November 30, 2007

Uncle George's Last Visit

Rate this encounter:[an error occurred while processing this directive] Dean, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, 1986

I had a lot of trouble sleeping when I was younger and I would often end up crawling in with my dad downstairs. He slept on a pullout in the basement, and usually when I went down there with him I could sleep a lot easier. On this particular night, I went down shortly after midnight, which was just about normal. By midnight I would be convinced that I couldn't sleep on my own, and my dad would be asleep, so I could get in without bothering him.

I got in the bed and for all I can remember, I fell asleep pretty quickly. The next thing I knew, I was waking up and it was about 3:30 in the morning. I rolled over to get comfortable, and found myself looking at the recliner chair against the wall. It appeared to be rocking slightly, but I figured I was probably imagining things, so I closed my eyes for a second to see if it would stop.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw a man sitting in the chair. He was foggy, I don't know how else to describe it. It's not like he was surrounded by fog, it's like he was foggy. He also appeared to be dressed in an old sailor's uniform, complete with the white hat and neckerchief.

I was obviously very scared, and I couldn't think of anything to do. I tried shaking my dad awake, but I couldn't get him to stir. Finally I thought my best option might be to turn on the light on the table beside me. I reached up, switched on the light, and the figure was gone. Eventually I guess I fell asleep again.

The next morning, I was eating breakfast when I heard my dad crying. He was on the phone with his twin sister. I asked my mom what was wrong with him, and she said that his oldest brother, my Uncle George, had died overnight. A few days later, the newspaper ran the obituary. The picture accompanying the write-up showed my uncle in his Navy uniform from the 1940s.