LIFE WITH ELIZABETH..a ghost story

Remember that TV program of the 1960's? A situation comedy starring Betty White. Well, this Elizabeth is a little different.

When my wife, Valerie, and I moved into our present home in 1986...a wood frame three bedroom house built in 1945...we soon began to "feel" we were being watched. We were.

One afternoon I heard a crashing noise in the kitchen and heard "Oh, (expletive)! I went out to see if Valerie was alright but she wasn't there. Three pots and lids were laying in the middle of the floor. I checked her bedroom to find Valerie sound asleep.

A few weeks later I walked into the living room in time to see the back side of a young woman just leaving the living room to go into the small alcove to enter Valerie's bedroom. She was wearing a tan knee length skirt, white sweater and had straight long black hair. I followed her into the bedroom and found nobody there. Valerie had gone to the store.

This coming into the living room just in time to see her leaving became frequent over the years. "She" would always be just leaving the room...sometimes into one of our bedrooms, or, the dining room or bathroom.

At one time, about 1995, I was standing at the large mirror in our living room. I clearly saw a young woman (of the same description) standing across the room behind me. She was looking directly at me with a slight smile. When I turned around she was not there. Off and on, over the years, we spot her in this way and often hear her singing or humming quietly to herself in another room. Valerie told me her name is "Elizabeth" because it just seems to fit.

We begun talking to her just as if in a normal conversation with a family member. Often we ask her where something is that we've missplaced and it will show up, a few hours later, laying in plain sight. Since I retired from the Post Office, August 28, 1998, the sightings have dropped off considerably. They have gone from 2-3 per month to 8-10 per year. The Sept. through Nov. period is the most active with nearly weekly sightings or hearings.

The latest sighting was a couple of weeks ago. I came in the back door, into the kitchen, with my dog, Bubba Jones. We both saw her leaving the kitchen to go into our dining room. Bubba "woofed" and went after her. When I went into the living room after him he was standing there whining and ears raised. Valerie had gone shopping so I knew who it was.

11/05/02

We first discovered Elizabeth shortly after moving in here in Nov., 1986. For the first few years her activities were almost weekly. Sometimes there were sightings but, usually, we just heard her.

Shortly after my mother passed away in 1991 her activities dropped off to every couple of months. This brought up a glaring question...has my mothers spirit had an influence on Elizabeth? After considerable thought on the matter I think not. Mothers are protective, of course, but there seems to be nothing apparent to protect us from. Elizabeth is a casual and sometimes protective spirit in her own right.

I rather think Elizabeths attitude, at first, was one of wanting us to understand that she is here...to believe in her. Now, with less frequent visits, it's more a matter of checking up to see that all is well.

About 1995 we begun to notice that she is most active during the Sept. through Nov. period of each year. It remains that way through this year...2002...as she has been heard often and seen twice. This is a most interesting sighting...

On Oct. 21 I had been working in our fron yard cleaning up for winter. At the time I noticed a man going door to door at the houses across the street. Since we have a "No Soliciting" sign posted I went up on the porch to sit in my chair and wait for him. At the time our front door and screen door were open. When the solicitor came up to the porch gate I stood up and stepped in front of the door...asked what he wanted. He gave me his sales pitch about magazines and I told him I was not interested.

At that time the solicitor pointed at the door behind me and said, "How about your daughter...would she be interested?" My daughter is 44 and living in another state. I turned around just in time to se Elizabeth walking back into the living room and out of sight.

Bubba Jones is my boy dog and constant companion. Often he "alerts" to something in the kitchen that we cannot see nor hear. He always goes to the same spot...right in front of the stove...and whines with ears raised. He does this, also, any time one of us hears her voice or another noise in the kitchen. We have two other dogs...both female. Neither one shows any reaction to Elizabeth or noises. I must conclude that Bubba Jones is more receptive to this phenomena than the other dogs OR he's just plain crazy. I'm prone to believe the former as he seems quite normal in every other way.

I recently received an E from a reader who states that he sighted a lady in the front yard of his new home shortly after he and his wife moved in. He felt it may have been his mother who had passed away some tine ago. Also, his dog "alerts" at times for no known reason. I consider this to be a good possibility of spirit presence.

Mothers are quite protective despite the age of the child. Possibly, since this was a new home, she was looking around to be sure the area does not feature a spirit that may be unfriendly. Much as you and I would check out a new playground before allowing our small children to play there.

The dog "alerts" could come from varmits (rats- mice-squirrels) in the walls. I doubt it, however (in this case and that of my Bubba Jones), as his is a new home and we know ours is varmit free. In the case of varmits the alerts would be all around the home. These come in only one spot in the houses. More likely the dogs are alerting to the presence of a spirit in the homes.

This phenomena should be nothing to be scared of or worried about. A malevolent spirit would try to scare the residents...these do not.

In this case I suggest he talk to the possible spirit in a normal tone so it will realize he is aware of the presence and accepts it. Acknowledgement is usually what one wants.

I find that when we have an alert by Bubba Jones, if we talk to Elizabeth in a normal fashion, we usually have a sighting within a few days.

Enjoy your visitor...we do ours and she seems to be compatible with it.

One more point. You are not alone with this phenomena. Many people have such experiences but are reluctant to mention it. If you go ahead and talk to others about your experience you will be surprised at how many people will open up and tell you of theirs.

Remember...there is much more to life and creation than we will ever know or understand. ENTERED 3-1-08.............. One evening in Dec., 2007, I was sitting at my bedroom window table when my wife, The Mt. Baker Lady, came in. She said she thought she'd just had "An Elizabeth moment". She told me she had just seen a man go into our bathroom and he was wearing a black shroud. Apparently by "shroud" she meant a wide brim hat with a black veil around it. She looked in the bathroom and it was empty. Since the bathroom door is right next to my bedroom door I kept an eye on the bathroom door the rest of the evening but saw nothing. There sasn't been any further sightings but it does leave me with an uneasy feeling.