Grabbos????

I just moved. I am sharing a house with a friend for at least a year. I am selling my house and will still spend the winter in Michigan, so I am here until I am ready to settle again. It's a nice house, has a big yard, with banana trees, and all sorts of shrubs and trees. And, a hot tub. It is in a quiet neighborhood. And, that might be a problem. I am having trouble getting used to the house sounds, especially at night. I have stayed up late for the past three nights. till 5:30am this morning. I will almost fall asleep and then I hear something and have to get up, or at least sit up in bed and listen. The worst is when Gumbo sits up and looks around too. So far it has been branches scratching the screens or hitting the roof. But, there have been some sounds that I haven't been able to figure out. And, there is the Case of the Disappearing Dogfood. See, Gumbo has to have food and water set out, but he will wait to eat it to see what I am having. He eats what I eat, except for pears, he hates pears. Anyway, I filled his food bowl and the next morning it was empty. I looked at Gumbo and he gave me a 'it wasn't me' look. So, I filled it again. Same thing next day. But, the food dish is in the kitchen, not outside. So, whoever or whatever is eating it is able to get inside. I have looked for holes etc but so far nothing.

I remember other Grabbo times, especially from when I was little. One time my mother and brother were positive there was a snake laying by the back door. They both said they saw it move. I got a flashlight and looked. It was a belt. At the same house, everyone but me said they heard weird music. I never did. The house was one of two houses sitting at the end of a dirt driveway. The house next to us was empty. The next closest house that had anyone living in it was about a block away. So, it could not have been their music my family heard. Let me add too, that this house was about fifty feet from a graveyard, but there were no graves that close to us.

The only thing that happened there that I believe, but didn't see, happened to my oldest brother. James worked at a bakery and had to be at work at 3:30 am. When this incident happened he was there alone. The rest of the family had gone to visit my stepfather's family. James said that he got up one morning and while he was getting ready he heard a car or truck drive up and stop in front of our house. He heard men laughing and talking and sounds of equipment and doors banging. He didn't think anything of it because we had been told that the city was soon going to clear the trees and make the road go all the way to the next subdivision. He finished getting ready and went out to get in his car......he had a 1932 Ford Roadster that he had to crank....and there was nothing, not a car, truck or anyone, out there. He swore that he had heard this. He also said that he had never cranked that thing so fast before.

My mother used to say she saw dead people. I never believed that, but one time I came close to believing. I was about fifteen and was sitting on the front porch reading. It was about 4pm on a cloudy day. Mama had been inside taking a nap and came out onto the porch. She looked like she had seen a ghost. She said that her mother, who had been killed when my mother was fourteen, came into her room, stood there looking at her then walked over and touched the things on her dresser. Then she turned and smiled at my mother and walked out the door. My mother had had a dream and it seemed real to her, this I am sure of, but it had scared her big time. She went around for days afterwards talking about how her mother was not happy with the way my mother was living her life. I wondered then and now why my grandmother's ghost needed to walk out the door. Why not go through the walls?

No, I haven't lost my mind. I do not believe dead people are coming back to talk to us or tell us where they hid the family fortune. I know that my mother, especially, was mentally ill. She had no way of getting therapy first because she was a JW and then, because of where we lived and the times we lived in then. No one we knew did, unless they were sent to Whitfield (the state mental hospital). I have wondered a lot about how her life would have played out if she had been able to get therapy. I believe that her life would have been totally different. And, so would ours, her children. Oh well.

I think I will stop and pick up some Tylenol PM. I think a good nights sleep would be good for me right now.