Do you believe in Ghosts?

Historically, people have had a great deal of concern about the deceased’s spirit and its potential to harm the living.  One example is that after death, windows are closed so the deceased’s soul could not fly out.  Today, there are many who break with tradition and open the window so the soul can fly free.  But, do you believe in Ghosts?

Grim Reaper

In the nursing home I work in, I think the latter is the way and many times the window has been kept closed and some souls have stayed.  Some superstition says that ghosts are souls with unfinished business.  In my home we have ghosts of children and some people have seen what they think is the “Grim Reaper“.  

That’s Mary

In our kitchen, multiple staff members remember a cook who worked there for years.  One day she fell, and, with the following doctor’s appointments, it was discovered she had cancer. Sadly, she passed away.  She did not die in the home, but many staff will swear that she haunts the back kitchen.  I have been told that if I hear the radio playing country music suddenly, then “that is Mary.  Just say Hi.” So, I do.

Flitting from Room to Room

Staff members who have worked in the home for many years, especially on the night shift, say that they have seen a dark figure in and around the infirmary, where palliative residents are sometimes moved.  A story is told where one PSW was startled by something she saw.  The second PSW asked what was happening and was told that she saw a tall figure in a dark cloak.  That figure was seen flitting from the infirmary to the room next door.  The second PSW described what she saw and the first one said, “that’s him.”  It did not frighten them, but it was odd.  The next day the resident in the infirmary passed and the following day the resident in the next room died too.s

The Kids 

Around the country many years ago it was common for a primary school to be turned into a small nursing home.  That is how the home I work in came into being.  And when a flu epidemic broke out in the area it was used as a hospital of sorts.  Many families brought their loved ones here to be cared for and many people didn’t survive, including children.

So, it is not unexpected, for those who believe, that this home would have some ghost children.  Several of our residents would call staff in to “tell the children to go to bed.”  One lady would complain bitterly that the boy would not leave her room.  We had a military gentleman who would not sleep without a light on because the children woke him in the middle of the night if it got turned off.  Many other residents complained of several children running through their room.  The clincher for me was when a chair alarm kept going off in an empty chair.  I turned it off multiple times before walking into the room, turning it off and telling the children “You kids stop fooling around with this alarm!”  The alarm didn’t go off again that evening.

She’s not around anymore 

Sightings by residents of shadows hovering over or near surviving spouses are not uncommon and neither is faint laughter here and there around the home.  One such time, in my early days here, a favourite resident, Bessy, passed away.  She had a very distinctive giggle.  She had been gone a week or so when I heard her laugh right beside the nurses station.  It was so clear that I said, “What can I do for you, Bess?” before remembering that she wasn’t with us anymore.  I don’t think she stayed in the home after that, but she was certainly there that night. 

Conclusion

The staff in our home make a habit of opening the window for a little while when someone dies.  Even so, some of those who have passed have stuck around.  Of that, I’m sure.