MERRY ANDREW AND SEAGLASS HAVE A GHOST IN THEIR HOUSEtHE

Don't worry . . . he probably won't eat much . . .

How neat, so long as he doesn't bother or disturb you. I personally have never seen a ghost but have heard and read so many such encounters by perfectly credible people that I have to believe that there is some kind of commonly shared phenomenon that we label 'ghosts' that we share.

After we had to have our beloved little dog put down--one of the worst days of our life and we still miss him--we sealed off the doggie door and gave away his dishes and toys, etc. But sometimes when the house is quiet we can hear the 'snap' of the doggie door and claws clicking barely audibly on the kitchen floor. Of course we don't really believe it is him, but somehow it is comforting to think that it is.

Also the lady, quite elderly, who lived in our house from the time it was built for some 25-30 years until she died, still comes by or is here we like to believe. Sometimes the front door opens when there is no obvious wind outside and we think we hear her puttering around in the kitchen. It seems that sometimes this or that has been rearranged. We never knew her but we like having the idea of her presence around. Again there are any number of explanations other than a 'ghost' for the phenomenon, but who knows?

But a ghost you can see and know that is what you hear, etc. Now that is special. Glad he is a good ghost though.

So tell us more about this ghost & his visiting habits, Seaglass. You've actually seen him?

Photos, we want photos!

Here's the strange part: I became aware of what seemed to be an unexplained presence in the house at various times very soon after we moved in, 1st of April. I deliberately refrained from saying anything about it to Sglass because I know she takes these things quite seriously and I didn't want to frighten or upset her. Then she says to me last night, "Do you know there's a ghost in this house?" Could've knocked me over with a feather duster.

See, I tend to be a very practical-minded person who takes anything that smacks of the supernatural with a large grain of salt. Rattling doorknobs and waywardly swinging doors could be due to a draft from some as yet unidentified source. But I have actually felt a presence; that's the only way I know how to describe it. The creaking floors and swinging doors don't mean much -- that really could be just the wind or the house settling. Maybe.

Seems to be a quite friendly spirit, if, indeed, spirit it is. As Sglass said, the cat seems to be aware of it and shows no signs of panic. It's like it's the former owner of this house, checking to see whether the new people here are okay and nodding quiet approval.

I'd like to say I've seen it, but "see" is too strong a word. My first "encounter" was perhaps three or four days after moving in. I was coming out of the upstairs bathroom and had a very strong sense that I had just missed bumping into somebody. There was something visual at the periphery of my vision, but it was gone more quickly than you can draw a breath. So I can't say I "saw" it. But, folks, I sensed something.

As it happens, I don't believe in ghosts. I also don't believe in messing around with them.

No one on A2K has had any6 ghosty experience?

Well, Sglass, there is a ghost room in my ancestral home in Virginia. My sister claims that one whacked her hard one evening. My kids held a seance in that room, and all of the shades flew up at one time. My son, (he was small then) ran down the stairs and the hair on his arms was standing straight up. That has never been explained. I have had a couple of strange experiences since Bud died. Heard him call my name one morning and a pressure on the mattress as if someone was sitting on it. Never felt one moment of fear, and that is unusual for me.

I have heard my grandmother speak my name aloud, quite plainly--she was alive and well at the time, and there was no ominous, spooky reason to account for it. I account for by the persistence of memory. No offense, Miss Lettybettyhettygetty, but this sort of thing is not evidence of the persistence of spirit, just of the persistence of memory.

I understand what you are saying, Setanta, but there are some things in this world that cannot be explained. The fact that I had no fear of it was what made me believe it was real. Make sense?

No, not particularly. Hearing my grandmother call my name did not engender any fear in me either--which doesn't change the fact that i immediately attributed it to the persistence of memory.

but, Setanta, you said that your grandmother was alive at the time, and Bud had been dead for a long time.

Machts nicht . . . the point is that the brain serves up these phenomena without reference to whether the person whose voice one hears is among the quick or the dead . . .

Re ghostly experiences, I have only experienced the first hand telling of encounters experienced by others. None of these people were uneducated or flaky or 'wierd' in any way and they were convinced of their experience whether or not all would define it as a 'ghost'. I have also had spiritual experiences that, at least in my opinion, can be explained in no other way than paranormal so it is easy for me to believe in a spirit realm.

I remember as a kid in Lovington NM, I was doing homework at the kitchen table while my mother was preparing dinner. She stopped what she was doing and turned to look directly at me and said, "Something has happened to O........ (her brother)" who was a Master Sergeant serving in Korea at the time. She made a note of the time and date on the calendar. A few days later we received word that he and his entire squad had been gunned down and he had been left for dead. He did survive his wounds but his condition was listed as 'grave' for a long time.

There have been other incidents like that such as the phenomenon occurs when you are thinking about somebody you don't normally think about, the phone rings, and before you pick up the receiver, you know it is that person. Or you think about somebody you haven't thought about for years and miraculously that person calls. Or dreams that come true. Or encounters as Letty has experienced.

So do I believe you have a ghost in your house? I believe you have seen and experienced a phenomenon that reasonably fits the criteria for that, and I really like the idea so long as he isn't disturbing to you.

A few years back, "ghosts" came into my brother in law's home. They continually experienced the unexplainable, even the dog. Then it was explained to them they are living atop a fault line. Oddly, the ghost experiences don't happen, now that they are aware.

Also, not many months after my oldest brother died, I became aware of his warmth in the bed beside me. Even when I became fully awake, I expected to find him asleep there. But when I looked, there was no indication he had been there.

I believe that there are many things in this life we don't yet fully understand, and may never, while we are still here. Some things just can't be explained away with logic and science.

In the meantime, a person either believes or doesn't. Some will try to convince us that it's "all in our head".

I believe, and it has nothing to do with religion.

People have told me ghost stories that happened to them lots of times. While I personally don't believe in them, it's fine with me if others do.

Even after the experience you related above?

Hmm, are you at least open to the possibility that "something exists" after their physical body has died?