Visit From The Past

When I was little I used to stay with my grandma in the house that she grew up in. This house had been in the family for nearly 100 years at the time.

My grandma's bedroom was right next to what she used to call the Parlor and it had huge double doors that opened up to that room. One night when I was about 9-years-old, I was sleeping with my grandma and was suddenly awakened by strange noises. I sat up in bed and when I looked into the Parlor I could see people in their Sunday clothes visiting and having coffee. There was a woman with dark hair put up neatly in a bun serving their coffee. I watched them for awhile and for some reason I wasn't scared. The woman turned and looked at me and gave me a huge smile. I remember smiling back and then I laid down and went back to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning I thought it was a dream. I started telling my grandma about it and described what I had seen. She told me that I had described her mother, my great-grandmother perfectly, right down to a broach she used to wear all the time. I have never seen a picture of my great-grandmother so I know that I wasn't dreaming.

I used to have a lot of dreams about the stairs in that same house. I would have the same dream every year around Christmas time and I was scared to death of the upstairs. Whenever I was up there I could feel a presence and I felt like I was intruding on their space. My brothers used to feel the same thing. My mom said when she lived there, her bedroom was upstairs and she could hear people going up and down the stairs all the time.