My two grown sons let me know that my birthday present and my Christmas present is combined this year and I’d have to wait for Christmas, but that it would be well worth it. Immediately, I became nosy and bugged them for clues and hints. As usual they ignored me. I knew my husband had to be involved so I began to pester the life out of him. My gut was telling me the boys were planning a surprise visit on Christmas Eve and if my husband knew this to be true he needed to tell me so I wouldn’t mail their Christmas presents. Upstairs we have three bedrooms, but only two of them furnished with beds. If they’re coming we need to buy another bed to accommodate them as my husband’s son has plans for sure to visit over Christmas. Then there is the matter of presents…if they’re coming then I don’t need to mail their packages…if they aren’t coming then I need to mail them. Then there’s the matter of buying all the snacks and treats all our boys love. I have to know what to have ready, don’t I? Somehow my husband wasn’t biting and I was getting nowhere. I seemed to be really worried about the sleeping situation so I asked my husband to call one of the boys and find out for sure what they were going to do. If my husband knew for certain they were coming then HE could go out and buy a bed but not tell me why and then if the boys asked he could say he never told me. Made perfect sense to me but my husband still claimed not to know anything. I gave up.
Our house is 137 years old and reputed to be haunted. Right after we moved in several of our neighbors asked us if we’d seen or heard anything unusual. When they told us it was haunted, we laughed it off. One evening while my husband was away at work I heard very loud footsteps above on the second floor. Certain someone was in the house I ran for the back door and had my key in it ready to flee when I stopped in my tracks. The alarm system was on and there is carpet on the floors upstairs and no way someone could have made those footsteps. The hair stood up on the back of my neck. Plucking up courage I made my way to the upstairs and found no one. Other times both my husband and I have heard sounds as if someone is driving around the house but when we look, no one is there. Not long after that we met a woman and her son who for several years lived in the house. They asked us if we’d heard or seen anything unusual. I kept quiet wanting to hear what she had to say. That’s when she told us about the confederate soldier who walks through the house, the woman in white (not sure who she is) and the horse and carriage that can be heard in the gravel drive that goes all the way around the house. We were told a local TV story was done on the house and it’s haunting so we were pretty sure about what we’d seen and heard. Okay…I told you that to tell you this. Last Monday I was in the kitchen about to prepare supper. My husband was in the back bedroom watching TV with the door closed. Our living room is at the front of the house. I can see through into the living room from the kitchen via French doors. All of a sudden the TV in the living room comes on. Now, I KNOW there is no one in the living room and I sort of went, uh-oh…here we go again. I thought about calling my husband but instead tiptoed over to the French doors. The only light came from the flickering TV. There, sitting on the sofa was a dark figure. My mouth dropped open and my eyes widened. I froze on the spot and was afraid to move when I realized...hey, wait a cotton picking minute. I took another step closer and realized there was someone sitting on the love seat as well. Have you ever seen something and just didn’t believe it? That’s what happened to me. I just didn’t believe it…then suddenly it hit me. They’re not ghosts…they’re my sons sitting there looking at the TV...then they both broke out laughing and I yelled in delight and excitement. I tore open the French doors and after hugs and kisses I told them they almost gave me a heart attack. They’d told me my gift was coming around Christmas to throw me off them coming for Thanksgiving. They were here five wonderful days and we packed a lot into them. Our ghosts didn’t make themselves present while my sons visited but they’re hoping they will on their next visit.