Monday, November 27 - Sunday, December 3, 2006

My 50 Year Relationship With The Ghost In My House by BrucenChicago

The house I was raised in is now approximately 120 years old. It was a workman’s cottage near the stockyards in Chicago. My parents were the third owners...purchased in 1945. I was born in ‘51. When I was 3 yrs old, I woke during the night, calling for my mother. I looked up and saw a man standing by the bed...all dressed in dark clothes and looking as one does when someone is lying down. His head was tilted but he wasn't frightening but rather calming. He put a hand out and quieted me. I closed my eyes a moment and he was gone. That was the beginning of a 50 yr relationship with him in the house...til I moved 2 yrs ago. I continued to see him...feel him all those years...along with all my dogs...and one nurse who lived there to take care of my mother. He was the brother of one of the original owners of the house who died in his 30's. He was always ill and felt himself a burden so he hung himself in the attic, hence the tilted head. An old neighbor filled me in on his history when I was a teen. He was a great practical joker as a ghost that is. I did have ghost hunters out to the house before I moved and they picked up on him as well. I told them the basics about him....and they filled in the parts I left out. When he would "come down" from the attic you could not drag any of my dogs into the room that held the door. They would stand looking at it...hair standing at their neck and just stare.

One night I was cleaning my dresser drawers and I was sitting on the bed. I was about 21 at the time. My back was to the door of the room and my parents were home at the time. I felt someone enter the room. I assumed it was my father attempting to poke me in the ribs to make me jump. I sat still waiting for it to happen and when it didn't happen, I turned and looked behind me. Next to me, on the bed, was an indentation as if someone was sitting there. I heard a faint chuckle. I saw the figure primarily as a child during the night and always when waking. When frightened in later years, it was by his pranks or I would just feel of his presence. You could feel his footsteps behind you or a hand on your shoulder. He liked to make light fixtures swing and dump flower pots on the carpets (blaming the dogs probably) until I would discover the dogs were outside. He enjoyed moving things like keys, cans and shoes. We’d search for hours...then the item would appear right where you left it.

When my mother was nearing her end at home and confined to her bed, she would drop her rosary on the floor. It always was returned to her with no one visible around it would be placed on her hands. He was also great for ringing the doorbell even when I didn't have one anymore!! I had it taken out to make the house quieter for my mother and he would ring it several days a week.

The end.