“The Grand Lady” Of Our House

Do ghosts and spirits exist? Some think that during the last days of October, through the first day of November, the veil between our world and the spirit world is very thin. There are certain people like spiritualists, psychics and ghost hunters that spend their lives among the spirit world. What do you think? Yes, I believe in the paranormal. Why? Well, let me tell you about my experience with things that go bump in the night. In October 1979 we moved into a new home – our dream house. One day, as I was walking down the stairs, I noticed in the front room an old lady sitting on the sofa. Upon spotting the apparition, I did not react, I just kept on coming down the stairs and then walked into the kitchen. It was normal for me – my family was from the Old Country and the paranormal and evil eye was a part of life. So, as the days went by, she stationed herself on that sofa, always in a black lace dress and head cover. I nicknamed her “The Grand Lady” because of the Spanish outfit she wore. Did I mention it to my husband or son? No. I did not want to scare them. The lady was happy just to sit. Little did I know that when I was not around, my rambunctious son was encountering a poltergeist side to the lady, too. With him, she would make all kinds of noise. He would come into the house and hear footsteps on the stairs – thinking someone was home he would start talking only to find there was no one around. Another time, when one of his friends was visiting, they were in the family room and heard a major crash (like the armoire fell over in the master bedroom). They ran up the stairs to find that the armoire was still upright. After a while, his friends did not want to come over. One day he tried to bring the big dogs we had upstairs to check out the noises, but they froze at the top of the stairs and then high-tailed it back outside. Occasionally, he would glimpse movement out of the corner of his eye. When we first moved in, he asked me if there were ghosts in the house. I did not want to upset him, because little ones have very vivid imaginations, so I said no. Unfortunately, it confused my son. I did not realize the lady was not always docile. It all came to a head one evening when my husband and son were relaxing in the family room and all at once they looked towards the front room and “The Grand Lady” revealed herself to them. From there, they began to compare their personal experiences, and both had heard similar noises (like doors or drawers closing and footsteps upstairs or coming down the stairs), but this was the first time they saw her. I always wondered why she picked our home, as she was definitely from another time. The area our home was located in was part of the Rancho Canada De Los Alisos Spanish Land Grant, which made me wonder if she had lived there in the past, or was she waiting for someone to come? So many questions, but so little time – and so many things that go bump in the night. Halloween is so real!