Spooktacular Saturdays: Real & True Ghost Stories

Today for Spooktacular Saturday I want to share some of my own personal ghost stories and some of my theories on ghosts.  The first memory I have of seeing something that I shouldn't have was when I was around 6 years old and my Great Grandma Wheeler died.  My great grandma was an amazing woman.  I don't think anyone could have loved their great grandma as much as we all loved her.  I remember waking up one night and finding great grandma leaning over my bed.  I don't remember what she said anymore but she smiled and patted my head.  I remember wondering why she was at my house but going back to sleep anyway.  I found out the next day that she'd passed away.  I was shocked, she was fine when I saw her!  I know what you all will say, you were young and tired and it was dark.  You could have dreamed it or saw a tree's shadow or something!  When I woke up, I remember being annoyed that I'd fallen asleep with my reading light on again.  It didn't illuminate the whole room but it did light my entire bed.  I know what I saw and if I dreamed it, why dream it that night and why was it so memorable?  I don't have those answers.  But I did later find out that great grandma was a very interesting lady.  She read my mom's tea leaves when my dad first introduced her.

Another memorable experience happened about a year ago.  My husband and I had taken the kids to Hertige Days at Malabar Farm State Park.  We were standing outside the outdoor aviary while my husband was dealing with a temper tantrum from one of the boys.   I was looking up the hill to the edge of the forest when I saw what I thought- at first- was one of the historical re-enactors step out from behind a small tree. As I watched the gray figure, I realized two things:  1- the figure looked gray and there were no Confederate Soldiers at the event, 2- the person's face and clothes were the same color.  I watched the figure a moment, trying to catch my husband's attention but the figure stepped back behind the tree and was gone.  I watched the tree for a few moments to see if someone would step out from behind it again or if I was seeing someone moving around on the hill.  I saw no one.  And the more I looked at the tree trunk, the more I wondered how thin a person would have to be to hide behind it.  I can clearly remember the way the figure looked- like an old black and white photo.  The features were blurry and it was nearly one solid shade of gray.  I don't know what the figure was but I think maybe the noise from the military re-enactment camp brought out the ghost's curiosity.

My last story is a lot closer to home and a lot less corporeal.  We moved into our home about a year and a half ago.  The house was built in 1895. It has a lot of creaks and sometimes we can hear the other renters who live in the downstairs apartment but you learn quickly what sounds are what.  In the first few months I had some strange sounds that would creep me out.  First there were the footsteps.  It would sound- in the middle of the night- like someone was walking up the stairs.  My bedroom door would be open so that I could watch for kids sneaking downstairs for a midnight snack.  I'd hear the steps, know it wasn't my husband  or my kids and I'd hide under the covers.  It happened a hand full of times.  Then one night, I was sitting at the computer- blogging, of course- when I heard the sound of a marble being dropped on the hardwood floor in the hall between my daughter's room and my room.  I sat irritated as it made the sound three times.  Finally, I got up to take the marble from the Chinese Checkers game from my daughter or whichever of the boys was out of bed.  I walked into the hall and looked at the floor- no marble.  I went into my daughter's room- no marble and she is snoring in her bed on the other end of the room.  I walked the entire upstairs looking for the marble or the perpetrator.  I never did find a marble upstairs and the Chinese Checkers game was in the garage at the time.  After we'd been here about a year- things calmed down and now, I don't hear strange noises.  I think if something was in the house- it just wanted to know that we cared for the house as much as they did and that the house was going to have a family in it again.

Do YOU have any ghostly experiences?  DO you not believe in them?