side of the breakfast bar, which divides the kitchen from the living space. Each time, I was in the kitchen. And she was in a space behind the bar where it would be nearly impossible for someone to stand, due to the arrangement of furniture. However, she was there. She was not completely transparent, but about like the photo above. She never spoke. Nor gesture in any way. She simply was standing there looking at me.

Why? I don't know. I don't have a gift of interpreting what a spirit or ghost wants to say. However, I like to think she is simply checking in on my husband and I.

Then there is "the lady in white", whom I have seen dozens of times. But that was always in a nursing facility, and we'll save that story for another time.

Do you believe in ghosts? If so, have you ever encountered one? Were you afraid? Do you know what to say to get a ghost to communicate with you?

We'll revisit this topic again at a later date. But let me know of your experiences!