October 27 - Day 7 - Musings and Ghosts

I have read some fantastic stuff over the last few days on other blogs, specifically some of the scariest horror stories. My ghosts are more benevolent. Thank goodness. I don't mind reading something scary,but I don't want to see it. I really don't want to see it up close and personal.


More than once we have been driving down the road and I see someone standing alongside of it. When I mention to my husband that maybe that person needs some help,he points out to me that there is nobody there. OK, I don't let that freak me out too much, but I do wonder why did I see them? I mean some of the other people, I understand. Maybe they came to help me, maybe they came because they are family and they needed something. Maybe I am in their space or in their way. These random people,by the side of the road or some other odd place make no sense to me.  As a side note; they are never gruesome or scary they are just there and usually I am the only one who sees them.


Before I tell you my story for today, I want to share some exciting news. I am getting off island for a few days.  We are going to Hispaniola, the Big island in the Caribbean. As you probably know it is divided in half . Half is Haiti and half is the Dominican Republic. We are going to the DR. This is the Caribbean equivalent of a "road trip". It is an expensive plane ticket and will take two planes (everything flies through San Juan, Puerto Rico).  We will do a little sight seeing and spend some time in the most peaceful place on earth. I can hardly wait.


Today another Ghost Story from my family - 


My mother and my father's second to the oldest sister Grace died within a year of each other. My Uncle Charlie, who was married to my Aunt Grace, like my Dad was lost without his wife. Dad and Charlie became fast friends and they were like "The Odd Couple". They would go out to eat together, help each other with home improvement projects and they would disagree about everything.


I was living in Colorado at the time and Dad came out for one of his annual visits. The first thing when he gets to my house he starts right in telling me that he is worried about Charlie. He is sure he has "gone round the bend" this time. I'm only paying half attention to him, because he is always complaining about Charlie. When he gets to the reason he is so worried I started paying a little closer attention.


Apparently, Grace, who has been dead for around a year, is now appearing to Charlie. He wakes up and sees her standing at the foot of his bed each night and she is terribly distraught. She is wringing her hands and tells him that 'she left something undone and it needs doing'. Charlie is frantic, he asks what it is and she can't seem to tell him. She does let him know that it is something he cannot do for her.He talks to Dad and everyone he knows looking for answers, hoping that someone can help him figure it out.


Dad, who is, of course,the big non-believer, is worried that Charlie is going nuts on one hand and on the other he asks me if I have any idea what it is she needs done. I wanted to point out the irony of that to him, but figured better of it. I did tell him that I knew what it was and that I would take care of it. It always struck me as strange that Dad, who was always the "Supreme Commander of the Universe" never asked me what it was. He just accepted me at my word and knew that I would do it.


I wrote a long and detailed letter to my Uncle explaining what my Aunt wanted and told him that I would take care of it. I spoke with him often over the next few months trying to help him understand. During this time he never said much. I never knew if he was confused, contemplating or waiting for my Aunt to have her say. One day out of the blue Uncle Charlie says to me; "I really don't know about all of this stuff, but your Aunt is happy and grateful. That was it the end.


It took me a little while to get the things that she needed done, and when I did this for her, I felt her with me. I know you want me to tell you what it was. I won't. It really doesn't matter. What matters is that death is not the end, it is just the next adventure.


This is a favorite in my family. It's a story that is special to us on many levels. I admit that it bothered me for along time that after my mother died I never saw her again. She didn't come to me or have special messages for us. I suppose that meant she was at peace and able to move on to her adventure. I sat with my Dad when he died and Mom did come for him. I didn't see her but he did, and he was blind at the time of his death. She was there at the foot of his bed moments before he died (he told me this).


My most interesting Ghost Story is about a man whose house I lived in. I didn't know him while he was alive. I rented from some of his family and when I told them that I saw him in the house,they told me his story. Later he revised some of it and filled in the holes. It's a good one. It is going to be the basis for my next novel.The one I'm writing for NaNoWriMo (google it,if you want to know more). Maybe, after my story is done,I'll tell you the "rest of it" here.


Have a great weekend. I'll have a short post tomorrow on http://www.babsinparadise.blogspot.com , my personal rant, and then we're off for the weekend. I'm back on Monday at the Paradise blog and hopefully I'll post some pics of the DR and tell you what it was like over there.


Happy Halloween Weekend!