Friday, April 18, 2008

Freaky Friday

If you're in the Midwest, you may have felt the shake, rattle and roll this morning during the earthquake.

This morning at 4:40 I woke up with my bed shaking. I thought since it was 40 minutes after 4 (and I just turned 40), it was Jessica and Kelli jumping on my bed and saying Happy Birthday. So I said "you're a few days late but thanks, I love you guys" and went back to sleep.

Later this morning, I had to call my babysitter, Becky. When she answered she said "did you think the girls came to see you last night?" I was shocked that she would know what happened. Then she told me it was an earthquake, but she also woke up thinking it was either the girls or her mom (who died last year) coming to visit. Neither one of us initially thought it was an earthquake.

When we moved in our house, we had a few incidents that led me to think our house was haunted. It is almost 100 years old, and built in a neighborhood that has had other reports of paranormal activity. I had have the TV channel change when the remote was nowhere near me. I also had Kelli's closet doors shut on me and when I said "knock it off," I heard a kid laughing, but my girls were downstairs. I also heard noises upstairs like the girls were walking around their rooms, but no one was up there. Sometimes the dogs bark up the stairs for no reason (at least that I can see).

After we had been in the house for a few years, we stopped hearing the noises. I figured the ghosts realized we were there to stay and they left us alone. However, since the girls have died, the noises have come back. At night I sometimes hear someone walking around in Jessica's room and I have heard the doors opening, but I know that it wasn't Maddy, and the dogs were downstairs.

The only rooms on our second floor are their bedrooms and the bathroom. I go up to their rooms once or twice a week and look around, just to make sure the roof hasn't caved in. I've started saying "I know, I miss them too," and the noises stop for a while. I think the ghosts miss them. Or maybe it's Jessica or Kelli coming to check their rooms and make sure Maddy hasn't "borrowed" something.

My babysitter has also had a few things happen at her house since their deaths. Becky was very close to Kelli, since she would go over there during the summer and help her with the little ones. Becky would buy the big jar of cheese balls at Sam's, and Kelli would get some, then later she would sneak back in the kitchen for more. Becky had bought some a few weeks ago, and she heard breathing by the jar. Maddy said "it's Kelli, she came to get cheese balls."

Becky also said her cat was meowing at a wall once, then laid down and started purring, and she thinks Kelli was petting the cat. Becky also told me that one of the little girls, about 8 months old, was sitting in the high chair during lunch. All of a sudden, she looked in the corner and started babbling, but there was no one there. Becky said it was like she was having a conversation with someone - she was babbling, then waiting, then babbling as if in response to a question.

I believe in ghosts. I don't think that Jessica or Kelli would come back and sit in the kitchen and chat with me, but I like to think they might try to send us signs that they're okay. Like the dreams I had. Perhaps it's just a 100 year old house creaking, and I'm looking for something that isn't there. I like to think otherwise.

7 comments:

Liz said...

Wow, I would be totally creeped out if I heard ghosts! I'm glad they seem to be friendly ghosts at least. Have you ever looked up the history of the house? Past owners or things that may have happened there? I'd be curious.

Michelle Linneman said...

I completely agree that our loved ones are still here or at least come back to check up on us. I thought that a lot after my dad passed away and always say little prayers to him and they seem to come true.

I too have vivid dreams that he's still here. In fact I had one not too long ago that he just showed up at my door and said "Hey, I'm back!" I was ecstatic in my dream, but apprehensive telling everyone because I knew he was going to be gone "tomorrow". Very odd, but I think he was just saying "Hi and I miss you!".

The girls will always be with you and Maddy in some way, shape or form. Tell them I said "Hi and to say Hey to my dad!" I'm sure my dad is looking out for them and making sure they're not getting into trouble. :)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!

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Anonymous said...

I bet they're plotting ways to manifest the signs you'll notice together, like the footsteps and the breathing by the cheese balls. They're probably giggling about the fact that you thought they were jumping on your bed during the earthquake. Maybe they'll start jumping on your bed now.

Katey said...

Here's my proof that they come back to check up on you, especially when you are needing it most (whether you realize it or not).My husband lost his brother in a car accident almost seven years ago. At the time, I was attending evening classes, and I came home from class one night and several of my hub's friends were hanging out in our living room, but Andy (my hub) was nowhere to be found. His friend John told me that Andy's sugar had gotten low (he's diabetic) and he had gone into our bedroom to eat something (he's insanely private about being diabetic). I walked into our bedroom to check on him, and as I tried talking to him, he just stared off into space, not even acknowledging that I was there. He sat there like that, in our room, for another 10 minutes while he ate, and I just sat there, waiting for him to come around. He was completely coherent, just "in another place". I walked out of the room to give him some privacy, and several minutes later he called me back into the room. When I walked in, he looked at me, and with stars in his eyes he said "I swear to God the entire time that I was eating those waffles just now, Doug (his brother) was sitting on the bed next to me. I mean, I saw him there. He was there." The hair on my neck stood on end, and I said "Well, did he say anything to you?" And Andy said "No, it's like he was just sitting there, checking me out. Making sure that I was okay."

So I say cling to whatever you want to believe, and watch for them from time to time, because I really believe that they pop in from time to time.

Anonymous said...

i was in DC when i heard about the earthquake, did it last a long time? i know seconds feel like minutes.
was it strong? i was so intrigued even since my dad was also in dc at the time. and he lives in st. louis. i can't believe there was an earthquake and i missed it!

Anonymous said...

I believe too. And I think you're right - treasure each visit, each dream. I don't think I told you this, but when Bry's Grandma passed away, I knew before I got the call from Carole. I was walking out the door of my agency and I felt this warm light feeling wash over me - this feeling of just pure happiness, so comforting. I could hear her voice in my head - "I'm happy now. I want you to feel this happy, always." I knew it was her. I knew she was gone. Later, at her visitation, Sofia saw her. She'd been sitting at a pew and then moved back to the pew behind it. I asked why she moved? She said matter of fact that it was b/c GrandNana told her to b/c there was a dirty spot where she'd been sitting. And there was. It was exactly something Grandma would have said - we had to laugh. I asked if her if she could see Grandnana and she said yes, that she'd been sitting with her, and it wasn't really Grandnana "up there" (in the coffin) at all.