Please read with the lights off

Come on in kids & I'll tell you a tale. A tale of things that go bump in the night & ghostly whispers that rattle your insides.

MMMuuuaaahhhhhh!

First I must tell you , I don't believe in ghosts....kind of...sort off...well sometimes I do. I strongly believe that our brains are the one freaking us out most of the time.

Most of the time

I can explain "scary things" away...just like I have the ability to explain "spiritual things" away. (That's not such a good thing when one struggles to hold on to The Religion.)

Ghosts may or may not exist. I have seen, felt & heard things that to the average emotional train wreck could be viewed as "unexplainable ghostly activity." All those times...I have been able to use my very black/white thinking to dig deeper & figure out what is really happening. My brain/overactive imagination...on scare mode, was usually the culprit.

There have only been 2 time in my life that I could not explain away what has happen to me. 2 times that I have felt my blood turn to ice & my body scream from every crevice. 2 times I have felt...shear, blinding, terror.................

This story is an account of one of those times. Do you dare to read further?

Love Affair

Anyone who know me, knows I love, adore, devour old houses. I was 6 when I moved into a sturdy, stone barn built in 1850. I soon fell in love with the wonder of old homes, thanks to our stone barn in Poedunkville.

When I was 14, my friends & I went to my towns 4th. of July fest. The focal of the festival was an old, run down, dilapidated house. The food, beer tents & carnival rides were set up on her sprawling grounds. I was instantly in love with her. I begged my friend to take a tour, but they were much more interested in the Whirlly Gig. So I wanderer over to the front door & was let in. For 2 hours I stayed in the house. Peppering the chagrined older women with questions. I adored the musty, moldy smell of the place. She had once been grand. The largest, modern house in the county. She slowly, over time lost her crown. She was abused, burned, vacated, flooded, infested. And now....she sat. Just a handful of volunteers who loved her.

Mr. Doles office. Main floor





Mr. Doles bedroom. 2nd. floor





I told them that I would volunteer. Eye brows raised. Necks craned for the nearest knowledgeable person. "Can a kid be on our team? She's a bit young." The answer I received was "Honey, we'll take all the help we can get!"




So for the next 6 summers I worked the house during our Lake Side fest. Preparations would take weeks to clean & prepare the house. Our little group of volunteers had virtually no money, no city support & hardly any neighborly support. Some even argued for years to tear her down. (I would have strapped myself to her grand staircase before I let anyone touch her.)

J.J. & I taking a much needed break at the foot of the grand staircase.





My friend & I were the youngest people on the team. We were a rag tag bunch. A handful of powerful older women, a few of their aged husbands. There was Bob...who never spoke, just rocked back & forth on his feet & mumbled. Bob came hand in hand with Tim. A wirey 20 something year old man. Both Bob & Tim were mentally impaired. But that didn't matter to anyone. They work as hard as anyone else & loved the house just as much as we did.

J.J., Tim & I modeling on top of a very cool, very vintage Tin Lizzie. J.J. & I are dressed in real, honest to goodness flapper dresses circa 1927.



Tim was constantly scurrying around the house. I would catch him smoking cigarettes & I would yell at him...chase him out of the house. He gave me gum & took me on adventures around the house. Once he swear he saw something hanging in the burnt rafters on the 3rd floor. The third floor was quite...desolate. It had five rooms. One of the rooms was to unsafe to go into. The floors couldn't hold the weight of a field mouse. Next to that was a small room that use to lead up to the tower/turret at the very tippy top of the house. But the tower burned in a fire, so only the stair room with steps leading to now where was all that remained. There was an old work room. A chapel for the family, and a maids chamber. Years ago the part that held the large maid chamber burned. Behind the locked servants door, was half a room, no window, dark & singed for the decade old fire. Tim & I grab flash lights & headed into the black as tar room. I shined a flash light as 90 lb. Tim shimmied up the rafters to find...........an old cloth. Nothing special. Nothing cool. Just some old tattered cloth. We laughed as we tumbled out of the room covered in dust & old ash. Slapping each other on the back, teasing each other for thinking we found some treasure.



I tell you that because I was never afraid of the house. I rummaged around in pitch black burnt rooms. I would sneak into the house at night just to sit in the windows looking at the lake.

One of the many window seats. I would sit in the turret tower on the 3rd floor on my breaks during the fair. Successfully freaking out the people the people below. The "girl in the window" routine actually got people to buy tickets. They hoped to catch a glimpse of "the ghost in the window."

I worked alone in the vast mansion while the crew went to lunch and I never felt threaten or scared. On the contrary, I felt safe.




The Jen's bringing the glam to the dusty mansion.




I was 20 the last year I worked there. My life would soon pull me away from the house. I felt it was time to go. I had so many great time at the Dole. I cherished my memories there. I was excited to move on but terribly sad to leave my old friend behind. Her days were beginning to be numbered. I was afraid she would soon be deemed to unsafe to show to the public. I wished I had millions to donate. But all I had was my hands. All I could do is scrap her floors & place worn decorations around the house one last time.



The summer night was warm & thick. There was only one air condition unit in the house. And that was in a front porch turned dressing room/ staff lunch room. The rest of the house dripped with humidity. 7 people including my friend J.J were down on the main level working away. Cleaning, making posters for the fair & pulling out the decorations. J.J & I were hunched over a poster when one for the volunteer's, stooped with age cried out "If I have to climb those damn stairs one more time I will shot somebody! Auuggg, I need the dried flowers from the 3rd floor. I will pay anyone one great sums of $$ if they skitter up there & get those flowers." No one moved...we all just giggled. "You...Jenny! You are a full century younger then me, get your backside up there!"




I gladly went for her.




Up the grand staircase I went. Standing at the top of the 2 nd floor, the summer sun set made the ceilings explode with reds and yellows. Oh how I loved this place. I made my way over to the next stair case. Up, up, up to the 3rd floor I rose. I see the dried flowers sitting on the old work table in the butler/work room. The light from the windows illuminate the dust that swirls around in the air. Grabbing a wooden bucket, I plop the dead, dusty flowers into it. As I walk back to descend the staircase all I could think was "I really need to buy some new flowers cuz these are gross"


The menacing staircase leading up to the 3rd. floor.





What happens next...last for only 4 seconds at the most. But the memory has lasted a life time.


In my left hand I hold the bucket. My right rests lightly on the mahogany handrail. It's smooth and graceful under my fingers. I begin to descend the stairs.



One step.


I am hit with a swoosh of freezing cold air. It startles me, because the house is swimming in summer soup.



Next step, my foot hovers over the next step.




THWACK!


I am thunked on the back which such force it knocks the air from my lungs. I was hit...internally.... square on my back. My ribs felt like they buckled.



The force of the hit sends me falling down the stairs.



The bucket of flowers sail through the air. Bang! bang! Bang! Down the steep stairs it tumbles. Flowers for the dead fly through the air. I can feel my lips turn blue, it's so cold.



I close my eye & tell myself to go limp. The best was to survive the next 14 step is to just go...dead limp.




Eye squeezed tight, I fall. I wonder if my face will be the first thing to hit the stairs. "go limp, golimpgolimpgolimp" Do I die today?








Warmth.





Warmth on my chest.





Another thump, but this time it's stabilizing, not harsh. My chest is warm.




I open my eyes as both my feet plant firmly, with a thud.....5 curved steps down from where I first took flight.




I stand, upright, firmly rooted....5..... freak'n........ steps down. Cold air swirls around my back, but my chest...was warm. As if someones hand their hands on my chest.....................Holy mother of bat droppings!





All I hear is my breath , ragged like I had run a mile race. I pant & pant. With in 4 seconds I was happily making my way down a steep curve staircase that I have gone up & down on 15,000 times before to being violently internally pushed, then gently stopped. What the Hell's Bells was that for?!



I'm mad & horrified at the same time.




The blood pounds in my ears. I clutch at my breast trying to feel the invisible hand that held me. The house is sweaty again. The cold gust has dissipated. All is normal.




Then




I run like hell down the rest of the stairs. All I hear behind me is POP! POP! POP! I say out loud, "It's the old wood popping up as my foot leave the stair. Does it all the time.... not scared notscarednotSCARED"




But there ain't no way I'm looking back! I grab the buckets & the clump of flowers & run down the next stair case. The old stairs POPPING up behind me.




Safe on the main floor I stand...sucking in musty air. Shaking. Confused. I gather myself cuz the last thing I wanted to do was tumble into the front room all 'damsel in distress" mode. I back myself up against a wall....watching the staircase. Calming my heart rate. I am soothed by the chit chat behind me. I try to explain to myself what just happened. But I can't think. I don't want to remember. I just want to get out.



5 minutes. 10 minutes. Who knows how long I stand there collecting myself. When I finally turn the corner I see J.J. legs crossed chatting with an older man. Everyone is smiling. I am calm. I am safe. I walk into the room. I place my misshapen wooden bucket on a table & go back to my poster. Head down, I breath.....I breath. I am safe.




The old lady sees me. "took you long enou...oh my gawd! Are you ok? You are white as a sheet! It's as if you saw a ghost!"




That night I walked out of the mansion, I didn't look back. I just hoped on my bike & rode home in the dark.













I still love old houses. I still to this day can not figure out what happened on that 3rd floor stair case. I still don't know if I believe in ghost. But one thing is for sure......Houses are


alive!







As for the Dole Mansion.....well, follow the link to find out what has happened to her.
http://www.lakesidelegacy.org/dole-mansion.html

Bury the Disturbed - 7

I feel naked with my newly cut hair. Dressed in a snappy brown suit.

My feet ached. My head felt swollen.

I stood,

walked,

avoided,

sat in corners.

I smiled & hugged & assured everyone that "yes, the man in the pink shirt is my mothers son. Yes, my Dad is fine...(dumb fluckers....my mothers dead...seriously? Don't ask if I or Dad are FINE as we stand next to our DEAD mothers/wife open coffin you stink'n jello for brains! GAH!)

6 hours I stood, in a sweltering funeral parlor at my mothers viewing. People who long ago left my mothers life filtered in & out to view the train wreck & say crap like "I always admire your mother." Big fatty fat, fat Liar, you dropped her as a friend once you found out she had cancer of the breast. Afraid "it" would rub off on you. Heaven forbid she should bump your elbow & have all your hair fall out in clumps!

"She looks lovely" Really? Whatever...she is wearing PURPLE eye shadow...it don't go well w/ death pallor GRAY.



"God needed her." Soooo a 15 year old girl didn't? Wow...your God is one greedy, needy man. I have decided I don't like him much.



"The good die young" Ok, I won't even start to to explain to your simple mind how disturbing that is...move along you nut case!




I remember all disturbing comments, looks & sighs of that day in slow motion. Slowwwww moOoOo...standing..wearing pantie hose...in a funeral parlor...on a summer day set on broil. (Just to warn you...parlors have a weird smell. Add that weird smell to a 96 degree, humid day & you get....steamed death...delishhhh.)


Even though that day was Disturbing...there was so bright, funny, shining moments I cling to.




Laughter.




My balm.





The first laughter relief came from a family friend named Mike & his collage age daughter. Mike, taking my hand & dragging me to the far back wall of the parlor...away from the corpse that stole my Mothers happy form. I was deeply aware of him taking me from that view & setting me up at the back. I loved him that moment. Then he did something that took my breath away. He said.



"What the HELLS with all these DAM$ FLIES? Their everywhere! It's not good for business! Flies in a funeral parlor says DEATH."


And for the next 15 minutes Mike, his daughter & I laughed & cackled at the jokes we traded (mostly at the visitors expense...the fake friend ones) Mike held my arm, his daughter touching me on the back....bringing me back to life.


Lovely Mike died a few months after that day. Heart attack at 48. The thought of his wife & daughters standing at his wake made me ill.




Second laughter rescue was sweet & giggly. The kind you get as you see your crush walk through the school cafeteria......as you bash into a pillar (No joke) watching him catching a glimpse of you....walking face first into said pillar.


Oh sweet mercy...The Boy. The Boy...at...... my moms FUNERAL...oh man this SUCKS! Does my breath smell? My hair feels weird! What do I say to The Boy? "Hello Boy...you remember my mom?" Do I do a ventriloquist trick? Throw my voice? "Well hello there sonny! Nice to see you again? Please excuse me if I just lay here."



The mere sight of The Boy makes my knee caps explode. I want to push him out the door horrified that he has to see...this. Death. Yet, wanting to cling to him & bury my nose in his collar & beg him to take me fishing, biking, reading...take me anywhere, but here!



I giggle like a school girl....because...... I am one....as he stands by me. "Hi Jenny."


Holy crap, he said my NAME.



"Hi Boy" giggle. "Sorry your mom dragged you here. I know this is weird." giggle



"I'm sorry about your mom. I wasn't dragged here by the way...Mom let me drive."



"Wow...you are so cool. Such a big boy driving."




"I know...you're jealous."



Here is were I catch a whiff of his deodorant mixed with boy...& I lose consciousness for a moment.



"Do you need anything? Gum? A gun? Sleeping aids? My moms a wreck...I have to drive her home now...she's going to embarrasses us by crying. See you later?"





"Thanks Boy"



He waves Goodbye to me.



Where am I?



I'm floating.




Oh mY HeCK! I was hitting on The Boy at my moms VIEWING! I am sick!




The rest of the viewing I stand, feet swelling in my heels & a goofy smile on my face.







Third and last laughter happens toward the end of the viewing. Before I see them...I feel them. I am startled by the sensation. The voice is clear. "they came for you."

I twirl around & face the parlor doorway....waiting. I feel them first....then I see it. The neon glow on the wall facing the parlor wall. The white wall become saturated by pink then yellow...orange. Oh how I love them....my friends...they come for me....SWEET Mother of PINE NUTS! My friends...coming off the camping trip...to see my dead mother! Crappy Pants! I'm embarrassed. I'm so tired of people looking at her this way. No more! I'm done & fling off my shoes & bolt for the parlor doorway. Like a good comedy I collide into 6 very sunburned, very stinky, very tired girls & their mothers. I push them away from the doorway. I do not allow them in. I want to bask in their Day-Glo shirts, their short shorts & their camp fire perfume. . We hug & hug & burst out laughing at the sight of them. They beg my forgiveness. They all decided to come straight to the viewing after driving 3 hours back from camp. What 15-16 year old girl decides to leave camp early, smelly & ratty haired...to a funeral? Girls who didn't give a rats tush for themselves. Girls who would do anything for me.




I am in love. I am surrounded by love. I pick chunks of woodland creatures out of their hair. They give me back rubs & tease me about my suit. They strain to see my mothers body...through the parlor doorway. I don't let them in. They understand.




They hand me candy.



Oh so loved!











Standing at her grave for her service I saw The Boy far in the distance. Later that night he came to my door. While my family, Grandma, Aunts, Uncles chatted in the back ground after a long day of dealing w/ death. He sat close, knee to knee with me as we ate Kentucky Fried Chicken. occasionally bumping shoulders with me as we told jokes & gossiped. We drank New York Seltzer ....blueberry. He touched the tips of my fingers every so often. & I thanked the Lord above for my happy distraction. He stayed with me...until everyone left for their hotel rooms at 12 am. To this day, I don't think he knew how much that meant to me. How much that saved me. A young boy who I know felt terribly uncomfortable in this situation he was in, still stayed. He forgot himself & he helped a friend.








My sunburned friends called & called. Not to say sorry, but to invite me out. Movies, shopping, parties. They held my hands walking down the halls of school my sophomore year. We traded clothes & we shared make-up. They asked if it made me sad when they talked about their moms. They pretended not to notice how my eyes welled up as they spoke of their moms. They didn't avoid the word "mom." I wanted to hear that word...because all the adults around me refused to say it. Afraid they would upset my little girl psyche.











Most of the adults avoided me...or wanted to stuff me into school therapy...yeah that didn't work out to well. Adults were afraid of me...except my cranky band teacher. After my mother died, my Dad bought me an electric bass. He dropped me off at school in the summer so my band teacher could give me private lessons. The day I sat down w/ my sunburst colored bass, Mr. Keyes asks me how my summer was going.


"My mom died 2 weeks ago."


Silence......"No one told me. I'm so sorry......wow....that's really...... sh%tty......"



Then

Mr. Keyes & I laugh at the absurdity of it all. He hugs me for a second, around my neck with his lumber Jack arm...his signature move...nearly snapping my clavicle.







"Wow kid....If you ever need just to hang out...you come to me. If your day gets too hard to handle I can get you out of class. But if you do come here to escape, you must escape w/ your bass & practice. No weenies or free rides allowed...ok kid? Well...let's do this. Ok, the string are just like your upright bass....."



And so....my life went on.



My mother died at 51 from pneumonia complications after her body was eaten by bone cancer brought on by breast cancer. My father was 50. I was 15.

Summer after my freshman year. My moms death left me with a hole in my little heart. But my mom never left me to struggle on alone. She was a crafty smart women. I have no doubt it was she who whispered into my sunbaked friends heads..."bypass showering & go to her." Mike...make her laugh." "Dear Boy, just swallow the oddness & sit with her" "Mr. Keyes...don't let her slack off & DON'T treat her with kidd gloves."





My mom might have left us too soon, but she made sure she stuffed that hole with friends, hope, music and experiences that would sop up the oozing pain. How relieved she must have felt when friends and adults tucked me under their wings. How giddy she felt when anyone looked at her daughter & asked......

"Hey, do you want to talk about your mom?"

And I wonder how she must feel when I remember her with stories.

People do not die for us immediately, but remain bathed in a sort of aura of life

which bears no relation to true immortality but through which they continue to

occupy our thoughts in the same way as when they were alive

It is as though they were traveling abroad - Marcel Proust

I laugh in your Disturbed face - Part 6

Mom's dead...check.

Dogs feed..... check.

Got Dad standing upright...check.

Next order of business on the day of my mothers death...call...my...friends.

Let me just say....having to call your buddies to tell them "Hey, my Moms been promoted to Subterranean Truffle Inspector" Is...not...cool. It's uncomfortable & weird. But it had to be done. For I was all geared up to go camping w/ some girlfriends in the Dells. But now I couldn't go....oh nooo, Mom had to awake to life immortal & leave me to tend to death crap. Uggg so unfair!

My friends were good friends, who knew my mom had cancer. So it wouldn't be a surprise to them that she died...right? Ummmmm, wellll.

Deep breath.
Exhale.
Pick up phone.
Dial Noel.
Tell her I can't go camping.

"Hello?"

"Hey Noel, listen...I can't go camping this weekend."

"What? But we always go camping? Why can't you go?"

Crappppppp. The words didn't want to form. How can I tell her this...oh geez is she going to cry? I can't take this!

"Well.....ummmmm...Iiiiii."

"Jen, are you ok?"

I don't quite know what happened. It was devastating. It was horrifying. And it was down right hilarious. I...started...to...giggle...then laugh....hard. I paniced! Here I was calling my friend to tell her my mom died & I'm LAUGHING?!

"Noel, "giggle" I... "breath innn" It's Mom..."Bawwwwhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" (Insert laugh here. Uncontrollable laughing... so hard that I can't breath & tears are running down my face) She DIED today..."HEheheheheheheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

"Oh my Gowd Jen...are you...LAUGHING?!"

Panicked, I try to make it sound like I'm crying, but it comes out as a weird meowing sound.


"You are laughing...what the hell is wrong with you?! Your moms dead?! Is this some sort of joke?!"

Poor Noel was so upset. She starts to cry on the phone over the devastating news that her friends mother is worm food & I am laughing so hard I swear I hear a rib pop. I lie & tell her it's hard to talk & could she please pass the word on to our friends.

Oh to laugh. Such a beautiful cathartic thing. I was so...tired of CRYING. The laughter took me by surprise I must admit. It felt so good, but so wrong!

The next few days were a whirl wind. Calls were put out to family. Dad & I trudged off to buy a coffin (very expensive & very PINK...really Dad? Really?) Write an Obit. Order a head stone. Talk to the church. Call her work. Pick out her clothes. (I dressed her in a horrible school marm outfit. It was dark blue w/ tiny bunches of flowers on it....my Mom will kill me for that) Call the funeral director about 5 times trying to get things right.

Calls you never want to have to make....here is a sample.

"Hello funeral director guy. Yeah it's me again...Jenny. Yeah...um you told me to pick out clothes for moms viewing. Yeah...ummm...do I need to pick out ...underpants?"

Yes......really...I did make that call. And if you are wondering, mom went commando. Well, the director said I didn't need to bring undies...or shoes...or stockings if I didn't want to. (But I do need to pick out a bra...ummm...ok) Her feet wouldn't show...& he had underthings already there. Or DID he? I didn't have much faith in the man because...well remember back ....this is the same man who probably looked at my mom after her death makeover & ok'ed it. Her wig was on BACKWARDS & she had on PURPLE eye makeup on. 2 words for you...... GAR-ISH. "Good job Fred. Your make up application is like art. You have successfully turned this poor 51 year old women who's body was ravished by cancer into a painted whore. It's beautiful work Fred. Brings a tear to my eye."











I really hope Mom wasn't commando...but I did think about it...all...day...long. Her...in her PINK casket....quite possibly pantie-less. Easy breezy.









I laugh to myself over the thought. Soon tears stream down my face. My belly hurts from trying to stuff my gut busting laughter into my bowels . Shoulder shake. Eyes squint. Tears, Tears.








Beautiful laughter.





Whispers float around me.





"Poor Dear, she's so shook up. So hard to lose a mother."









Thank the Lord these women think I'm crying. If they only knew...if they only knew.

Mom approves panty humor...no really, she does.

Would this face lie about panty humor? I don't think so.

Bobby, I should be disturbed - Part 5

House.

Empty.

Shell.

Drained.

Home again with no mother. Mom's dogs whimper at the door when Mom doesn't follow behind us. I see their little scruffy feet scratch the garage door. "Mom's dead & she ain't coming back you stupid mutts"

The bitterness begins...and will never quite leave me. Soon the dogs give up on their scratching & then....lay down in front of the garage door, their stinky muzzles resting on their paws. There they would stay for weeks at a time. They never again whimpered, I swear they understood my words..."she's dead." Watching their dejected little faces, my heart broke for them. My heart broke for my moms loyal dogs. The thought made me giggle.

I find my father standing frozen, staring out our patio door. Such a beautiful, bright summer day. We are stuck. At a stand still. Stale. Upended. What the hell do we do now? Do we eat? Make phone calls? Put on lipstick? How does one go about their life when a loved one dies?

So there we were, a tragic little family. 2 mangy mutts slumped by the door, Dad in a trance, looking at nothing and me, wind blown hair I hadn't brushed for 8 hours (which for a girl is a rare thing) 15 years old going on 35.

We stand for minutes, hours, days...not breathing. Finally Dad drifts off upstairs to change & I am left alone. I find myself pushing the button on the stereo. Afraid I will hear my Dad weep at any moment, I push my ear up against the speaker to quiet the voices in my head. "got to call friends, cancel trip, make dinner, do laundry, call funeral hometakeshowermakebedfeedthedogstrynottothrowup" thoughts racing, racing.

I flop on the couch listening to the car SALE! SALE! SALE! commercial & all I can think is "car man, you suck, my moms' dead"

I stew.

I seethe.

Then....it happens. A song comes on I have never heard before.

"Dooo do do doOooOOOooooOOoooO. OooooOOOooooooo. OooooooOOO."

I sit on the couch & yell to dad. "Dad! Get down here! Listen to this!"

My dad soon appears behind me.

"Listen Dad."

"Here's a little song I wrote

You might want to sing it note for note

Don't worry, be happy

In every life we have some trouble

but when you worry you make it double

Don't worry, be happy"

Next thing I know, my grief stricken father is snapping his fingers & dancing. We both are hypnotised by our new found friend Bobby McFerrin. We laugh at the hilarity of it all. Dad grabs my hands, we dance & laugh.

Before we know it, our song has ended, leaving us giggling & sacked out on the couch. Dad insists mom sent us the song & I don't doubt him. Bobby McFerrin has left our souls humming & our minds clear. After we recover from our improv song & dance routine, we gather up our new found strength & battle on to our next morbid activities....all while humming "Don't worry, be happy."