When I was approached by Our Town Magazine regarding the possibility of doing a write up on our home and the "ghosts" that occupy it, I thought sure. Why not? After giving it some thought, I decided that this was actually a great opportunity to explain to the common public what we have learned about these souls that the main stream and Hollywood call ghosts. I will do my best to give them justice….

We bought our home a little over 6 years ago. We fell in love with it the moment we walked in. It was a far cry from the stark white, boring houses that we were being shown at the time. It was like walking back in time. It had so much character and charm… From the handsome oak hardwood floors, the high ceilings, to the beautiful color and wall paper choices made by the previous owners, who obviously put a lot of love into this home. It was built in 1890. A simple, yet beautiful, traditional four-square. Little did we know at the time of the purchase, that what was to be our new home came with some unseen occupants!

During the first month after we moved in, they made sure that we knew they were there. Little things were happening, and of course we initially chalked it up to our over active imagination. There had to be some reasonable explanation for these strange things that were happening. At a point we could no longer deny the activity. Once we acknowledged them out loud, they calmed way down. As if to say "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh". "They finally know we are here"!

Now for the fun part…

One of the first things we did when we moved in was install latches/hooks on the outside of all the upstairs doors to keep our two year old from going into rooms she wasn’t supposed to be in.

One morning I woke up and went down stairs to make some coffee. My youngest (who was two at the time) was still sleeping upstairs. My sister in law and I were having coffee together via the telephone. As I had her on the phone I made my way upstairs to grab my robe. I let out a loud gasp. I proceeded to explain to her that I was standing there looking at all four upstairs doors, closed with the hooks latched! The doors were all open previously, and my youngest was still asleep. Yes, she was behind one of those locked doors. No one else was home. I personally knew at that point there was something very different about our new home. My sister in law professed that she was never coming over again. Boy did she lie!

Other examples that followed were…

Our dog barking at the stairwell with her hackles raised, but no body could be seen…

A loud crash coming from the utility room, but when investigated, nothing was out of place.  Sounded as if an entire set of glass dishes fell.

The sound of the back door opening and closing

Little footsteps heard upstairs when we are all down stairs

Our cats were constantly watching unseen things fly at amazing speed around the rooms, sometimes chasing them and trying to play with them.

Anything electronic turning on and off or changing channels occasionally. TV’s, stereos, fans, lights … you name it.

Things that go missing turn up in the strangest places.

Although there are many stories I could mention, there is one we think is pretty funny. My oldest daughter and I were both getting ready on a Saturday morning in the upstairs bathroom. As usual, we had the stereo cranked. We were joking around, and I called her a smarty pants. All of a sudden, the music faded out on the stereo, and a man sarcastically mocks me, and repeats the words I teasingly called my daughter! Then the music faded back in! We looked at each other, with our nervous laughing and ran down stairs to tell anyone that would listen. Who said "ghosts" don’t have a personality?!  He wanted to get a rise out of us and he did!  It was not a scary experience though, and I do not think it was meant to be.  We felt he was just joining in the fun.

I have to say that during the last several years we have lived in the house, we have re learned what we thought of "ghosts". We learned that they are simply people who have lost their physical bodies. They have the same personalities, belief systems, emotions, fears, likes and dislikes that they did when they were physically alive. For some reason, they just have not chosen to move on yet.

Perhaps it is fear. Maybe they were taught while in the physical world that if they sinned and didn’t have time to repent or ask for forgiveness, that they would be cast down to fire and brimstone for eternity. Or maybe they are so attached to something in the physical world that they are simply not ready to move on. Or perhaps part of their learning is to stick around and observe.  Or perhaps they are simply confused. Whatever the reason, I hope eventually they get the closure they need and go to where they are meant to be. We have told them on countless occasions that heaven is a much better place to hang out than here! Especially around our crazy family. If anything, we probably scare them.

As time has gone on, we realized that with a hand held recorder, we could actually record the voices of our lost souls. This has a scientific name. It is called Electronic Voice Phenomena" (EVP). There is much research that has been conducted by normal and sane people....professors. researchers and scientists. There is a national institute for E.V.P. research. This topic seems to becoming more main stream as time goes on, and is considered an excellent source of scientific proof.

We learned about this phenomenon when we invited some paranormal investigators to our home. With the help of our wonderful friends, Todd and Martina from Pacific Paranormal Research Society (www.nwpprs.com), we were able to record many of the souls that linger here. And yes, as our youngest had attested plenty of times, there are lots of children in our home! As well as an old timer gentleman (who we feel may have built the house), a younger sarcastic man, a woman who seems to feel guilt or sadness over what may have happened to some of the children. As well as a separate little girl that keeps calling for her "mamma".

We have recorded a man’s voice that says "help the children", on two separate occasions. This may be why he is still here... for the children. We have many sweet and endearing messages. Some are sad, and some are funny. .. Some have made us feel a little uneasy.

We have also captured the most amazing pictures of orbs and ecto mist. The skeptic will tell you that orbs are just dust that a digital cameral picks up. I don’t know about other people’s orbs, but I personally have never met dust so eager to please or with a conscious mind! We can request these balls of energy to pose with the kids in a certain room, and boom! The room goes from three kids to three kids and 8-12 orbs once beckoned. Or one of the kids will ask one of them to come to their hand. The next photo will be of what looks like one of the kids holding an orb! I don’t think dust can do that. Correct me if I am wrong.

Last, but certainly not least, the most concrete proof that we could have ever asked for happened on three separate occasions. This verified once again, the constant comments made by our youngest daughter. My husband woke up at 3 am to get ready for work when he pressed snooze to catch another 7 minutes of shut eye. He rolled over and saw a little girl (he guessed no older than four years of age) with long brown hair standing at my bedside, just looking down at me. He closed his eyes and chalked it up to a dream. Seven minutes later he turned off his alarm and once again rolled over. The young girl was still there! When she noticed him, she dissipated into the wall that adjoins the girls’ room, in a flash of different colors.

This same little girl with the same description was seen by the previous owners as well. When they saw this same little girl with long brown hair, she was standing in what is now my son’s room, looking out the window. Again, at about 3am.

The second incident also took place in the wee hours of the morning. My husband was walking from our room to the bathroom to take a shower. As he passed the girl’s room, he noticed what he thought was our older daughter peeking her head out at him. He took a step back and opened their door to tell her to go back to sleep, and found them both sound asleep. This girl he saw had blond bobbed hair and was much taller than the last.

These sightings certainly surprised him, but his fascination and excitement is stronger than any fear could be. Besides, who could be scared of these little children that seem just as normal and sweet as our own children? Who cannot feel sorry for them that they have been ignored for so long? Or for the little girl who is still looking for her "mamma"?? We have come to care for the lost souls that remain in our house.

My incident was of course the most amazing, because it was ME who got to see! I was once again in the famous upstairs bathroom, listening to the stereo and doing my make up. Out of the beveled part of the mirror, I saw a reflection of what I thought was my youngest daughter. She was the same size and had the same light blonde hair. I remember thinking to myself that my oldest daughter must have put my youngest’s hair in pony tails and changed her shirt. Then I realized that she didn’t have a shirt like that. When I turned to look at her, she was gone. I wondered how she got by me with out me seeing her. I called to her, but didn’t get a response. I found her lying on her bed, watching cartoons half asleep. She did not have pony tails in, nor was she wearing a red and whit checkered shirt! The little girl in the bathroom had to be three or four. She looked like she was from the seventies, wearing the same flared jeans that my girls wear today, and red and white checkered blouse, and two piggy tales. She was just walking along like it was nobodies business! I thought it was pretty neat that I got to see one of the children. It brought tears to my eyes. It was very moving, yet sad.

The old man has been seen by the previous owner, and also in the seventies by a close friend and her sister while playing outside when this house was a rental, and by my youngest daughter. They say children up to the age of five can see much more than we can, because they have not been taught yet that they aren’t supposed to see. I firmly believe that.

The last incident I would like to mention happened on my husbans birthday. My husband and I were out. He called home to check on the girls, as their older brother was at the football game. They didn’t answer the phone, because they were upstairs sleeping we later found out. When we came home, we checked our messages. When we came across the one that my husband left, we were once again amazed. The message when like this….

Beep (e.v.p. ~ male entities voice): "Its Russell ". (Russ): "Hey"! "Pick up the phone". "Its dad"…… (e.v.p. ~ little girl entities voice): "Come down!" (Owner): "Ok, just calling to check on you".

One soul acknowledged who it was, then the little girl soul was calling to my girls to come down and answer the phone! No matter how many times we encounter something like this, it is always amazing. This message is still saved on our answering machine.  The voice of the little girls is so sweet and we love to show that one off as often as we can.  In our home, we don't just get evps through a digital recorder.  We get them over our cell phones, on our messages, through the stereo...truly amazing.

All in all, our experiences have been (at times) overwhelming, but mostly fascinating and endearing. This will sound crazy to some, but we honestly feel lucky that we get to experience such a phenomenon first hand that most people will never experience. It has brought us many blessings. We still love our home, and the souls are welcome to stay as long as they need to, after all it was their house first. When they do decide to move on, I am sure the house will feel empty in a way. But this is not a time to be selfish. For their sake, I hope they find their way. We pray for them every night and hope that you will too.

Sorry no outrageous scary things to report. These souls are simply no more evil than you or I. If you want to see evil, turn on the news.

I will say since then we have been contacted by Sony Pictures/Gryphon Productions who asked to do a documentary on us and our home!  It was to be a trailer for Stephen Speilburg's Childrens film "Monster House".  Ended up being sold to Starz Network Instead.  What an interesting experience that was!  So Yes.  We are movie stars.  May never be able to sell our house though!   

Happy Halloween!

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