As I have mentioned in previous posts, every summer my family goes up to the Adirondack Mountains for a relaxing vacation. We leave a week from Saturday, my son has already started packing. It's our favorite time of year. Twin Birches is the name of our camp, it's right on the lake and it's the only campsite with a beach front. There are 3 cabins lined up in a row. The cabins are far enough away to need a flashlight walking from one cabin to the other, but close enough for Gina to be able hear my mom swearing at my dad every morning when he wakes her up.
My kids (Adam and Leah) and I share cabin 3 with my parents and Cheryl. My sister Gina and her family have Cabin 2, and my sister Mary and her family have cabin 1. It's so beautiful up there, the lake, the mountains, the loons, and the ghosts! That's right, I said ghosts. Cabin 3, the one my kids and I stay in is haunted. I know it's hard to believe, don't judge, first hear my TRUE stories, then decide. The first time I saw a ghost was 4 years ago. Cheryl and I shared the last bedroom at the end of the hall. My kids, Adam and Leah have the middle bedroom, and my parent stay in the front bedroom. We always leave the bathroom light on and keep the door cracked a little. This casts a faint glow in the hallway. Sleep comes easy in the mountains. The mountain air gives you a peaceful feeling which makes you relaxed and sleepy. After a day filled with swimming, fishing, and serious euchre playing, you welcome bedtime. This particular night, I was sleeping peacefully, when I had a feeling someone was staring at me. I opened my eyes and saw Leah standing in my bedroom door, she was wearing a long white shirt. She looked right at me, turned and walked in the direction of her bedroom. I figured she got up to go to the bathroom and was just checking on me. I fell back to sleep. The next morning I was up early and out fishing with my dad. When we got back, everyone was gathered outside Mary Beth's cabin enjoying bagels for breakfast. My daughter Leah was sitting in a chair, and I said, "Hi LeeLee, did you already change out of your pajamas." She said "No, I am still in my pajamas." This was impossible, I saw her last night wearing a white shirt, and now she had on a red shirt. I said, "Did you change last night, because I saw you when you got up to go to the bathroom and you had a white t-shirt on." She said, "Mom, I didn't change and I didn't get up to go to the bathroom." My head started spinning, I was wracking my brain trying to figure out what I really saw. I know I saw her, or someone who resembled her. I was not dreaming, my eyes were opened and I remember adjusting my pillows after she went away. I was more than a little freaked out. I didn't tell anyone because it was hard for me to believe, and I know my family would just tell me I was crazy, so I just tried to forget about it and chalked it up to an over-active imagination.
The second encounter happened 3 years ago. It was the middle of the night, I had to go to the bathroom. When I reached the hallway, I saw my daughter Leah standing there. I jumped back, my heart was pounding so hard I could hear it. Her hand was in a fist and she was attempting to knock on the wood paneled wall. There was something eerie about the way Leah looked. I thought she must be sleep walking, (something she has never done in her whole life). I carefully went up to her and softly said "Leah". Her head snapped and she looked at me. Which scared the shit out of me again. I said, "What are you doing?" Leah wasn't quite sure herself, she still looked a little foggy. She said "I was sleeping and someone told me to get up, go in the hallway and knock on the wall." I got chills up and down my spine. I didn't want to hear anymore, I was so scared she was going to tell me it was a little girl. I tucked her back into bed. Needless to say, I didn't sleep for the rest of the night.
Now for the third and most convincing encounter. This time it wasn't just me who experienced the ghost(s), I had other witnesses. Two years ago, my nephew Colin (Mary Beth's son) wanted to do a little cabin swapping. He wanted to stay in our cabin, with my parents, Cheryl, me and my kids. We were happy to have him, but we were out of beds. So I volunteered to sleep on the couch in our living room. I was usually the first one up with my dad to go fishing anyway so I didn't mind. Once again I contributed the creepy past experiences to an over-active imagination, and put them out of my mind. Colin said, "Are you sure you want to sleep out here, the door freaks me out, what if you look at the door and see someone standing in the window?" I'm like, "Thanks a lot for the image, but I will be fine." I was fine for the most part, but every night when I got up to take my usual 2:00am pee, I had to look at that dang window in the door, just to make sure no one was staring at me - thanks to Colin. We had bad weather that year, my mother kept a rosary hanging on our doorknob the whole week. On the last night of our trip, she removed the rosary and put it in her purse. This was the night of the "encounter". I will never forget this night, I swear on my sweet, old, Italian Grandma Sarah's grave these are the actual events I experienced.
Like I said, it was our last night there. We all packed up as much as we could to make the next morning less hectic. We all had the end of vacation blues and went to bed pretty early. I was sleeping on the couch, like I did every night of the trip. I woke up feeling very groggy and uncomfortable at about 1:00am. I was still very sleepy, trying to rearrange my blanket and pillows. I turned to sleep on my side, which meant I was facing the door. I slightly opened my eyes, and looked at the window in the door, I saw these pretty orangish-yellow balls outside the window. How this did not jolt me out of my slumber, I have no idea. I remember shutting my eyes thinking how pretty the colors were, I must be dreaming. I struggled to open my heavy eyes again, just to check to see if the balls were still there, not only were the balls still there, but they had clearly become the eyes to a face that now appeared in the window. It looked like someone who had their nose pressed up against the window and were sliding down, making their nose smush up like a pig's nose. I told myself, your dreaming. I closed my eyes again, finally my brain started to register, I told myself, wake up...wake up and check the window again. I slowly opened my eyes again, this time the "glowing eyes" were gone and the face had changed. It was no longer had a pig nosed face, it was without a doubt the face of a skeletal ghost. The head came to such an angle that it appeared the ghost's body was standing on the side of the door, and it leaned its head over to peer in the window. This finally jolted me to total consciousness. I was frozen, I couldn't move. I looked away from the door several times, hoping when I looked back it would be gone. No such luck. I was freaking out. I got the courage to lean over and turn on the lamp. The light made the image in the window disappear. I turned the lamp off again, the face was still there. THAT WAS IT...I turned the light back on and ran into Cheryl and Colin's room. I said, "Cheryl you have to get up, I am freaked out. Wake up!!! Colin, get up come and look in the living room, I am really scared." They both slowly scramble out of bed. Their eyes half-shut. Cheryl comes in the living room, she is standing all hunched over like she's freezing, I had to laugh at her appearance. "What is it? What is your problem?" I walked over to the lamp and turned the light off, and said "Look at the door". Colin saw it right away, he said "What...oh, that face?". Cheryl was so shocked, "Oh my God, oh my God...what happened?? How did it get there!!!" I told them the whole story, I added there was no way I was going to sleep out there alone anymore. Cheryl said "I will get my blanket and stay on the little couch out here with you." Colin said, "You're not leaving me in that back bedroom all by myself!!!!" They kept getting up to look at the window, they would sit back down really fast. "Oh my God!!!!" was the phrase of the night we said at least 100 times. We tried to take a picture of it, but it didn't come out on the digital camera. In all out commotion, my mom, Rose-bud came out of her bedroom. "What's all this noise about, what is going on!!" I said "Mom look at the door." She glanced real fast "You're crazy! You're all full of shit, I'm going back to bed," She looked at the door again. "Oh that's nothing, go back to bed." I said, "Why don't you sleep out here if it's nothing!!!" Walking back to her room she said "No way!" I hear my dad in the bedroom, "Whats going on?" Mom said, "Oh they think they see a face in the door, they're all crazy!!" My poor son Adam comes out of his room holding a pillow up to the side of this face, blocking his view of the door. He had no intention of seeing the ghost. He asked "Is there really a face?" Cheryl answered, "Yes Adam don't look because you won't ever want to come here again." I wanted to get out of that room. I tucked Adam back in bed, went back into the scary living room and asked "What are we going to do, I don't want to sleep out here alone anymore." Cheryl suggested I sleep in the room with her and Colin. We had to share the twin bed. Cheryl gets in the bed and goes way over to the wall, she is so little I had plenty of room. I slept the opposite way with my head down at the end of the bed. Suddenly, at the same time Cheryl and I both bolted up and yelled "WHAT WAS THAT?" We both heard weird voices. Colin tried to make us and himself feel better by telling us it was the lake. We disagreed with him. We laid back down trying to sleep. I was saying the rosary in my head, when I started to get this killer toothache. My tooth just started hurting out of the blue. I thought, good thing we are leaving tomorrow, I can't wait to get out of this cabin and I have to get this tooth checked out. At the same time, Cheryl got a sharp cramp in her leg, it felt like someone was squeezing her lower leg muscle. Neither one of us said a word about our pain until the next morning. Cheryl mentioned her leg to me, and I told her about my toothache and how it disappeared as fast as it came. Coincidence - I think not! This was too unbelievable not to share with everyone. We told Gina's family and Mary's family. They quickly came over to our cabin and were checking out the screen door. My dad said it was the reflection off the garbage can lid---NOT! All the men were laughing at us, telling us we were crazy, its just the dents in the screen door. Ok, how many "dents" in a screen door look exactly like a skeletal face. Plus, I checked that window every night when I got up to go to the bathroom, the face only appeared on the very last night, after the rosary had been removed. I know what I saw that night. I know it was real.
The following year, I have to admit I was a little scared, but mostly excited to go back to the cabin to see if the ghost would still be there. We arrived at the cottages about 2:00pm. Everyone was scrambling to get unpacked. I told everyone to meet in cabin 3 as soon as it gets dark. I wanted to turn off all the lights in our cottage to see if the ghost face was still imprinted on our window. At about 9:30pm everyone was gathered in our living room, (aka known as my sleeping quarters), we turned off all the lights, and gasps could be heard all around the room. The face was still there, looking as scary as it did a year ago. I was so happy they could all experience it I shouted, "SEE, how would you like to get up in the middle of the night with that thing staring at you!!!" The men all said the same thing, "its just the dents in the screen". Whatever - think what you want. I know it was real. My niece Brittany and her friend Colleen believed. They were on "text alert". If I saw anything I was to text them immediately so they could run over and see it too.
Going back to sleep on the couch again, was a little terrifying the first night. I pleaded with the ghosts, leave me alone, don't hurt me, don't freak me out, I will be out of here in a week. I felt a little better because I brought my dog, Coal, with us this time and he was sleeping with me in the living room. Still, I didn't sleep well at all. I kept looking at the window, the face staring back at me. I finally fell asleep and had an uneventful and peaceful nights sleep. My pleading had worked, my confidence grew, and the face didn't seem so scary anymore. Until, Thursday night. I was sound asleep, when I heard my name called clear as a bell. "LORRRI" it was a voice I never heard before. It was so compelling I actually answered it, out loud, "What?". This immediately bolted me from a sound sleep. I have never ever ever talked in my sleep. Here I was, hearing myself answer back. Coal heard it too he lifted his head. I looked at the face. it appeared fuller, clearer, scarier. I ran to get Cheryl..."LOOK AT THE FACE, it called my name!!!!!!!!!" She came out, she was no help this time she said it looked the same to her, I was probably dreaming. Thanks a lot!! I know I wasn't dreaming. I know there is something paranormal going on in the cabin. You may think I am crazy but I am more intrigued by it every year. It hasn't hurt anyone. It just wants to be heard and verified. We leave for the mountains in 7 days. I will keep you updated on any ghost events that may happen this year.
