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Father / Son Trauma

 

This is a story my uncle related to me one summer when it became clear that certain members of our family seemed to have a sense for things paranormal. It is well-known that my late grandmother on my mother's side often had prophetic dreams and had encountered ghosts, not only at home in Ohio, but around the world on her vacations abroad, as well. She was certainly a very spiritual woman.

When I was seventeen, I was telling my uncle about the strange occurrences in my family's home in Columbus, Ohio. But this is his story. He believed (unlike many people) every word of it and told me he, too, had felt privy to things usually unseen. His story takes place in a very old farm house out in the countryside near West Lafayette, Indiana. My uncle bought the house in the late 1980s when the house was already well over 100 years old. It was supposedly built around, or slightly after, the Civil War. It was remodeled inside, but still retained many original designs and decorations. It was fairly large (as houses tended to be back then) and was big enough for his family of five.

The first thing that alerted him to something strange in the house was the door to the attic, which is at the top of the stairs going up from the first to second floor. On a few occasions, as he would walk up these stairs, he would watch the door knob start turning slowly as if someone was about to open it from the other side. The door knob would turn all the way, but the mechanism would not click and the door never did open. My uncle would always open the door himself (albeit begrudgingly and with baited breath) and find nothing on the other side.

But that's not even the weirdest thing about the place. Maybe this next bit has less to do with the house and more to do with our family. Then again, maybe something about the grounds was "charged" so to speak, with supernatural energy--we just don't have the necessary tools or language to adequately deal with the possibilities, yet.

At any rate, my uncle and aunt were in the midst of a divorce. Like most, it wasn't a pretty one. At this point, my male cousins were about 12 and 10 and my female cousin was only about 2. One night, my uncle awoke to a child crying in his room. He looked over, and there, standing in the open doorway to his room was his oldest son, "Q..." The door opened into my uncle's room and Q was standing with his back against the door facing my uncle, but his head was dropped so that his chin was on his chest. My uncle called out his name, but received no response from him. Q then slid down the door to the floor so that he was mostly squatting on the floor with his back against the door and head drooped and crying faintly.

My uncle got out of bed and approached his son trying to comfort him. As he neared the door, he reached down with his left hand to tussle the boy's head and see if he was alright. As my uncle's hand came to Q's head, his hand went right through it and his body simply dissipated into nothing. Without even pausing at the incredible thing that had just happened, my uncle, sensing this was OBVIOUSLY strange, bolted down the hallway to Q's room thinking it was a premonition of death or sickness. He flung open the door to Q's room only to find him sleeping soundly in his bed. My uncle checked on him and everything seemed normal.

My cousin never had any health problems or anything before or since. My uncle suspects it was a manifestation of his son's anguish over the divorce. Perhaps it was "all in his head," but being an internationally esteemed professor at a university, my uncle is highly cerebral and logical and not prone to flights of fancy. Then again, what else could account for such a mysterious engagement? This is not necessarily a ghost story, but it seems to be evidence of some emotional link between family members.

What say ye, kids?

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The following comments are submitted by users of this site and are not official positions by yourghoststories.com. Please read our guidelines and the previous posts before posting. The author, Ohiowatha, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

luke8 (4 posts)
 
17 years ago (2008-01-06)
Thats a DOPPLEGANGER (type of ghost) its supposed to copy peoples faces but change the persons clothes! 😨
whitebuffalo (guest)
 
17 years ago (2007-12-11)
It most certainly feels like a "soul story" instead of a ghost story, Ohiowatha. I agree with all that Mustang and Shane have shared here. The mind is a powerful, powerful thing. Perhaps your cousin was afraid to let his feelings show, being a 12 year old boy, and his mind in his sleep would just not let that happen. I was comforted that your Uncle ran immediately to your cousins room to check on him, as that would have probably been my first response too. Thank you.
Annie (202 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-12)
Sorry for the mistake, Ohiowatha. I did notice it shortly after I posted it. I DO need new glasses! 😁
KimSouthO (27 stories) (1960 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-12)
The other readers (all of them) make great points, but, I have also heard that 'entities' can project them selves in many manners and forms. Is it possible that there is a presence of some sort in the home, the prescence is feeling 'Q's' anxiety around the divorce and changes in his life nad the house hold, there fore projected'itself' as 'Q' to get extra attention from your uncle? I know this is a stretch, but... Just a guess.

God Bless!
Ohiowatha (11 stories) (415 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-12)
Hi Annie, thanks for the encouragement. Just to clarify, this image was that of his oldest son, Q, who was about 12 at the time. His daughter was only 2 at the time, but she was not involved in this incident.

Thanks!
Shane (13 stories) (1258 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-11)
Things that make you go HMMM. I agree with mustang that this very well could have been his son "Q" projecting his feelings to his father without even being aware that he was doing so. Astral Projection or Out of body experiences could explain it. Also I believe boys are also capable of creating poltergeist activity, just not at the level that young girls can. Maybe as Shelby stated girls just throw more emotional energy behind it. Thanks for the story Ohio.

Peace, Love, and Luck be with you.
mustang (5 stories) (749 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-11)
What an interesting story! I do believe that it is possible it could have been the twelve year old son at the door expressing his anguish over the bitter divorce. You know how when we sleep we can, supposedly, leave our body? Astral Projection. I wonder if while the boy was sleeping his feelings were so intense that his spirit came to his Father's room for comfort or to show his feelings. Maybe, while awake, being a twelve year old boy, he wasn't sure how to show his feelings of such sadness by crying and talking to his Father. I truly believe when messages need to be delivered whether from far away or in the other room, people that are close, like family or friends, can astral project themselves if they have that energy and power to do so. Or something Telepathic? Thinking that it could be things like this and your Uncle not "just having a dream", seems far fetched or impossible. I believe though if someone's emotions are so strong and need to be released, our mind and soul are so powerful, I believe we can possibly relay messages through 'Telepathy' or 'Astral Projection'. Also, the energy of a twelve year old boy going through puberty, sexual angst AND on top of that, his parents divorcing. Thats a lot of emotionally charged energy, probably just as much energy as a girl going through puberty. Why I'm comparing a boys puberty to a girls puberty is because of the paranormal and poltergeist activity that goes on with a lot of young girls. I have read of the same poltergeist activities with boys but girls I think are a lot more emotional. So why couldn't it be all that pent up energy needing a way to release itself in some form? I am reading, or trying to read this book by Hans Holzer called 'GHOSTS, TRUE ENCOUNTERS WITH THE WORLD BEYOND'. It's a very thick and large book with very small writing so I'm finding it difficult to get through since I have four kids and very little time for even a nice bubble bath! 😊This is a great book so far and I've read very many books on the paranormal throughout the past twelve years. It has a lot of information on questionable subjects of the paranormal and other things. I can't wait to read more but any time I get I find myself more drawn to this site than the book. I guess because I like being able to read someone's personal story and then comment my opinion. Also, the stories here are ALOT shorter than the stories in the book. Well, anyway, great story! Thanks for sharing. I have more stories also to give but just haven't taken the time to submit them. It's hard enough trying to read these stories with kids running and screaming through the house! 😆 😭 PURE CRAZZINESS! The littlest ones are 4 and just turned 3. So, if you can imagine what THAT is like!=P WHEWWW, that was long. Sorry! I'll say, "BYE" for now and hope to hear what you think, about what I said, soon. ~Shelby =)
Annie (202 posts)
 
17 years ago (2007-11-11)
Great story, as usual, Ohiowatha. It's hard to tell. I've never heard of anything like this before. Maybe, it was a residual haunting? But then again, it could be the young child's anguish over his parents imminent divorce. Though, two seems like such a young age to understand, worry about such things. Maybe it was your cousins anguish that caused the sighting. Who's to say? I believe he saw something. A manifestation of his feelings?
Loved the story. Please (when you have the time!) post more on the house you lived in as a child. I'm anxiously waiting for the next installment. 😁 Cheers!

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