True Ghost Tales

I experienced my first visit from an apparition when I was about eight years old. I was sleeping soundly when I became overwhelmed by the feeling that someone was watching me. I opened my eyes and looked to my bedroom doorway and that was where I found her. A tall, slender woman with hair in a bun standing in the doorway looking in on me. I had no fear at all and in fact, felt rather comforted and drifted back to sleep. I told my siblings about it and they just laughed it off telling me that it was a dream.

I saw her again several times during my adolescent and teen years. She almost always came to me when I was sleeping and never made contact. I would just find her watching over me like a dutiful parent. I was certain that she was an apparition because her form was flowing and light as though she were emitting her own light source in the darkness.

I was about 19 years old when I realized exactly who this woman was. My home had caught fire and all of my family’s belongings were placed in storage during the repairs. During this time, I developed the worse insomnia of my life. I even saw the doctor about it and was advised that it was probably stress brought on from my freshman year of college.

I was almost at my wits end when my father asked me to take a trip to the storage unit with him. I entered the unit and was instantly met with a feeling of peace and warmth. I looked to my left and discovered a large, framed portrait of my Great Grandmother and in that moment, I knew she was the one who had been visiting me. I don’t know why I didn’t make the connection sooner. This portrait had been hanging in my house since before I was born. I took the portrait out of storage and hung it above my bed and slept peacefully every night.

I have taken ownership of her now and have hung her portrait in every home that I’ve lived in. I believe that she checks in on my own children on occasion as I have witnessed them pointing and smiling at the nothingness in their bedroom doorways. She is the reason that I now write paranormal fiction and non-fiction. She is my guardian and my muse.

Sent in by Bonnie Taylor, Copyright 2011