Ghosts of Those We Love

In the middle of the year sometime during 1992 we lost our grandfather to a major heart attack. During this time I was given the duty of watching over my grandmother since she was now alone in a large open ranch house. I was only thirteen at the time and coming to grips with the loss myself. My grandfather was in my eyes larger than life and the best mentor a juvenile could look up to. My grandfather was a WWII veteran and POW survivor. He managed to oust any and every obstacle that ever got in his way.

Taken in by the loss that he did not pull through this particular circumstance was all I could do to keep my composure. After all I was there to look over my now grieving grandmother. After the funeral, I stayed over that night watching television and sitting in the then monstrous armchair that was my grandfathers. During the very early morning I noticed that the lights in the back room were flickering and the lights in the hall would begin to flicker. Then the lamps in the living room would start to flicker. At this time I was a little more than shocked and when the lamp and TV started to flicker on the table next to me I was beside myself. Frozen in fear and the cool air that now surrounded me I did not breath.
I assume my grandfather came to the conclusion that he was terrifying me he left the room. When he left the room, he let the appliances and lamps turn back to normal one at a time starting from the closest to the furthest. Still not wanting to move and frantic I sat there.

White knuckled, I found the courage to get to the room which happened to be the same direction that the spirit of my grandfather had gone. I did not talk about that night for many years to anyone. That in itself would be a good ghost story, but this is not the rest of the story.

Ten years later I had the duty to again keep the house and live there. I was married and had my first child. We had made the nursery in the furthest room in the hall across from our own. My daughter would laugh and coo while staring up at nothing. She was never scared but in the middle of the night and sometimes during the day moan . I told my wife of the encounter and she thought I had lost my mind. During the time their she would have different experiences of her own. The thought of my grandfather looking over my family comforted me but the thought of having an outright ghost in the house also scared the heck out of me.

We realized quickly that he was displeased with us leaving because he tore off the mirror in the nursery from the studs in the wall that it was bolted to. No way was this thing just going to fall. It broke and frayed the wood that it was anchored to. It also was pushed outward and shattered on the carpet and vanity. When I invited him to come with us he did. Since we have moved from different place to place and every time he finds his way to our house. It is good to have loved ones watching our children. It is also good to know that the guardian angel is my mentor.

We later found out that when my daughter could talk that a man she called "Pops" would play with her. And the wings of my Harley Davidson shirt looked like the ones he had. ( My grandfather was a pilot in the war, and we think he looks like he did in the war with his flight suit. She also recognized him from an old picture and called him Pops) Thank you for letting me share this with you.