Ghosts Ghosts
I think we always knew that we shared our home with ghosts, but by denying such an infestation we could live in the house without anxiety. The house was 75 years old, and was probably one of the first grand homes built in Eureka. It was the home for the college President, and for a time also served as the hospital until the "new" infirmary was being built. Before the Smith family moved into the home in 1956, it was owned by the Bieber family. We lived in the house next door (Libis/Mehlhoff house) for awhile, but the family was getting too large for this small home.
I remember my first trip to the house. I recall walking past the garden, and just beyond the bushes bearing pears and berries was this big house nearly hidden by large elm trees. I asked mom what we were doing here, and she said, "this will be our new home." Mom talked to Mr. Bieber (unfortunately I don't recall any words of the conversation) for awhile, and afterwards we headed back to our "home".
There was always something strange about this house. When we would tell mom about hearing footsteps at night - her explanation was "mice running up and down the steps." When we would tell mom that we would see things at night - her response was "the lights outside casting shadows inside." When we would claim to see creatures under our bed, the response was "you were dreaming." Mom had an explanation for everything, and these strange sightings or sounds was rationalized as the active imaginations of young children. It didn't matter if it was day or night, as these spirits were around us constantly. On one occasion, I recall playing in the upstairs hallway during a summer morning until inevitably one of us would say, "come over here, its cooler in this spot." We then moved around to various points in the hallway, but it was clear that this one spot was noticeably cooler than the other locations in the hall. This house had more than one ghost, that was certain.
In 1995 Mary visited a psychic and sure enough mom "visited" her during this session. The spiritualist told her that mom must have had psychic abilities while alive, which I can certainly verify. Even today, I will see her "leave messages" to let me know that she is around. Anyway, she verified her presence to Mary by telling her that the house was full of ghosts; and that their job was to protect the children in the house. I think that's right...I never felt threatened...only "spooked" out occasionally, much like someone coming up to you unexpectedly and making you jump.
Mom had names for these ghosts. "Five o'clock Charlie" was one she often referred to. Mom had seen this specter a number of times over the years, and once Barb came in to ask mom "who was the man that just came in the door." Mom explained, in a matter of fact way, that this ghost "entered" our back door fairly often. After the new addition was added to the house, the phantom never appeared again. I suspect mom may have seen others, but that is the only one I remember her mentioning. She was never fearful of these spirits - I think she, more than anyone else, knew that they were the souls who continued to live among us.
I remember telling my childhood friends about the "music of the night". I never heard it upstairs - only downstairs and I used to believe that the music only appeared around Christmas time. Of course, the only time I'd be downstairs was during our "Christmas club" military maneuvers. Mom referred to this music later - as she would say, "it was like a radio that played in some distant place." One of my favorite stories that amused her happened when she tried to read, but the noise and chatter was unusually loud that evening, which affected her ability to concentrate. She couldn't take it any longer, so she yelled, "if you're going to be that loud - at least pour me a drink!" This must have startled the ghosts because the music and our guests remained quiet for several years.
My first "real encounter" with a ghost occurred in 1972. I came home after working at the lumber yard, and took a bath before heading downtown to the Silver Keg. As the family was on vacation, I decided to straighten up the house...never know who was going to show up that evening...and I wanted to make a good impression. When I finished, I turned off the lights, opened the screen door and ran down the porch steps...and for some reason I felt that someone was looking at me. I turned around and saw a young man looking at me through the screen door. I ran up the stairs and screamed, "why are you in our house?" I got within a few feet of this stranger, and could see his large dark eyes staring at me through the screen door. His mouth was expressionless - no smile or grimace. As I looked more closely into his face, he seemed to be enjoying the experience; but his facial expression never changed. As I inched closer, he turned around...and began to turn his body as though he was rotating on a Lazy Susan. When I opened the door, he ran up the stairs...and then I looked down...and (oh my God) he didn't have feet. His upper torso drifted downwards into vapor - like Casper the Ghost. His arms moved like he was running, but the swaying of his arms back and forth didn't fit the rhythm of his constant motion. When he left the landing and moved up the second set of stairs, I lost him.
I found a stick or something and took it in the house with me. I went upstairs to look for our ghost, but he was nowhere to be found. When I came back downstairs...I saw that every light was on downstairs. Needless to say, that spooked me a bit.
When the family came back from their vacation, I confided in mom what I'd seen. She told me that dad had seen the same thing many years before. I remember that day because dad never came upstairs. We had just moved back into the house, and were in the boys room playing. Dad looked in the room and asked, "did you see anybody come in here?" We said, "no." He then asked us to go downstairs until he looked around. We never knew what he was looking for...just knew that he never came back upstairs again.
Story by Terry Smith