Ghost of Grandad

My experience took place a number of years ago. In fact, I was no more than four years old. I had been watching one of the many showings of "E.T." and then was told that it was my bed time. I was a little tired anyways, so I slowly walked upstairs to my bedroom. On the way I stopped at my parents room and, for some reason, decided to go in. There on my father's dresser was an 8x10 photo of my grandfather. I never had the opportunity to meet my grandpa in person. I was born in March of 1980, in Ohio, and he died shortly after in June of 1980 in Texas. Although he never got to see me in person, my father did send him a photo of me. So there I was, staring at my grandpa's photograph for no apparent reason. Suddenly I realized what I was doing and I went into my room to go to bed. This is where my story gets kind of weird. I awoke in the middle of the night and sat up in my bed. Now, my bed faced my bedroom door, which was open, allowing me to look down the upstairs hallway. As I looked down the hallway, I saw the outline of a man in a trench coat and wide brim hat slowly walking towards me. This was exactly what my grandfather was wearing in the photo on my father's dresser. Reacting as any little kid would, I screamed at the top of my lungs. My parents rushed in and comforted me, and I went back to sleep. The next night, I steered clear of my parent's room when heading to bed. Now the sight I saw could have simply been a reflection of the image of my grandfather's photo. You know, like when you stare at the sun for too long and when you look away, you see a big brown blot. Still, there are two points that prove this to be more than a figment of my imagination.

Point 1: In my grandpa's photo, he had a trench coat in his hands, but was not actually wearing it.
Point 2: I saw the vision again.

That night, I awoke again to see the same figure coming towards me. It came within a few feet of my bed before I, once again, screamed bloody murder. My parents ran to my bedside again, and I fell back to peaceful dreams. Now I was beginning to wonder about what that figure who has been haunting me was, and most importantly, who that figure is.

After I returned from school, I went to my father's dresser to take a good, hard look at the photograph. After about four minutes, I decided to give up, but that was when I noticed the tear.

There was a small tear sitting on my grandpa's cheek. I looked harder to see if it was just my eyes playing a trick on me, but it was really there. I took the picture to my mother and asked her why grandpa was crying. She looked at the picture and told me that he wasn't crying. When she gave it back to me, I took another look and the tear was gone. Was this just another case of my imagination running wild?

I returned the picture to its original place and went outside to play.

That night, I awoke again to see the figure coming towards me. This time I didn't hesitate to scream. However, something was different. Now I could faintly make out the features of the ghostly face. I heard a loud thud, realizing later that it had been the sound of my dad falling out of bed. When the ghost heard this thud, he turned his head towards my parents room briefly and then his stare returned to me. Just before my parents came rushing into my room, I saw a small tear form on the ghosts cheek, glisten in the dim moon light, and fall to the floor. Then he vanished as my parents entered the room. After that night, I never saw the ghostly apparition again. Looking back, a few years later, I realized just exactly what it was. It was my grandfather coming to see his grandson. To this day I keep praying for the figure to return to me. I know that I will be ready to welcome him this time. However, I've never seen the figure again.

My aunt tells me all the time that my grandpa would have really liked me. And I know, some where, my grandpa is watching me and is very proud of me. And I am very proud to carry on his name. That was my experience with my grandpa, Leonard P. Burke, Sr.'s ghost.