Thursday, October 16, 2008

Ghosts...In Three Acts – III

All three of our houses had ghosts.
The first one held ghosts we unknowingly brought there ourselves.

The second house had several...
One charming and poetic, one tragic, and one very real but borderline hilarious specter.
Our third house has the best ghost of all.


These are their stories. And ours.
(Please scroll down and read the first two before this finale...)

III.

Our third house is here in Utah. A place we thought we’d never live. In a city and county we thought we were even LESS likely to inhabit. When Jeff accepted the offer to teach at BYU we had to eat a lot of crow. Not just a pie, mind you, but a full-on crow buffet!

And house-hunting was, well...interesting, to say the least. Remember, we were leaving a beautiful Craftsman home built in 1908. So when we told the realtor we were interested in older houses we figured we’d see something along those lines. But instead, "older" to him meant circa 1990. Hilarious. We said okay...just don’t show us anything from the 60s and 70s. So we looked at roughly 30 homes in four days and couldn’t find anything acceptable. (I’m sure he wanted to strangle us!)

At that point we started dropping our requirements...and our pride. “Okay, this area’s no longer off limits.” “I guess we can adjust the price range to include a broader selection.” “Give us any decade. We can’t be that picky.”

And then he showed us this house. I had seen it on the internet at least half a dozen times, and never mentioned it to the realtor. But I recognized it as soon as we pulled up in front. We walked in the door and happily noted the entry way. Jeff’s first requirement: Check. We looked around the main floor, and then they ushered us upstairs. Just as I started climbing the second set of stairs (above the landing, I had the most amazing experience. I had this tingly all over feeling that I can only describe as a spiritual hug. It honestly felt like something warm and sweet had wrapped itself around my soul, as if to say, “This is the place. This is where you belong.”

Jeff was down in the kitchen talking to the owners. We finally met up again in the basement, and after I mockingly gave a thumbs-up to the hilarious 1970s yellow and brown bathroom (!) I pulled him aside and said, “I think we can stop looking, Honey. This is the house.” Amazingly, he’d felt it too. “I think so too,” he said, and told the realtor we didn’t need to see any more, we were ready to make an offer. We hadn’t even seen the whole house yet. But we were that sure.

We found out the next morning, in talking with the owner, that she had gone to high school with my mother (who had passed away 12 years earlier). She even pulled out an old yearbook to show us. On top of that, my dad had been her parents’ bishop. This woman had grown up on the same street I grew up on. There was no doubt that what I felt, the “ghost” in our new house was my mom, trying to tell us this was “Home.”


I hope she never leaves....

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
This series of posts was written as an entry in Scribbit's October Writeaway: Ghosts.

16 comments:

Brillig said...

Oh, this was my favorite ghost of all. I still can't get over your house-finding experience, even though I've heard it a few times now. What a beautiful story. I'm so glad you lived there-- how would I have ever found you otherwise???

(And I was just kidding about the "whacko" comment from the first post in this series. You know that, right? :-D)

I've LOVED this series!

Kazzy said...

I had forgotten the connections to your family. Have I told you lately how thrilled we are to be near you guys again? And your special newest ghost must be thrilled too! Thanks for your ghost stories... really cool!

Jo Beaufoix said...

Just catching up Charette. This is my favourite ghost too. How wonderful that you both felt that. And I'm so sorry that you lost a little one. I can't imagine what it must have been like. xoxox

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

What a delicious little shiver I just had! A beautiful series of posts, hun. Simply beautiful.

The Mom said...

When we were looking for a house 4 1/2 years ago, we saw a lot of houses that we could have lived in. But when we walked into this house, we KNEW it was the house we wanted to live in. We both just knew it. It had the right spirit. It was awesome.

Little GrumpyAngel said...

Beautiful story. I got goose bumps. The best ghost of all. I've never felt that way about any of the houses we've lived in. Including the one we are in now. Maybe we are NOT home yet.

breckster said...

This is a lovely series. I'm so glad that you are currently with the best ghost of all. And, I agree, it is the house for you and your family.

Jessica Stock said...

These are beautiful! Fascinating and beautiful. And a wonderful "nudge" to pay attention, you just never know . . .!

Scribbit said...

What a great way to end this--loved your stories!

Heidi said...

Ooh, I love it! I love all ghost stories, it's weird but they all make me feel the way this one does. But this one was best.

Dedee said...

What a great way to continue the ghost saga. I've loved reading it.

Glad you are happy where you are.

Heather of the EO said...

I finally got to sit here and read all your ghost stories at once. it was fun. I can't believe all the stories you have to tell-amazing stories!
I love it that you are all wrapped up in that lovely feeling in your home.
I LOVE the painting on the second post-I saw it on your site and loved it. I didn't know it was your house at one time.
Great stories, lady!

Lisa Johnson said...

I just read all three Acts. Wow! Just wow!

Thanks for dropping by my blog. ; )

Melanie Jacobson said...

I've always been amazed by how a house can have a spirit and personality of its own, but it does, and it's unique and distinct. I absolutely believe the traces that people leave behind, the intangible ones, can warm a home.

Krista said...

What a crazy series of stories! I'm not sure I believe in ghosts, but I've never had an experience with one either... :)

Mrs4444 said...

Lovely. How happy you must be to know your mom is never far...