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Family Incidents

 

A few months back I wrote about my experiences while house-sitting at our eldest daughter's home. While I was away, my husband, Ray, had an incident of his own.

Ray was sitting in our lounge one night, watching DVDs on the TV. He was seated in his Lazyboy, right opposite the TV, with only the lounge light on. From this vantage point, the first part of our L shaped passage can be dimly seen, as light filters through the open-plan dining room, then the serving hatch abutting the passage.

Unexpectedly, Ray's attention was caught by movement out of the corner of his left eye. He was startled, as he knew that he was alone in the house and all was locked up tight. He glanced to the left and was just in time to see a shadowy female figure cross the passage and walk into the kitchen - a matter of three steps. In other words, she had walked through the wall dividing our dining room and the passage to be able to enter the kitchen in this manner. This was not Ray's first sighting of "The Lady", but it was his first time seeing her so close to him.

We have never discussed "The Lady" in front of our (twelve-year-old) granddaughter, Shenay. She spends at least two weekends a month at our house, plus school holidays.

Last month I did myself a mischief, hurting my back and incurring a pinched nerve. I spent the better part of six weeks in bed. During this time, Shenay's school holidays occurred. She would spend time with me, sitting on the side of the bed, chatting about all sorts of things, and just keeping me company.

We had a big sign tacked to our passage door with a reminder to switch the hot water geyser on, or off. One evening the sign was hanging by only one tack - the other was nowhere to be found. Ray came to ask me if I had removed the tack; I had not. Shenay was sitting on the bed with me when Ray walked away saying, "Daar 'pook" (literally translated - there's a ghost); a saying we have jokingly used for years, when something odd happened in our house. Shen turned to me and very seriously said, "Well, you have three possibilities". I raised my eyebrows at her. "Yes", she went on. "The Lady", Zeus, or my mommy". I was surprised as she had never mentioned "The Lady" to me before. I questioned her further. It transpires that she too has seen the shadowy figure of the female that lived in the farmhouse which occupied our land previously. I found that interesting; she is the fourth person to have seen her in our house.

During my 'incarceration' in bed, Nicky, our eldest daughter, came for lunch one Sunday. After lunch, we three females went to lie on my double bed. I crawled into my 'nest' while Nicky lay next to me on Ray's side of the bed, Shen sprawled across the bottom. We chatted for a while, then Nicky drifted off to sleep. Shen and I left her to sleep for a while.

When I returned to the bedroom, Nicky had turned over, facing away from me - I thought she was still asleep. She wasn't. We started chatting again. I confided that on a number of occasions I had felt a presence in the room, but I couldn't tell who it was. Nicky said that something like that had never happened to her in this house. Suddenly she jerked her head up, looking over her shoulder towards the bottom of the bed, with the words, "Shen, is that you?" Naturally, I had a look too - we were the only ones in the room. Right on cue, someone/something had moved from the foot of the bed towards the door and Nicky had seen it. LOL. Just to prove that I wasn't making up stories.

Just the other evening, as I was laying in bed reading, I noticed a translucent, light grey mass move swiftly past the other side of the bed. I can't say it was a figure, as it didn't conform to any shape. A "What the heck was that?" moment flashed through my mind. After a few seconds deliberation, I settled back on my pillows. I concluded that it was only my aunt passing on the way to her Granny-flat, which she had occupied for 28 years before her death. Hmm... Interesting! It is the first time I have noticed that.

On 31 July, Nicky emailed me from work. Her 'tone' was one of excitement. Angel (her departed sister, mother of Shenay) had awoken her by saying "Hello". Nicky says she even felt Angel's breath on her cheek. She replied by saying, "Hi! Sis". What a lovely way to wake up in the morning!

Some time back, can't remember when exactly, Nicky had bewailed the fact that *she* never received messages from her sister, besides the white feathers. I told her that maybe Angel had been sending her messages, just that maybe she had been too preoccupied to become aware of them. Nicky replied, something to the effect of, "Hmm, I guess it would have to be something 'in your face' for me to notice". It wasn't long after that that she told me of waking up to a presence next to her bed. Suddenly she felt a blast of air in her face, enough to move her hair. Well, how much more 'in your face' can you get?

I am dubious about submitting this last incident that took place. I have no idea if it is paranormal or not, but here it is.

I had a weird experience last week. I was in the kitchen making myself toast for breakfast. Ray was out, visiting a friend; I was alone at home. Our toaster sits on a shelf facing our kitchen window. As I went to take the toast out of the toaster, the lace curtain billowed up into my face. Not just the piece nearest me and the toaster, but the whole width of the curtain. The window was shut! In all the 46 years I have lived in this house, I have never had that happen before, not even when the window was open. It was a 'what the heck' moment.

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Comments about this paranormal experience

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, Fergie, has the following expectation about your feedback: I will read the comments and participate in the discussion.

Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-12-12)
Babygoatpuller - You have me blushing 😳 Thank you for your praise, I am sure it is more than I deserve. Nicky, Ray and I do what we can, with love, and respect to Angel. Remember, we were a very *tight* family - always there for each other.

Unfortunately, Nicky tends to brush off many small incidents, or any that she deems not directly connected to Angel. She is ever slightly dismissive of the shadowy figure that walks down her stairs - can you believe it? 😕

BGP, I somehow don't get the feeling that it was "The Lady" that Shen heard. For one thing, the lighter would be an anachronism then. We believe "The Lady" was from an earlier era, before the time of lighters, and ladies smoking - late 1800s. Also, we have never *heard* the lady before, although there is always a first time for everything.

Val asked me a very pertinent question - "did Angel smoke?" The answer is "yes, in the earlier days." I am now wondering if she has resumed the habit.
This incident happened shortly after Shen and I survived a rather scary ride home, due to an unwell driver. I thought he was going to pass out behind the wheel. So, on reflection. It would make sense that it was Angel checking up on Shen. As for the keys, they were mine, unlocking the security gate to come in. I apologize for not explaining that properly.

Thank you so much for your lovely comment, BGP. ❤
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
+1
6 years ago (2017-12-11)
Fergie- Tell Nicky she shouldn't brush the little incidents aside. Could be big meaning in the little stuff! 😊

I wonder if Shen wasn't hearing "The Lady" with the soft walking, the lighter and the keys.

You and Nicky have done such a beautiful job with her on all of this. I haven't heard of many people being able to take a tragedy of this magnitude and turning it into something so special. And it's so kind of you to share it all with us.

South Africa is SO lucky to have you! ❤
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-09)
Dear Babygoatpuller,

I am so sorry to hear of your tummy troubles; it sounds as if they were quite debilitating. I am happy to hear that they are in the past, and hope you are back to full strength now. Small wonder you didn't see my post. You are forgiven, LOL. 😘

My back is much better, thank you. I can now sit without having excruciating pain.

Yes, definitely yes, Nicky was excited at getting such *personal* messages from Angel. They are few and far between, but when they occur, they have a profound impact on her. Other small incidents, she tends to brush off.

Shenay had an incident this past Wednesday. She went to lie down on her bed (in our house) while I nipped across the road to see my friend. On my return, she was all agog to tell me that there had been someone walking up and down the passage between the lounge and her bedroom. She said the footsteps were soft, as if someone didn't want to disturb her. At one point, she heard the click of a lighter - she thought it was me. A minute or two later, she heard the rattle of my keys in the security gate as I opened it to get back into the house.

LOL, I get your drift with the "light as a feather" comment; never thought about it like that before.

As always, thank you for reading, and your comment. I wasn't chiding you, just somewhat surprised to see you hadn't commented before; you are always so consistent/dependable.

Thanks for the Gothic bats, my friend. I shall send them straight back to you.

❤ ❤
babygoatpuller (4 stories) (432 posts)
 
6 years ago (2017-12-08)
Fergie, my dear friend-

Finally, Nicky gets her confirmation from Angel! I can only imagine her excitement. I do hope your back is better, but it sounds as if you got some good "quality" time in with the girls.

If you think about the curtain incident, think about it like this. Lace curtains can be "light as a feather". 😊

I really enjoyed this and I'm so sorry I missed it. I was in the middle of a 6 month long battle with my stomach at the time and didn't get a lot of YGS time in. I don't know what was going on and neither did the Dr's. They did all the tests, gave me a bucketful of meds, had me on a strict juice diet for 2 weeks and ended up scratching their heads. But the day after the last test, it all stopped and I've haven't had a problem since.

Can't wait to hear from you again. In the meantime here's a couple of gothic bats for you. ❤ ❤
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-13)
Val,
I love your humour!

If the truth be told, I didn't even cotton on to the incongruous remark made by Shen about Zeus. I was too fixated about her seeing "The Lady". Her expression was so 'matter of fact' at the time - just recounting the number of spirits in our house.

If I had given it any thought, I would have asked Shen how the heck would Zeus have reached the tack to pull it out. It is just above eye height for me. 😕
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-08-13)
Aah Melda! Thank you. 😊

I am happy to be "normal", (as far as this site goes). I have always been thankful that we don't have anything scary living in, or visiting our home. I am proud to announce that there have been strangers in our house that have remarked that they can 'feel the love' in our home - so all is good.

Yes, it seems that Angel has taken to waking Nicky up to give her the message. Good girl! Now there can be *no* confusion.

I am so glad I could give you a non-scary bit to read. Thanks for your sweet comment, Melda. 😘
Fergie (40 stories) (1159 posts)
+1
7 years ago (2017-08-13)
Tweed, thank you for reading, and your comment.

I agree wholeheartedly, my family has something special, well at least the four of us that are usually mentioned in my narratives. Our other (middle) daughter and her family are not 'believers'. We just have to shut the heck up when they are around, which isn't too often.

I am sending you a Gothic bat, lol. That was such a cute remark. 😊 ❤
valkricry (48 stories) (3257 posts) mod
+2
7 years ago (2017-08-12)
Fergie,
What? You didn't ask Shenay what Zeus would want a tack for? I'm very suspicious of puppy's that collect sharp objects🙄! All kidding aside, I enjoyed this, as I do all your accountings.
Melda (10 stories) (1363 posts)
 
7 years ago (2017-08-10)
Fergie - I always enjoy reading your accounts, they're so "normal". I'm sure you understand what I mean by that. I love reading things that are paranormal but not scary.

Angel will always be around. Why would she not? She knows what a wonderful job your family is doing, taking care of Shen. Finally the penny dropped that she had to be in Nicky's face 😆

It doesn't sound to me as though there is anybody in your house who wants you running down the passage (bad back and all) screaming your lungs out.

I think anybody who wants to attract your attention is simply saying "hi, I'm here for you". I'm quite sure you know that, though.

Thanks again for something interesting, nice and "normal" ❤

I can almost see why Tweed thought that the heart was a goth bat 😁

Regards, Melda
Tweed (33 stories) (2475 posts)
+3
7 years ago (2017-08-09)
Fergie, as usual I have next to nothing to add to your narrative, only to say I enjoyed it. There's something very special you and your family have there. ❤

Random tidbit, I have only today worked out that this ❤ is a heart. I thought it was a cool gothic bat ha!

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