Am I a fence sitter?

I think many of us have had strange things happen in our lives that have made us take a step back and say "What the heck?!" A door opens unexpectedly; you hear a voice calling your name but no one is there; you catch a shadow or silhouette but when you turn you don't see anyone; music playing from out of nowhere; footsteps with no one around, etc. For the most part our logical minds have been trained to discount events which defy logical explanation, and so we move on without clear understanding. Sometimes we walk away feeling fearful or creeped out. Sadly we tend to learn, as we age, to ignore those things that we can't see, smell, taste, touch, or hear. So what of the supernatural/paranormal? Do you believe? Do you disbelieve? Are you a fence sitter? You'll believe it when it really happens to you, and you can't discount it? For me, I believe that ghosts and other paranormal events are possibilities. I can't swear they are real but, I can't prove they aren't either. So I have to say I am somewhat of a fence sitter.

I don't have any special abilities, at least none that I would dare boast about.   There have been many occurrences in my life that have given me pause or made me say WTH. Because of these events I have developed a healthy respect for things that are inexplicable. When I discussed these past happenings withother explorers, they pointed out that there were many that were potentially paranormal experiences. To me they were just coincidences, or perhaps even "maybes".

The most recent incident happened when I spent a night at the Pack House Inn located in Edenton, NC. The Pack House Inn, built in Nineteen-fifteen, was originally a Tobacco packing house at the Seventeen Eighty-five Strawberry Hill Plantation. In Nineteen eighty-seven the building was cut in half and moved to its present location., where it was converted into a Bed and Breakfast. The rooms at the Inn are very homey and comfortable, with a lovely touch of luxury.

I was given lodging in a separate building, called the Tillie Bond Cottage. This is where the kitchen is located and the continental breakfast served. My room in the cottage, room twenty-two, was originally Tillie's own bedroom. You can see pictures of it via the link we have posted. Each room at the Pack House Inn/Tillie Bond Cottage offers a split of wine upon check-in. Sadly I could not locate mine and - being the wine connoisseur that I am - did not want to miss out on this treasured amenity. Determined that I had simply overlooked the split, I began a thorough search of the room. During my efforts I discovered a small, narrow door that I assumed to be a coat closet. When I opened it I was amazed to find a dark, cobweb-filled, narrow stair that rose into the lightless blackness above me. I remember thinking, "This is creepy", while pondering whether it would be worth exploration. It was obvious from the dust on the steps that no one had climbed those stairs in a very long time. Not having a flashlight with me, and not wanting to violate the trust of the owners, I closed the closet deciding it was simply none of my business.

I still had luggage to retrieve, and I wanted to see the remainder of the Pack House Inn prior to dark, so Rowdy and I wandered out to explore. Upon returning to the room I discovered the closet was open about three inches. I decided that I may not have latched it securely and the air movement from closing the room door had pulled it open again. I re-secured the door, checking that it was indeed latched, and went about the evening. I returned to the room on three more occasions to find the closet door once again open. Finally, accepting defeat, I left it as I had found it. Before I retired for the night I closed and latched the door and slid a chair beneath it. If I were going to have a late night visitor I wanted to have some early warning. When I awoke in the morning the door remained closed and secured.

This was not the first of the diverse and strange experiences in my life. I remember knowing something was wrong the moment my grandfather died, and making my date take me home. My sister told me that Mom and Dad had left because Grandpa was sick. I told her with absolute certainty that Grandpa had died. I had felt it as we were crossing the Tenth Street Bridge in my home town. She argued that I couldn't know that. Sadly, I knew absolutely that I was right and that our beloved grandfather was gone.

I recall an incident in which I removed my rings for a shower and placed them on the front of my dresser. When I got out of the shower they were gone. I even had someone else search but they were not to be found. About two weeks later, as I was getting out of bed, I found the rings laying in the exact spot I had left them before they disappeared.

I also had a visitation from a beloved pet. My cat of sixteen years used to comfort me whenever I was upset by kneading her paws on me. One day, a few months after she had passed away, I was upset and crying in bed. This was early in the morning, after getting off a night shift. I had just laid down, quietly weeping, when I felt something jump onto the bed, walk across it, and start kneading on my leg. I was certain that I would be able to see Princess if I opened my eyes. Sadly, when I did open them, the kneading stopped and she could no longer be felt. I thanked her outloud for that comfort, and bid her safe travels. I have never had a visitation from her again, perhaps because I moved away from that house.

There are several encounters which have occurred in different hospitals where I've worked. In one hospital, on two separate occasions, I saw a young girl with long blond hair walking into a room in the ICU. Each time she went into the same room, and I saw her either out of the corner of my eye or in a reflection. I only saw her from the back and she resembled one of the respiratory therapists that worked there, and so I assumed that was who I was seeing. The room the girl walked into was the area where we stored extra respiratory supplies. Both times I followed the girl into the room to discuss some aspect of patient care that I needed her help with. The first time the room was empty and dark. The second time the room actually had a patient in it, but the family denied that anyone had entered the room. When I later spoke with this respiratory therapist she informed me she had not been in the area either time. On one of those two occasions she wasn't even working. The other she was at the opposite end of the hospital, and had documentation to prove it. I subsequently asked other employees if they had noticed anything similar. They reported that there had been numerous sightings of a young blond girl over the years. They believed it was a 15 year old who had passed away in that particular room of the ICU.

The second eerie occurrence happened at a different hospital in the same city. A co-worker and I had to bring the morgue cart to the ICU for a patient who had passed away. We had to retrieve the cart from the basement morgue cooler, and on the way down the co-worker was talking about the creepy events that have happened to her in the basement. When we pulled the cart from the cooler and started back to the ICU we noticed that condensation was occurring on both rails of the cart. We were both pushing it from the right side. We then noticed the absence of condensation at the head of the left rail. There we observed a large hand print. Needless to say we made fast tracks out of the basement, although we did not leave the cart behind. Duty before fear!

The last hospital event occurred in Oregon. I was working in Emergency when a dying patient was rushed in by a flight crew. A lengthy resuscitation was finally called to an end and the staff were preparing the deceased patient for her family to arrive. I was charting at a computer approximately ten feet from the room where the resuscitation had occurred, when my peripheral vision caught site of a man standing outside the door of the room. He was looking around the nursing station and occasionally looking back at the patient. He was tall - stood an inch or so below the top of the door -with sandy hair, a white shirt, blue jeans with a belt, and appeared to be in his early fifties. After about ten minutes, I turned to offer him a chair and a drink if he needed it. I was certain that it must have been a family member waiting for the staff to allow him in the room to be with his mother. When I turned my full attention to the door, there was no one there. None of the other staff reported seeing anyone standing by the door, nor did they ever have any similar incident in the past.

My dad used to live in a house that was always purported to be haunted. There had been numerous sightings and strange incidents. One room upstairs was called the "room with the eyes" by all the grandkids, and my youngest sister. They used to get scared staying in that room. One day while I was staying there, trying to get some sleep after a night shift, I heard a very loud bang in the hallway. Sometimes I get grumpy when I don't get sleep and this was immediately after I had gone to bed.   I simply yelled,"I don't care if you're here but you have to be quiet". Later that day, when I woke up, I found a phone book laying in the hall outside the bedroom door. I was never bothered again while I trying to sleep.

Many people, including a close friend of mine, reported seeing an old woman walking around in the upstairs. I personally had the feeling that a child with the aging disease had been locked away in a crawl way under the eaves, which was behind the closet in the "room with the eyes". When I discovered the crawl way door I opened it. I immediately felt a cold chill in the center of my chest and a sense of despairing from a young child who appeared old.  I whispered words of welcome and comfort to him, as that felt like what he needed.

The most terrifying incident of my life occured while I was attending college. I worked as an on-site manager for a trailer park to help put myself through school. One evening I received a phone call from a family member of a resident who stated that she hadn't seen him in a week. He was an individual who always kept to himself, was frequently gone visiting family, and listened to the radio from his couch in the evenings. At night his trailer lights were always on until very late, his music playing, and his shadow could be seen sitting on his couch.

Upon checking on this man I found him long deceased in his trailer -sitting slumped on the couch in his boxers with his music playing. The only thing amiss was the accumulation of mail in his mailbox, which the postman never reported (even though two checks remained in the box). The coroner reported the tenant had been dead for at least ten days, due to the advanced state of decomposition.

The trailer was beyond saving as a rental due to the overwhelming odor inside. The man's family had cleared his salvageable belongings and the trailer - owned by the park management company - was donated to the Salvation Army who planned to gut it to use for office space.

A tow driver arrived to pick up the trailer and I was there to ensure they didn't damage any of the park structures. The water, gas, electric, and sewage pipes were located next to the space, along with a very large tree. While I stood next to the trailer I had time to study the features. It was a newer model and was in great shape. I observed that all the rivets were in place and tight, the fan over the stove was open, the windows were in good shape, there were no marks, dents, or rust on the exterior, etc. I stood next to this trailer looking at all these things for approximately twenty minutes, while the driver hooked up to it and prepared to move it. I also had another young woman on the opposite side, ensuring that the awning next to it didn't get damaged when the trailer was moved. Needless to say, I had time to study it thoroughly and closely.

Once the trailer was finally out of the space and lined up for towing the driver asked me to go inside  and open the back window of the bedroom so that he could apply towing lights. I ran around the trailer and did as he requested, leaving the other young lady guarding it. She stood on the same side where I had been, but at the opposite end where the back door was located. The smell inside the trailer was abominable and, sadly, I observed some of the tenants personal items which his family had left behind. Items that were of a questionable nature for such a kindly old man.

When the lights were secure  I left the trailer by the back door where I had entered (which was the opposite end from where this gentleman had died) and returned to the spot where I had been standing before. Looking up at the side of the trailer I immediately saw the words "DONT ENTER AGAI_". The N of the word was only partially completed, as if someone had been disturbed in the middle of writing it. The upward then downward lines were there, but only a small portion of the third line was completed. These words were scratched into the paint of the trailer right next to the window where I had been counting the endless number of flies and noting all the secure rivets. The raw metal was shiny in the sunlight so it immediately drew my full attention.

I could not contain the scream. My assistant immediately asked me what was wrong. I showed her the words, and asked who had been there while I was inside. She was positive that no one had approached the trailer at any time. She had a clear view and had been looking in that direction.
I knew, as soon as I saw the words, that I had dodged something very unpleasant. Standing in the warm sunlight of that day I promised out loud, "Don't worry. I won't."

These are but a few of the many events that I've experienced over the years. Things that made me stop and say, "what the heck". I am not a novice with death, having served in healthcare for over 27 years. Still, I wonder. Are things that "go bump in the night" actually paranormal, or simply our minds reminding us that we have so much more potential if only we could clear the cobwebs and use all of our brain.   
For now, I will continue to be the "Doubting Thomas" of our exploring duo. I will question every event and attempt to verify which happenings are explicable through logical and identifiable sources. I will leave it to you, dear reader, to make your own judgements.

We will continue our exploits, and report only that which we experience ourselves. There will be no added drama, just curiosity and a healthy sense of adventure. We hope that you will remain with us as we enjoy our ghostly explorings.

Many Bright Blessings,

L