Since it is Halloween, I thought I would take this opportunity to share a real live ghost story with you.
It took place in this farmhouse where I grew up on Granite Hill Road in northern Ontario, with my mother, grandmother and two sisters. This photo was taken in 1963.
When my mother was 12 and still living in Toronto, her father passed away during open-heart surgery. Throughout my childhood she spoke very fondly of him and I regretted that I’d never had the opportunity to meet him.
She shared this story with me some years after it happened and I believe her.
The event happened a couple of years after they had moved to the farm. See the window in the lower right corner of the house? That was our dining room, the place where mother experienced this. Here is what happened.
During the winter months the house was hard to keep warm and so the dining room was closed off from the rest of the house. We had our meals in the kitchen at the back of the house where the fireplace kept us warm.
This one particular evening mother was preparing dinner and decided to use some dishes that were kept in a cabinet in the dining room. She went into the dining room and when she returned to the kitchen a brief moment later, with no dishes in her hands, my grandmother noticed that her face was rather pale.
But mother didn’t say a word. Instead, she asked my grandmother if she would go and pick out some dishes. So into the dining room went grandma. She also returned quickly, with no dishes and a pale face.
They took one look at the other and my grandmother nodded instantly when my mother asked “Did you see it?”
This is giving me chills as I write!
What did they both see?
In the corner of the room next to that window was a figure. It had only revealed itself from the chest up and was gently floating on the spot. My mother recalled that it was her father and he was smiling at her.
Both mother and grandma agreed that they had seen the same thing and I don’t doubt either of them.
I don’t understand the phenomena of ghosts, nor can I prove it. But I don’t need proof because I accept it as a very real possibility. I keep an open mind because I too have had a few ghostly experiences in my life.
But, that is another story.
What about you? Have you had any such mysterious experiences? Do you believe in ghosts?
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October 30, 2008 at 11:25 pm
veredd
Wow.
You actually gave me chills!
I think it would be silly to assume that if we can’t prove something then it doesn’t exist. It doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with it, though.
I never had such an experience.
October 31, 2008 at 12:14 am
Betsy
Hi Davina – yes I have! I blogged about it just today. I’ve often felt a presence here and there, and there have been unexplainable things. But when my friend Phil visited me from beyond the grave….I came downstairs and Pete said, “Gee whiz you look like you’ve seen a ghost!” Helloooo….
Wonderful photo of a fabulous house! If Grandpa was smiling, it bears true what the psychics told my friends and me: our guardians are those who loved us!
October 31, 2008 at 12:52 am
davinahaisell
Hi Vered.
I was thinking of you when I was writing this because I know you are a bit skeptical about these things. Happy Halloween! 😉
Hi Betsy.
I loved that house, and I miss the farm terribly! The house stands empty as far as I know. I’m secretly glad that no family has moved in after us. I’ll definitely be over to read your story!
October 31, 2008 at 11:16 am
Robin
Hi Davina – that farmhouse picture is amazing. I had to re-read your first bit to see that it was your family home.
I have never had an experience of ghosts myself. I don’t think ghosts are any different from living people – as far as whether they can hurt us goes. If we are up for being upset or hurt for some reason, it will happen anyway – it doesn’t make much difference whether the perpetrator is alive or dead. It’s only really us out there.
October 31, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Oktober Five
My “ghostly” experiences are usually dreams. Really real dreams that I wake up from wondering if the dream were real and the real dream was being awake.
October 31, 2008 at 2:37 pm
Friar
I’ve had many people tell me about their supernatural or religious experiences. UFO’s, ghosts, angels, psychic dreams, seeing God, etc…
And I dont’ doubt their sincerity.
But I wasn’t there when it happened. Maybe (or maybe not) there’d be a logical explanation. But whatever the reason, I don’t want to just HEAR about it…I want to see it first-hand, MYSELF.
I’d LOVE to experience something spooky/inspiring/enlightening that can’t be explained. Anything…to prove to me that there’s more to life than what we can just see and touch.
But until that happens, I guess I’ll remain the proverbial Doubting Thomas
(…or Doubting Friar!) 😉
October 31, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Urban Panther
I have had several experiences with ghosts (visual and vibes), but I will share this one:
I was about 5, and in bed with a fever. My mother was sitting on my bed. From my bed I could see the doorway. I said to my mother “Who is that?” My mother turned and didn’t see anyone, but she knew from the way I said it, and the way I was looking at the doorway, that I could really see someone. I knew with absolute certainty that the figure in the doorway was there to make sure I was alright.
Fast forward over 20 years, to a phone call from my mother asking me if I remember the event, and if so, could I describe the figure in the doorway. I sure did remember, and I described the figure. There was a long pause, then finally my mother said “You just accurately described the man who built this house.”
My mother had been researching the house, and found pictures of the owner. On a hunch, she wondered if that was who I had seen all those years ago. There is absolutely no way, at the age of 5, I could have known what this gentleman looked like.
October 31, 2008 at 5:26 pm
Dot
My grandmother saw her dead husband, but I haven’t experienced anything like that. I’m with Friar — seeing is believing. I believe it’s possible and that it’s happened to others. I’d like to see it myself (except I’d be terrified and that’s not one of my favorite experiences). I’d like to see my dogs return from beyond the grave.
October 31, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Cath Lawson
Wow Davina – that is amazing. And both of them can’t have imagined it. I’ve felt presences before. Also we’ve all seen a ghost in the house I live in now but I haven’t felt it’s presence since Akemi did my soul reading.
My parents also had a weird experience after my Grandfather died – my mum asked my dad to explain what he’d seen and heard first and she’d experienced the same.
October 31, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Natural
Davina, you have me spooked. Okay. I am officially scared….now tonight I’m going to think I see dead people. I don’t like scary anything.
I used to think I saw people in the house as a child. I don’t think they were dead, I didn’t know them.
Oh yeah, no sleep for me.
October 31, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Julie
What a great story, Davina! Yes, I absolutely believe in ghosts.
It’d be so cool to experience what your mother and grandmother did, but the closest I came is to feel someone standing beside my chair, leaning over and
hugging me.
My friend saw his father the night before “dad” passed. Later, his sister told him his father was wearing the clothes my friend saw in his dream. Months afterward, both my friend and both his sons, on different occasions, saw “grandpa” standing in the corner of their bedrooms, watching them. “Dad” had lived in another state and hadn’t visited their home.
Now you’ve got me wondering what your other ghost stories are! 😉
October 31, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Patricia
Davina – I thought this was a marvelous telling of your story and what a great picture. My Father grew up in Lake of the Woods, Ontario so I have been there a number of times and the picture made memories for me.
When my oldest daughter was 1 my Father died of cancer. He was in a hospice program 30 miles north on I-5 from our house. I was bundling her up and taking her to see Grampa everyday, and until he could not get up any more he was helping her learn to walk.
On this particular November day I was not going to take my daughter to visit but just drive up after my partner got home from work. At the last minute, I just knew I could not wait for him and had to drive the two of us up to the center. It was dark and the parking lot was very crowded when we arrived, and I walked slowly into the entry and hallway and I had to come to a complete stop and just stand for a few minutes. My daughter and I felt wrapped in complete warmth and she nestled into my neck so I know she felt it too, and as the warmth moved passed me I knew that my father had waited for us to arrive to give us a hug goodbye.
My Mother, Aunt and Uncle were in the room with his body and said he had passed about 20 minutes before we arrived.
I often feel that I have been touched by my father and his wisdom over the years since his passing.
It is a reassuring story that you share today. Thank you for writing it.
November 1, 2008 at 4:48 am
davinahaisell
Hi Robin.
Well, luckily this was a friendly ghost :-). Yes that farmhouse is amazing.
Hi Oktober Five.
I’ve had dreams like that. It makes you wonder which is real sometimes that’s for sure.
Hi Friar.
I hear you… on all accounts!
Hi Urban Panther.
That’s freaky. And, amazing that you have this memory from such a young girl still with you.
Hi Dot.
Understandable. The few experiences I’ve had left me shaking my head… and I was definitely not comfortable with it either.
Hi Cath.
Interesting that the spirit appears to have moved out after your reading. Did you get a feeling this was a stranger or someone you knew? It’s neat both your parents could confirm their experiences with each other.
Hi Natural.
Happy Halloween! Sorry you are spooked. Actually, I used to be able to watch horror movies as a child. Now they freak me out too much. And I don’t do Halloween either.
Hi Julie.
Sounds like your experience was comforting. That’s an amazing story you shared about your friend seeing his father the night before he died.
Hi Patricia.
Beautiful recollection you have shared! It gave me chills. Thank you.
November 1, 2008 at 2:21 pm
SpaceAgeSage -- Lori
I’ve never seen a ghost or felt a ghost, so I can’t say for sure. I don’t doubt there is stuff out there beyond the usual five senses and current physics, though.
November 1, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Marelisa
Hi Davina: One time I was visiting my mother in Costa Rica and I met a friend of hers that has gone aboard UFOs several times. He wasn’t abducted, he went voluntarily. He has even been interviewed by NASA and apparently they’ve used some of the information that he’s given them on what he saw aboard the UFOs to create new technology. I’ve never seen a UFO, but I believe him.
November 2, 2008 at 6:20 am
Linda Abbit
Hi Davina,
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a ghost, but I believe it possible. Your family story is fascinating.
I believe our soul or spirit lives on after we die, and there were definitely some “unusual occurrences” in the days after my Dad passed away. They’re too long to write here, but I believe in these things wholeheartedly.
A very close friend of ours passed away last year and a few months ago I had a dream he appeared in and he was so real I’m not sure if I was dreaming or not. Ghost???
November 2, 2008 at 11:30 am
Lance
I believe there are many mysteries in our world, many of which cannot be explained. I have not seen a ghost, but I don’t not believe in them. I do believe that there are many possibilities for things we don’t fully understand. And this certainly qualifies! What an amazing story Davina. A true ghostly experience – and a very powerful example of things beyond our comprehension…
November 2, 2008 at 8:41 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Lori.
It makes things interesting to ponder what is out there and to believe that there is more to us than meets the eye.
Hi Marelisa.
Wow! That’s an amazing story. My father would be interested in that, if he hasn’t already heard of it. He wrote and published a book in the 70’s called The Missing Seven Hours. It was a true story that he wrote based on interviews he had with the subject who claimed to have been abducted numerous times.
Hi Linda.
It could have been that he was communicating with you while you were in your dream state.
Hi Lance.
Mysteries exercise the mind, that’s for sure. I’ve been envious of this story of my mom’s. I wished I’d seen it too.
November 2, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Liara Covert
This is a wonderful way to discover that the soul of your grand father lives on beyond the physical world. For some reason, human beings are conditioned to fear what they do not understand. If you evolve to believe you are an energy being, then you begin to understand that energy flows and changes form. You can think of electricity as an example. The flow and concentrated intensity of energy can illuminate a bulb and light up a room. Yet, you can also turn a switch, redirect that energy and shift the related heat to places beyond physical sight or detection. As an energy being, you can raise awareness of your own inner power and learn to direct or channel your own energy. You can learn do this in this world or learn to raise and lower energy vibration differently after you pass over.
November 2, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Liara Covert
I love Urban Panther’s view shared in this comment stream. Her story reminds people that we often see things in passing and right them off as insignificant. The more you attune to energy, the more you will register.
November 3, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Evelyn Lim
Your picture, with the description of the window and all, made my hairs all stand up. You’d think that I wouldn’t be afraid with myself having a lot of weird experiences. But I was!!
November 3, 2008 at 5:18 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Liara.
It’s all fascinating. Myself, I don’t fear death itself, just how the transition will take place. I enjoyed Urban Panther’s story and the fact that both her and her mother supported each other without a doubt.
Hi Evelyn.
I guess I set the mood huh? 🙂 At least it was a happy ghost though. I don’t think I would shared the story otherwise.
November 4, 2008 at 8:50 am
Evelyn Lim
True, Davina!! My imagination was in an overdrive, as always!! I need to continue to work on my fear of the dark!
November 4, 2008 at 9:11 am
davinahaisell
Hi Evelyn. I have every bit of confidence in you 🙂
November 4, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Jay
This is all very interesting. I’ve never – to my knowledge – seen a human ghost, though my mother did see her mother-in-law after she died. She saw her in her bedroom rummaging through the things on her dressing table, clearly looking for something.
For myself, I felt I had proof of life after death when I lost my first and very beloved dog, Jim. He died a peaceful death here at home from congestive heart failure (when my husband got up that morning he thought Jim was still sleeping) so I was less devastated by his death than I might have been and wasn’t looking for comfort or anything. But a few days later I was sitting at my computer and had the clearest impression of him. He appeared at my side, young again, bright eyes, tail wagging, and woofed that special woof that he had for very exciting and happy occasions – like when we had played ‘sticks’. His youthful and very happy appearance was a great joy. I felt he’d come back to let me know he was OK. Maybe also to say thanks, who knows?
The second dog we lost caused me more grief, even though she wasn’t my ‘heart’ dog and we’d only had her five months. We took her on as an ex-broodie, and unknown to us, she already had kidney cancer which wasn’t to be diagnosed until the last day of her life, when it had already metastasised and she had DIC and she was unsaveable. She’d been to the vet endless times, he hadn’t known what was wrong. Finally I insisted that she be referred to a vet school and that’s when they found it – she was put down immediately.
I grieved about her deeply. Firstly , she was beautiful and deserved better, and I’d been too stupid to get her diagnosed in time, and secondly, in my ignorance one day I hurt her badly trying to lift her – unaware of why and how she hurt.
That dog visited me several times. I felt her fur under my hand. I saw her in the garden. I saw her run past me in the dining room. And then one day, coming to terms with my grief and accepting that it wasn’t entirely my fault she wasn’t treated properly, I told her she could move on. And I never saw or felt her again.
November 4, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Stacey / Create a Balance
I don’t think I have ever experienced the presence of a ghost. I do recognize there is more to this world than we know or can explain, and that includes connections to people who have passed away.
November 4, 2008 at 6:22 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Jay.
Welcome! You story really moved me. Thank you for sharing it here. When I was around 16 I lost a beloved pet. I can understand your feelings. I find it unbearable to see an animal suffer.
Incredible that you felt the second one so strongly. I wonder if your guilt was holding her to you and as soon as you released that, you released her. I’m glad that you were able to clear your guilt.
Hello Stacey.
Yes, life would seem pretty meaningless if we were only what we see.
November 5, 2008 at 5:11 am
Barbara Swafford
Hi Davina – What a fascinating story. Like many of the others, I’ve never seen a ghost, but know people who claim they have. Like you, I don’t doubt them. It’s something that may not be able to be proven, but I also think millions can’t be wrong.
November 5, 2008 at 12:01 pm
Kelly@SHE-POWER
What a great story Davina. Definitely made me shiver. I have a ghost story too.
Apparently, I had a spirit friend as a child. I don’t remember very much, but my family has talked about it a lot over the years. I was about 5 and she would often come at night and get me out of bed and we would pillow fight and trash my bedroom like a slumber party. I swore that she was real and not an invisible friend and at first mom didn’t believe me. She thought I was acting out, but it went on and on and I started falling asleep at all hours in the day from exhaustion. Mom also realised when she’d come in that it did in fact seem like I was playing with someone, but she just couldn’t see them. She consulted a family friend who was a medium and this woman came when I was at kindegarten and got my spirit friend to leave. She never came back and my mom didn’t tell me why until I was much older. Mom says at the time I was heartbroken and couldn’t understand why she wouldn’t visit me anymore.
Freaky huh?
Kelly
November 5, 2008 at 8:03 pm
davinahaisell
Hi Barbara.
I agree, millions can’t be wrong.
Hi Kelly.
That IS a freaky story! This reminds me of a television show called The Ghost Whisperer. Does it run in Australia? A woman connects with spirits who have unfinished business and helps them to cross over into the light.
November 12, 2008 at 12:51 am
Bamboo Forest
I do believe in the phenomenon of ghosts, simply because there are way too many accounts of them. What exactly they are, I have no idea.
But yes, I do believe this phenomenon exists and is unexplained.
November 12, 2008 at 1:12 am
davinahaisell
Hi Bamboo Forest.
I wonder if someday this phenomenon will no longer be “unexplained,” and accepted as a reality. That would be interesting, to be able to talk about it like we can talk about space travel, etc.
November 14, 2008 at 9:13 am
Hicham
I always hear stories like that from my friends specialy from the countryside. I just figure out that such stories are very famous worldwide regardless the society, something that make me wonder about our human nature 🙂
November 14, 2008 at 11:21 pm
davinahaisell
Hi there Hicham.
Thanks for leaving a comment here. Yes, human nature is an interesting thing! I think these topics so much more “normal” or accepted than they used to be. More people are opening up and it invites others to do the same.
June 12, 2009 at 5:19 am
Anonymous
I was in 4th grade and a huge bed wetter! I had moved from my bed to the floor so that I did not wake my parents up. I thought I was back into a deep sleep when I saw lady w/ a red bandana around her head (like an Aunt Jamima thing) holding a baby over her shoulders, walk through my bedroom wall. The room next to that was my Mom’s room…I was frozen for a few minutes because I was 9 and I was scared, then I ran down the hall and jumped into bed w/ my Mom. Our house was full of them but I had only seen 2. But you could feel them all the time. It was all family that had ever lived in that house. Then, there was a bad spirit that just wanted us out after my sisters accident. Bad place. I beilieve in it all! And I have heard, seen and felt. Spooky sometimes, but most of it is harmless.
June 15, 2009 at 6:57 am
davinahaisell
Hi, and thanks for your comment. I would have frozen too no matter what my age, if I saw something like this. It is fascinating though, after the fear subsides and you realize no harm has been done.