Do you believe in ghosts? A true story.

[FionaLovesShrek]

Wow, I spent my whole life not telling anyone about my childhood, because I thought things like this didn't happen to most people, and I felt alone!

We lived in an old 2 story house built in the late 1800's. We were renting the house. It had no heating except fireplaces in every room, so during the winter we would stay confined to two rooms downstairs, and the kitchen which was actually built separate from the house, but joined by a screened in walkway.
I was alone with my baby sister during the day. My younger brothers were in school. One morning I was laying in bed with my BS to keep warm and I heard noise coming from upstairs. I thought my DB's had missed the school bus. At the back of the house were steps leading up to the second story. I thought they had gone up those back steps to hide. I waited to hear them snickering and playing. Nothing. Then I began hearing something heavy being moved across the floor from above me. It sounded like a heavy chair was being dragged across the room. I knew those boys were up to no good. Then I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and I became nervous because they sounded heavy, like a man in boots. The stair ended outside the doorway into the room I was in. The footsteps ended at the landing right outside the door. No sound. I was scared and covered my head with the covers. Suddenly there was a loud boom as though someone had slammed their fist into the outside wall, at the head of my bed. I jumped and wouldn't move for what seemed like hours. My BS just slept next to me. When I did, I grabbed her and went into the kitchen and wouldn't go back into the house. I watched my DB's get off the school bus. I then asked them if the outside door upstairs was locked. They said yes. Because we had moved in that winter, I had not ventured upstairs and had no idea what was up there. It was just so cold in that house. I told my brothers someone was moving furniture up there. They said no, there wasn't any furniture up there. I said, I'm telling you I heard a heavy chair or something being moved up there. So they made me go up the stairs to see. Sure enough, there was nothing in that room but an area rug with a large dark stain covering the wooden floor. And the door going outside was locked. And that was not my last experience. One morning I woke up and when I looked into the mirror while brushing my teeth, I had a large bruise under my chin as though someone had slugged me. It wasn't there when I went to bed. I had put this all behind me till this thread made me remember

 

[FionaLovesShrek]

wow, how do you live around these parts?? It's so active around here there are days I can't stand it and I know you're not far from me!

Wanna hear my local story?

When I first moved to Tennessee I lived in Murfreesboro in an apartment complex that backs up to the Stones River Greenbelt. Well, I knew NOTHING about the area. I never could get a decent nights sleep there because of the noise from all the horses running up and down the Greenbelt. One night I was standing out on my porch and my neighbor was coming in and asked why I was up so late. I said I couldn't sleep because of all the people riding horses on the greenbelt. She laughed and smiled and said....."have you ever walked the greenbelt the whole way around?" I hadn't. She told me that there were no horses down there and that I needed to walk the greenbelt to understand the noise. The next day we walked it. Wound up at a civil war battlefield that is part of the greenbelt. Very ugly battle where horses ran up and down the river. We moved as soon as our lease was up

I work in Murfreesboro and I know what you are talking about!

 

[Disney Doll]

You know, when people say "do you believe in ghosts?" it paints a picture in most folks minds of the Casper type, or the Halloween ghost.

I believe that our loved ones do not totally leave us after they die. I also believe that some folks, whether they are our loved ones or not, can't totally leave because of some sort of unfinished business.

Our house has had 2 owners...us and the couple who owned since they built it in 1945. The woman died in the 1980's, I think. Her husband died in 1993. They never had children, so I think the house was their "baby" in a way. They designed it and built it. DH & I have no children (coincidental that 2 childless couples would be "drawn" to the same house??? ). Anyhow, we do have a dog, and there have been numerous occasions where the dog will suddenly run into a room (usually the kitchen) look up at a corner of the counter and start to bark. Now, the corner he is barking at is not the corner where I keep his treats or food. I will usually say "What's wrong Ted? Is Stanley sitting on the counter?" (Stanley is the previous owner). The dog suddenly looks puzzled, stops barking and walks away. Do I think Stanley stops by to check on "his" house occasionally...yes I do. So far, I guess he likes what we've done to the place as far as renovations are concerned, because he hasn't given us any trouble.

Years ago, in my early 20's, I went to a party at a home in a rural area that is about 30 minutes from where I lived. Had a bit too much to drink at the party. Got in my car to drive home. Recipe for disaster, right? Well...almost. I was driving along, alone in the car, when suddenly I heard someone scream "STOP"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I did. I stopped, and when I caught my bearings and took a good look at where I was, I realized that if I had kept going straight, I'd have missed a curve (very dark and not lit by a streetlight) and driven off the road into a small river that ran alongside the road. So, who screamed stop??? I have no idea, but someone did. I am assuming a grandparent, all of whom were dead by this time. Let me tell you...I stayed stopped at that spot for quite some time until I felt more able to drive home and then I drove home very slowly and carefully. I don't think I've ever driven a car after drinking since. And I am now 43, almost 44, years old. That night has stayed with me for 20+ years.

Working nights as a nurse...lots of unusual stuff happened at night, usually between the hours of 2 and 4 AM in my case. One night, caring for an elderly lady, very sick, terminally ill with cancer, had been unresponisve/comatose for a couple of days. We were providing comfort measures/terminal care for her. I went into her room on one of my rounds, and found her sitting up in bed, eyes open, looking over my head, saying "Thank God you've finally come for me". Frankly, I got scared (I think I was about 22 years old at the time). She was safe in bed, albeit sitting up, but safe, so I left the room. When I went back, she was dead.

Fast forward a few years. We had cared for a gentleman on our unit for several weeks who ultimately died of cancer. About 4-5 months later, his wife gets admitted, quite ill. They had been married for 50+ years, so we all kind of knew that when he went, she probably wouldn't be far behind. Anyhow, one night, I was helping a colleague clean her up in the middle of the night, and suddenly the lights in the room started to blink (no one was near the switch) and she opened her eyes and said "Thank God you're here Victor" (Victor was her husband who had just died). Freaked out my colleague and I, but we continued our task, figuring that Victor, if he was there, knew us and knew we wouldn't hurt her, but were helping her. Once we were done, we left the room. Found her dead on next rounds too, about 30 minutes or so later.

Personal experiences...my DFIL died the day after St.Patrick's Day, He was an Irish gentleman through and through, and the whole day on St.Patrick's Day he spent semi-comatose, talking to "people" that we couldn't see...I mean literally saying "Hi, how are you" and "Hey! How have you been?" like he was at a party and greeting folks that he hadn't seen in years. The evening before he died, my DSIL and I were repositioning him a bit, trying to make him more comfy. She said "You know Dad, it's OK for you to go. We'll take care of Mommy" and I said "I bet there's a lot of people waiting to celebrate St.Patrick's Day with you over there". He opened his eyes (which,remember had been mostly closed as he was physically semi-to comatose), looked right at me and said "You are absolutely right". That was about 9PM on Saturday night and he died at 5AM Sunday morning. About a year after his death, it was my birthday, and I was walking into my house and I was enveloped in a mist, which I just "knew" was my DFIL, coming to wish me Happy Birthday. He and I had always been close. On the morning he died, I also think he "stopped by" to see my boss on his way. He and she had become very close during his frequent hospital stays. She would spend time with him if one of us family couldn't not be there. Anyhow, I called her later in the morning the day he died to let her know he had passed, and she said to me "What time did he die?" I told her he had died at about 5AM, but my DSIL, who sitting with him, said that at 3AM, she noticed that his breathing changed dramatically, and he became completely unresponsive, even when the nurse suctioned him. Suctioning is an uncomfortable procedure, and you have to be pretty unrepsonsive for it not to bother you. My DSIL actually said "I felt like he had 'left' at about 3AM, but it took him till 5AM to actually stop breathing". Amazingly enough, my boss said that her husband told her that at 3AM, she sat bolt upright in bed and started talkig. He couldn't make any sense out of what she was saying...something about a "Lithuanian princess". My DFIL had always called her his "Lithuanian princess". Amazingly enough, every March 18th since then, she wakes up talking in the middle of the night. She & I kid that he comes back to visit her every year.

DMIL died about 9 months after DFIL (that was a tough year!). Her favorite flower was a gardenia. The next November, I go to drop some leaves at our town's transfer station. Now, the area for organic matter is a big (probably equivalent to the size of a 2 car garage) 3 sided concrete "box", if you will. I drive up to the box with my carful of bagged leaves. It looks like they had just cleaned out the box, and sitting right there in the middle of it was a gardenia bush, perfect, alive, beautiful, green, not in a pot. I was sure my DMIL put it there for me. I took it, brought it home, told my DH the story, he thought I was nuts, told me it would probaly die because it got chilled being outside in November in the cold, I told him it wouldn't because his mother sent it to me. I put it in a nice sunny window in my house, watered it, fertilized it, it grew, flourished, and bloomed...on Mother's Day.

Do I believe in spirits and the afterlife??? You bet I do. I think there's still an awful lot about this world that we don't know or understand.

 

[alliecats]

Years ago, in my early 20's, I went to a party at a home in a rural area that is about 30 minutes from where I lived. Had a bit too much to drink at the party. Got in my car to drive home. Recipe for disaster, right? Well...almost. I was driving along, alone in the car, when suddenly I heard someone scream "STOP"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh, if I had been in my car alone and heard someone scream "STOP!!!!!" I would have p*ssed myself and THEN pulled over.

Thanks for sharing your experiences! I totally agree with your last statement. All we know for sure about these things is that we really don't know much.

 

[Candace]

I work in Murfreesboro and I know what you are talking about!

My son lives in Murfreesboro, I'll have to relay all the stories to him. He has one of his own however. My mom lives in West Tennessee, and we spent Thanksgiving over there. Her house was built in 1918 and is in great shape. She loves that house, but things go on there that creep me out. The owner committed suicide during the Great Depression in a room downstairs that is now a bedroom (was a sleeping porch at the time). My mother has seen this lady in the kitchen before - first time about 5 years ago - and has experienced someone "pushing" her into the front door at night. She really bawled "whoever" out that time, but it was late, and maybe the spirits were getting her into the house for safety reasons, who knows. She has passed my mom on the stairs, but none of this bothers my mom, who is 85. I do not like having to stay there at night because one year over Easter break, I spent two nights there and my noise (sleep) machine was unplugged and MOVED both nights. Then, Thanksgiving this past November, my family and I went there. My son who lives in Murfreesboro came just for one night since he had to work the day after Thanksgiving. He said he would sleep downstairs in *THE* room. Nothing scares him. All the rest of us slept upstairs. The next morning I went in to check on him and he said, "Oh my God, Mom! Mrs. Markham was here last night! It scared me to death!" He sleeps like the dead himself, and he woke up for no reason at 3am and she was standing at the end of the bed looking at him. He described her in detail, down to her cotton long sleeved print dress, and her hair being down and gray. My mother sees her with her hair in a bun. Her wedding gown in on display in the little town museum, and she was a very small lady. This is how my mom and son describe her. Anyway, he said he got under the covers, but he could "feel" her moving about the bed, staring at him. Then, he knew exactly the moment she left, and the whole room atmosphere went back to normal. Later, that day, Mama and I were in the basement getting things out of the refrigerator and there was the sound of a baby crying, very plainly. Mama, who is hard of hearing, said, "Do you hear those cats?" I said, "No, I hear babies crying" She said, "Well, I hear that down here from time to time" I didn't go down there anymore, and I haven't stayed over there again since Thanksgiving. It really hurts her feelings, but I am just creeped out. Sorry this is so long! I am just glad to know others have these experiences!

 

[hucifer]

Uh, if I had been in my car alone and heard someone scream "STOP!!!!!" I would have p*ssed myself and THEN pulled over.

 

[mushumadness]

you guys have definatly given me the chills

if someone shouted stop in my car and there was just me in it, i would either pass out or jump out

 

[Disney_1derland]

I work in Murfreesboro and I know what you are talking about!

 

[budbeerlady]

Where I waitressed we had George! He would do all sorts of crazy things. Not really scarey or mean once you got used to him, but I made it a point to never be there alone at night! We had bought and placed new table clothes on the tables, he scattered everything onto the tables. We had a mess to clean up and a good laugh. The bathroom was alway cold and randomly the door would lock when no one else had been in for the day.

 

[Kimberly815]

Wow. Great stories.

I do believe in Ghosts or Spirits. I just hope that none come and visit me, cause I will FREAK OUT!