2008 – 2016

It was July 2008. We had just closed on our house on the corner of 7th and Naval. A beautiful home we were so eager to move into. But our move was from across state and the movers were not coming with our things for many days. So without much but our suitcases and a blow up mattress we camped in our living room. Which felt amazing. We popped the champagne and toasted our good luck at being 22 and being able to purchase a lovely four bed, two bath fixer upper within walking distance from my husbands work. It was full of character being built in 1929. It had all original fixtures, lights, and knobs. Nothing was new… OLD! lol. OUR EXCITEMENT WAS EXTREME! So my husband was supposed to work the next day and we were all closed up for the night. Our house has so many doors, so even the living room doors (two french ones, and a single one) were closed. We fell into a sleep but I was awoken in the middle of the night by a terribyingly loud racket. I soon realized its source was above us. I tried to wake my husband who did sit up and speak, but he was not coherent enough to really be any help and I was terrified. I just laied there for probably 10-30 min while banging went on. I really don’t know how long it carried on. It felt like forever, and my heart was hammering. But at some point it stopped. The next day I went upstairs to find all the doors wide open, even the closets, and cupboards. I called my friend in Portland who had a haunting in her house and I told her all about what happened while I was in the basement running a load of laundry. It was our first run with the washers and the wet load had to be dried. While I was on the phone a rolling chair left by the previous owners rolled across the nearly empty garage. (not all the way across, just maybe two or three feet. Just enough to get my attention because it was in my sight line.) When I mentioned it to my friend on the phone, MIND YOU THIS WAS 2008, THERE WAS NO VIDEO CALL…. so I just had to tell her what was happening, and suddenly behind me there was an empty small hand held paint or cleaning bucket flew off a shelf at me. Not with enough strength because it did not make it half way across the space, but I felt it was at me. This all frightened me so much and happened really quickly I tripped over the opened door of the dryer and ran out of the house. I sat on the front stoop for about an hour before I ventured inside again to try to summon the courage to turn on the dryer. YOU KNOW WET MILDEW IS WORTH ENCOUNTERING A GHOST. or at least I felt it was…..

Well as I went down I could hear the bloody dryer going. I KNOW I DID NOT EVEN SHUT THE DRYER. I had a bruise because of tripping on the open door… I was told to smudge, so I did, but i wanted to know about the spirit, not just banish him. The house had been vacant a few months before we bought it, so I wondered if the spirit just got used to being alone again. So I invited him (I felt it was a him) and if he behaved I would not feel compelled to banish. Well, I started calling him George. Later I had a friend over and I told him about the ghost George and well he showed up and flicked the lights on and off. My friend left so fast…. He came back but never hung out again at the house. Lol. yeah… Then my mom house sat while my husband and I went to Japan. She has been the only one to ever see him. She said she saw a partial manifestation of an older man in a plaid shirt. Later I talked with older neighbors who were able to tell me that an older man lived in the house some 50 years. His name was George H. (I would give his full name here) but his daughter is still living and i have been in contact with her, and I do not have the heart to tell her that her father was haunting us for a time. For many years, doors and steps would go on and we would yell across the house expecting an answer… nothing would come. Things would fall, no reason. But not so much anymore. George has since gotten very quiet. Many years and not a sound. I believe he is here, he is just comfortable with the family. The house is full of children and animals, I feel he is entertained and busy enough that he does not need to stir the pot. George is always welcome and has brought no harm. He even did my laundry once.

Submitted by M. Dockery