Do You Believe in Ghosts?

I'm serious when I'm asking this question. I really didn't have an opinion on this subject until we moved into our new house in 2006. You would think a newly built house would not have other inhabitants, right? Well ours did/does. The first time we noticed it was one night when Kory was thawing out some hamburger in the microwave. One child was asleep, the other downstairs with us--both too small to reach the microwave. Kory put the package of hamburger in the microwave, set the timer, and came back downstairs to watch tv. We had only been in the house maybe 3 months--it had been raining all day. He went back upstairs to check on the hamburger, and the microwave door was open, the hamburger unthawed, and there was still time left on the timer. I just thought Kory had lost his mind. . . until I remembered seeing a tennis ball in our closet a few days earlier. We don't own any tennis balls. The day care next door doesn't have any tennis balls, and our dog does not play with tennis balls. At the time I thought it was strange but kind of shrugged it off. . . until the microwave event. Then the next weekend I woke with a start. . . I ALWAYS turn a fan on in our bedroom before I go to bed. . . the noise helps me sleep--along with the air movement. I turned it on that night, and when I woke with a start about 1/2 hour after I went to sleep, the fan was off. I got up and went to turn it back on. . . nothing happened. What the. . . ? So I turned on my light, and it turns out the fan was unplugged. At that moment, I knew we had a ghost. We had to be careful not to talk about it in front of Morgan--but at the same time it was very hard not to. We didn't want to scare her. I would go through each occurrence in my head, questioning every possibility, but a ghost was the only explanation. We even asked the builder of the house about it--what used to be here many years ago? The only thing they knew was that there used to be a pig farm here--great.

It seemed like for a while we would notice little things after that. . . the fireplace would shut off by itself (gas) when we didn't have it set on the thermostat. . .weird things like that. . . but nothing like the 3 things I listed above. . . that is until recently. Our dog never acted strange when the ghost was around. . . until recently. About 2 months ago, Kory was downstairs watching tv, and I was upstairs in bed. Kory said Zoe (the beloved pooch) kept looking at the pictures on the ledge of my mom and dad. My dad passed away 9 years ago. She has never seen him. He did love dogs, and I know he would have had a soft spot for Zoe. She has NEVER even noticed those pictures before. . she usually just lays down while we're watching tv, but that night he said she was different. She sat there just looking up at those pictures like she knew him. I'm sorry I missed it. And then tonight. . . we got home from swimming lessons, and the light switch just inside the house by the door coming in from the garage would not turn the lights on. So, Morgan went to the top of the stairs where there was another light switch for those same lights--nothing. All the other lights worked. Then Kory went downstairs to hit the other light switch for those lights, and that one worked--then the other ones worked. Now I'm sure there's some sort of logical explanation for this light switch phenomenon, but my explanation is our little ghost friend.

I've never felt threatened. . . so maybe it is my dad--he would do those kind of silly things just to tease me. And he would get a good laugh out of doing those kinds of things too. And what about those times when I'm having a really bad day, and it just so happens that a Don Williams song comes on the radio (who plays him anymore?) or when I was really stressed out and on my way to work and I would see Dad's old Dodge? I don't know--those could all be easily disputed in some scientific study I'm sure, but for me, I prefer to think my dad is telling me that everything is going to be all right. . . stop stressing. . . appreciate what I have. . . and most of all appreciate my family.