Lately I can not seem to clear up a few of my experiences. About 4 years ago my husband and I were in bed and I woke up to see an African American lady in a long dress holding a shawl. She was at the corner of the end of our bed on my side. I didn't scream or get scared but I saw her very plainly for a few seconds up against our dresser and then she was gone. I happened to be having a recurring dream at the time and wonder if that all goes into play since she wasn't a person in the dream. I never saw her after that either. Also, my husband had just returned from a deployment and I had been alone for 3 months. We were living in an apartment complex in NC.
The next one was about 7 years ago.
My dad had died from Pulmonary Fibrosis and was living in MI while I was in SC with my mom and stepfather. He had been sick for a while and I left MI because it was becoming too hard for me. The home that my stepfather bought was a home belonging to a local doctor that had lived there his whole life and took care of everyone in town. So after I came back from my father's funeral I kept a light on in my room in SC and the door open to the hallway because someone kept caressing my head. I started sleeping at the opposite end of the bed as well. I told it that I was okay and to leave me be thinking it was my dad. However I was also going through some medical worries myself and thought maybe it could have been the past resident? After that I had not been touched but I still feel creeped out in that house.
I also sense a bit of guilt on your part for leaving your father when it got to be too much for you. This is normal to feel this way but you can only do what you can and you can't live with regrets and be mentally healthy. Maybe this was your father's way of letting you know it's ok that you did what you did and not to have guilt about it. We all have our saturation point and then it's time to change our circumstances for our own mental well being.
I don't know about the apparition you saw being other than a residual one no doubt being that the south was the place of slaves.