Ghost Stories & Paranormal Encounters

Have you read the first part of this story? Growing up Haunted in Sydney Part 1

My family had long accepted we had the ghost of my grandfather wandering around… literally. My older sisters recounted the sounds of my grandfather going down the hallway to prepare a pre-dawn breakfast many years after he died.

As the youngest I was mostly shielded from these events as they happened but as I got older I became aware of the ” stories “.

I can remember being 17 and waking with the same pre-dawn alertness I recognized from an experience when I was almost 5. I lay there and there was no mistaking the screaming of my senses – something was about to happen.

With my older sisters moved away – there was only my mother and myself in the house. But I heard the door of pop’s room open and close with its distinct “click” and the sound of heavy male footfalls made in slippers a little too large on a linoleum floor. Problem was – we now had carpet – this was a floor covering from my childhood! The sounds I was hearing were distinctly dated. I was hearing pop get up to go to work at the bakery! Albeit 12 years after he died.

I heard the slow footfalls make their way past my bedroom door and I remember thinking “oh my goodness don’t stop for goodness sake – keep going!” I heard the old swing ‘wild west’ kitchen doors creak as they swung backwards and forwards – excepting they had been replaced with a regular door many years before.

The final sound was the noise of my mothers old aluminum pans clanging together as my pop was quite elderly and had the shakes in the latter years of his life – the problem was the aluminum pans were long gone and replaced with enamelware which doesn’t quite reproduce that sound of my childhood. As the clang echoed away into the still pre-dawn air – I realized Pop was still getting up for work… long after he died.

Most families have their skeletons in the closet – so did we – except ours were walking around, literally! My mum’s house was haunted by the ghost of our grandfather, it had gone on for so long we almost did take if for granted.

One day mum was doing the ironing and walked to the kitchen sink to get some water – the back of our house was built up and looked down into the backyard. As she glanced out the kitchen window she saw the familiar sight of her powerfully built father in his white singlet and hat digging in the garden. It was such a natural thing to see, mum smiled and pitied his hard work because the yard had lousy clay soil which wasn’t very good for vegetables and she turned away. In that split second, she remembered he was dead! Mum flashed back to the window in an instant and realized he was gone! Mum was taken aback but given our history this was just yet another ‘tale’ to add to our growing family archive.

When Mum was at the clothesline bringing clothes in later that same afternoon, the neighbour popped her head over the fence for a chat. “Who was that old man I saw digging in your garden this afternoon?” she started “I’ve some work I need doing – do you think he’d come and do some chores for me?” Mum choked. “err um there was no old man” mum started on automatic, knowing she couldn’t readily just say it was a ghost! The neighbour was quite insistent “yes there was – I watched him for a good half an hour from my balcony – he had some really lovely garden beds all set up. I’m thinking I’ll start a vegetable patch too.” Mum was a bit stuck on how to explain to her neighbour what she had observed hadn’t exactly been real. “OK I’ll do you a deal,” Mum started, “you come over here and show me all these lovely garden beds he prepared and I’ll tell you who he is.” The neighbour agreed and rushed around to the side gate and entered our back yard. Mum said the neighbour stared and paced but it made no difference.

My Grandfather had been dead for 5 years and his ‘garden beds’ while well attended in life had long reverted to lawn after his death. “I don’t understand it,” the confused neighbour started, “but I saw it” “Its Ok I saw him too,” Mum agreed, “…hat – white singlet – big shoulders – grey trousers… ” The neighbour was nodding enthusiastically. “You saw the ghost of my father who has been dead for 5 years,” Mum explained, finally. Within 3 months – those neighbours had moved.

Written by Jennifer Mills-Young, Copyright 2009

Read Growing up Haunted in Sydney Part 4