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Grandfather's Clock

 

When my Grandfather died in 1999, things went strange for a time. We knew it was to do with him because of the nature of the things that were going on. Here is the account of the most obviously bizarre.

Years ago he had bought my Mom a clock for her birthday or for Christmas, I forget which. It was one of those clocks that run off batteries but still have the pendulum beneath, made of a dark wood and having a tendency to make a loud ticking sound. It was kept in the kitchen, because there was no way anyone could fail to be creeped out by the steady tick - tick - tick at night.

On the morning of Granddad's death, the clock froze. The batteries had been replaced only a few weeks earlier, so we thought it was something wrong with the mechanism. We tried everything to get it working again, replacing the batteries, messing with the mechanism - we tried to change the time, but the hands refused to move.

It was late morning when we got a phone call off my aunt, who told us that he had died during the early hours of the morning. We asked her what time - she answered that it was between six o'clock and half past, or so she believed. The clock was fixed at twenty minutes past six. A strange coincidence, or paranormal occurrence? Still, that's not the end of it.

We hung the clock up again - I'm still not sure why, but I have a feeling Mom thought it would offend him to discard it - without the batteries. There it stayed, gathering dust and doing very little. One year to the day later, Mom was startled to hear a loud and distinctive tick - tick - tick as she got ready for work in the morning. She looked at the clock, and saw the pendulum swinging and the clock in full working order, not missing a single minute when she checked it against the other clock.

It was then that she felt at peace. She took it as a sign that he was fine now, that he'd gone on to Heaven and this was his final farewell. I saw the clock ticking that afternoon too, but it only worked for a week until it gave up the ghost (pun not intentional!) for good. We kept it for a while, but in the end it was no more than a broken clock; none of us saw the need to keep it as we had before, and so we got rid of it.

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

Parvel (1 posts)
 
13 years ago (2010-10-09)
Since I purchased a Howard Miller grandfather clock online from http://get-grandfather-clocks.com it looks as if our house is haunted. Not during the night but at daytime we hear someone walking upstairs. When we check it, the sound disappears. Very scary. Does anyone have knowledge about this? It happens about 3 times a week.
AD41448 (1 posts)
 
15 years ago (2008-10-02)
I NEED YOUR HELP!
My mom called me the other day and she said that she went in the kitchen at 8 and that both the clocks in the kitchen froze at 7:30, she didn't think much of it until the next morning when she woke up at 8:00 and found that her clock beside her bed froze at 7:30.
This is seriously weird and I want to know what this means?
Setion (6 stories) (10 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-12)
Being flippant, this gives a whole new meaning to your time being up!😆

I guess watches and clocks are things that end up being used so often that they end up having some sort of link to us. I can't think of many other things that we might end up relying on and using as often. Hence the plethora of reports of timepieces being connected to people's deaths.
killingkilgore (3 stories) (35 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-12)
Wow, that's kind of bizarre how so many people have experienced the same thing with clocks stopping the exact time of a loved ones death. Seems to be a little more than a coincidence. I could be wrong though. Thank you for the lovely story Setion. It's a nice change to hear about people crossing over in peace. And how nice of him to let you all know that!
mustang (5 stories) (749 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-10)
Hi Setion. That WOULD be very strange for someone to die and the clock they had given you stop at or around the precise time they died. I do believe that your Grandfather said his last goodbye's through the clock. I'm glad that it gave your Mom peace.

My story of when my Dad died, Jan. 22, 2007, is a little different, probably just coincidental but it will stick in my mind FOREVER. My dad had a horrible 14 and a half month battle with cancer. He fell and broke his hip on top of having cancer, had to have surgery and when he came home he was, of course, bed ridden and they had Hospice come in to help. Everything went downhill from there and eventually his bodily functions would not work such as his arms, legs, mouth, eyes(even though they were open the whole time and would not shut even when he died), etc. They say the body does that when other more important organs need the most attention. They said that he could hear everything we said but that he could not respond. It was the most aweful thing I had EVER had to experience. I stayed the night at my Mom and Dad's, as well as my sister and my Grandmother and one of my Uncle's. My mom, sister and myself slept in the same room as my Dad right next to him. By the next morning he was much worse. The nurse from Hospice told us that it won't be long now. We stood all around my Dad holding him and crying and telling him everything we wanted to say and that it was okay to go because even with the breathing machine he couldn't get air, it was VERY struggled and we knew this was the time. When he took his very last breath the clock in the living room chimed its twelve chimes exactly at 12pm. It was horrific to go through that but I am glad not to see him in pain any more. He is probably up in Heaven singing at a Karaoke bar! He owned a bar that had a Karaoke guy there every weekend. He loved it! Sorry to take up so much of your page.

Thanks for sharing your great story!
SHELBY

❤ 😊
Flutterofwings (13 stories) (428 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-08)
Watches just seem to have that connectiion with the person that wore them. My pop died at 6:17 his watched stopped at that time. I tried to put in new batteries, took to a man that fixed watches and clocks. The man said he set the time on the watch correctly. Looked at it ten mintues later it was back to 6:17. Mom died at 3:06 her watch stopped at that. I didn't try to get it reset. It woudln't work anyways. Now they sit in my drawer both set at the time each of them died, never to run again.
Bellissima (12 stories) (792 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Hi Setion. It's funny, I've had so many weird experiences with clocks! Some similar, others totally different, but clocks nonetheless. Hmm... It's odd isn't it? Your Granddad had a very distinct and interesting way of making himself known to your family. I think it's sweet that he came to visit. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, I enjoyed reading it.
Setion (6 stories) (10 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Thank you for commenting, and I'm glad you enjoyed the tale of the experience!

Grandad was a bit of a character, it's true, and it's strange (well, not strange, but bizarre perhaps? Weird?) that you had such a similar thing happen to you as well, whitebuffalo. Kinda cool, too :)
KimSouthO (27 stories) (1960 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Setion,
I would tend to agree with your mother, the clock starting back up again would definately be a sign that he was indeed at peace. I am very glad it gave her a sense of peace and calm as well.

Thank you for sharing your story with us!
God Bless!
whitebuffalo (guest)
+1
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Hello Setion,
Now, THIS is exactly what happened in my house. A couple differences, but minor, really. The clock is the same make, (it is gold colored, though) but my mother had given it to me as she thought it worthless because the chimes would not work. She tried everything to get it to go, different brands and types of batteries, had it professionally cleaned, etc. The timing mechanism worked, just not the chime.
It had not chimed in at least eight years. When my Mother gave it to me, I showed it to my Father-in-Law and he fell in love with it, so it stayed in whatever room he was comfortable sleeping in. When he left this world, the clock stopped at 7:26 in the evening (He actually passed away at 7:25 though, I think he hung around for that extra minute, then when he Crossed, that is when the clock stopped).
One week, to the day, after my Father-in-Law passed away in my home it began to tick and to chime. At 7:30 in the evening. It still does. No batteries were EVER put in the slot for the chime mechanism to work (at least not while in my possession), and I do not intend to put them there now. THAT is MY reminder of how much he was and STILL IS a part of my life. Should the clock stop the ticking (which is rather loud, is it not?) and the chiming, I think I will just keep it around. W.W. Has been gone since November 4, of last year, but his reminder still has it's place in my home.
ozone_baby (2 stories) (28 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Setion,
I think your grandfather must have loved you all very much to do something so dramatic. That or he was a real prankster 😁,
Thanks for the wonderful story.
Ozone ❤
rhodes68 (14 stories) (1596 posts)
 
16 years ago (2008-03-07)
Welcome back with another beautiful story Setion. I think to have a clock stop at the time of someone's death could be just a coincidence but to have it working back and catching up with the correct time, that IS NOT A COINCIDENCE!

Sorry to hear you got rid of it though.
Thanks for an interesting story
Tammy 😊

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