“I guess I’ve seen more than my fair share of ghosts. Most have been fleeting glimpses, but a couple were really quite clear. The most bittersweet was as I was readying for our wedding at the restaurant where we had our wedding. This was no normal restaurant. It was a former plantation near Atlanta. It had been named Bushy Park during the War Between the States. There are still mini-balls in the woodwork. It was saved from the torch thanks to the owner having been a business associate of several highly-placed Yankee businessmen. During the war, it was used as a Union hospital. My apparition was that of a young woman. She looked into the room as I was putting on my wedding dress. I saw her in the mirror. Her expression was hard to explain. It was a happy-sadness. It only then occurred to me that she was in “period” dress. As I turned to speak, she was gone. None of the staff at The Planters (that was the name given to the restaurant) was in period dress. When I asked about the young woman, several people looked amazed and then shook their heads. They didn’t know who she was, but she had been seen on other occasions. She seems to be waiting for someone, but that someone never came. I guess she just peeked in to wish me – in her only way – well in my marriage. I always felt as though that was her purpose and was never frightened. Our marriage started in a place that withstood some of the hardest of times and has withstood almost 30 years. I guess her good wishes helped.”
Melissa P (Misplaced Southerner) October 2014
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Tipper
I remember going to a restaurant in a vintage plantation house just west of Atlanta in Vinings when I lived there in the 70s and 80s. The place was beautiful and the fried chicken was out of this world. I wonder if that’s the place she’s speaking of here. Instead of menus, there were cute little black boys that walked around the restaurant with a blackboard billboard around their necks on a string with the menu on it, and they’d recite it to you word for word. They were adorable and I remember we were amazed at their memorizing the menu, but nowadays I think that would be seen as disrespectful and wouldn’t be allowed.
As for ghosts, we grew up in a house about 200 years old. There were probably 4-6 ghosts in that house. It started with just 2 – an old man and a young boy, but then family children who lived in it later also saw our Mother and maternal Grandmother there after their deaths. I was always surprised our Father’s ghost wasn’t there, he loved the place so, and our paternal Grandfather because he died in that house, but it seems they passed right on and didn’t linger, and for that, I am blessed.
God bless.
RB
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I would not say that I ‘believe in ghosts’ but rather that I accept as fact that we have a spirit that can exist independently of the body. And that spirit typically has the form of its physical counterpart. Beyond that I do not know enough to go such as why they sometimes, but not usually, appear to us.
If no other purpose, they serve to verify that we are three-part beings; spirit, soul and body.
My son passed away in 2013. My daughter and I were at his home cleaning up and going thru things when my daughter said quietly “Dad, come listen. ” my granddaughter was sitting in the floor playing. She had a Tupperware tote turned up side down and was using it as a table.She kept waving her hands, saying “NO, stop it!” She was playing with my son , her uncle.
One writer mentioned that folks are reluctant to talk about seeing ghosts or restless spirits. We can often be surprised at those who will admit an eerie happening, but only if engaged in discussion where they are comfortable.
I cannot say if it is a spirit, a ghost, or exactly what these experiences are. I do know they exist, as they were experienced by me with others present. It is certainly not any type of obsession, as there are sometimes decades that pass before I experience an unexplained event. There is never fear involved, but causes a great deal of puzzlement for everyone concerned.
Many years ago a group of us were taking our usual short cut down an old horse trail to the bus stop. It was a chilly day, and we were all bundled up. We passed a blond lady with no coat, and she had a dog with her. She did not speak and the dog did not bark. We were very curious about this stranger, so when we got past her we turned around to observe more closely–no dog and no lady. All these years later we still will discuss what that was all about. This was a very old narrow trail, and one girl said her Grampa said an old cabin burned to the ground many years ago in that area. To see a stranger on that road was highly unusual, and for her to suddenly be gone is totally unexplainable even to this day.
Tipper,
Melissa P. (the misplaced
southerner) did a good job with
that Short Story. It was a fitting tell to share this close to Halloween.
Actually, I don’t believe in Ghosts but I’ve let my imagination run away with me a few times. When I was young, my friends and I use to play in an old store building.
In broad daylight we’d hear floors squeak and pop, and thought we heard walking, but
never did see anything…Ken
A long time ago my sister and I were in an amicable argument the subject of which I do not remember. The conversation went back and forth. Each of us had valid points and neither of us seemed to gain any ground.
I was mid-sentence when something strange happened. The best description was the sensations you experience when you are home at night with everything electrical blaring and the power goes off. But it didn’t happen in the room. It happened in me.
As suddenly as it all stopped, it all started again. Everything had returned to normal except I was looking in the face of something scary. I was looking at me! I can only explain the feeling as I was no longer in my own body but was in my sister’s. And I fully understood her side of the debate. I was still mid-sentence but I didn’t want to argue any more.
Then my sister spoke. “What’s wrong?” As quick as the sensation came, it went away. I was me again except I felt no more need belabor my point.
I didn’t tell my sister what had happened. I have never told anybody else either. Until today!
What, you ask, does this have to do with a ghost story? A ghost, a spirit, an essence, whatever you choose to call it, is what distinguishes us from other animals. They live only in the moment. We have memories of the past and visions of the future that sometimes exceed our own being. We can project ourselves into other times and places.
Our body rests, our consciousness slumbers but our spirit is eternally awake. When death overtakes us begins the sleep from which our mind and body does not wake. The spirit is loosed from its earthly bonds and is free to move about as it wishes.
All the ghosts of those who have lived before are still here. Our minds and bodies cannot know them for they are made of something we cannot even conceive of. But, can our spirits be in contact the spirits of both the living and the dead. Do our spirits slip over into the ether at will, totally unbeknownst to mind and body and perhaps provide us with glimpses into our real existence?
Love your story Tipper! I believe in ghost and always have. One of my grandsons is Autistic and from time to time sees ghost. He was very close to my Mom (his great-grandmother) when she passed away he saw her regularly and still sees her from time to time. The real kicker is the last time we visited them we took him and his mother to Unaka and visited the cemetery where my grandmother (his great-great grandmother)is buried. Now, he has never seen any photos of her. We were looking around and looked over at him and he had a very strange look on his face. Right away is Mom went over and asked what was wrong. He was hesitant at first but the then said there was a woman across the cemetery looking at us. We asked what she looked like and he said she was thin, had brown hair, and in a dress. He described her exactly. He said that she told him that she loves us.
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
I have a couple of “spirit events” that have happened to me and both occurred more than 30 years ago. I remember them as clearly as if it happened yesterday. I believe that everything happens for a reason.
The Bible mentions ghost 108 times in the King James Version. So, I know they must be real.
Ghost stories, especially at Halloween, always make interesting reading.
That must have been a bit spooky and made you do a double-take. I find that those who are clairvoyant very scary when they speak of something that happened in your life and you had not even spoken with the person before a group session.
What a great story, I imagine some of these old places have stories they could tell.
Tipper,
This story by Melissa P. would be a hard one to ever forget…I dare say she has recalled the memory for almost 30 years on the date of her anniversary. The timing alone is very spooky indeed…
Thanks Tipper and Melissa P.
Most folks don’t admit to seeing ghosts or restless spirits, as I’ve heard them called. I think they are around sometimes for a while, waiting for something that completes their trip before they can move on to the next world.