Ellie is my other-half's favourite Auntie. She's in her mid-to-late 60's. Ellie's husband, Terry, died four years ago and she has lived alone ever since. Recently, Ellie has been in hospital with an e-Coli infection and as part of her treatment, the doctor's put her into an induced coma for a week. It was pretty touch-and-go with the prognosis not necessarily being positive. Thank heavens, Ellie recovered and is now at home. Weak ... but almost back to her old self.
At any rate, my other half and I got in the car and went to pay a call on her yesterday. I am a believer in _most_ things paranormal, my other-half: a skeptic! As Ellie had been in a coma, I was interested to see if she'd had a NDE. When questioning Ellie about the time she was in the coma, she could not recall anything *peculiar*. However, the conversation then turned to ghostie's ... Ellie relayed the story about her sister, Lynne, now dead these past two years.
Lynne died of a heart-attack which was completely unexpected, and a great shock to Ellie, as Lynne had no prior history of heart problems. Ellie and Lynne were great friends and Lynne's demise has left Ellie a little lost. She misses her sister greatly. There was a photo of Lynne on a little table in Ellie's lounge room. One evening, while Ellie was watching the idiot-box, Lynne's photo crashed to the floor and the frame broke. It was winter, all doors/windows were closed - in other words, there was no wind to blow the photo over. Paul, Ellie's son, fixed the frame [which made Ellie very happy as she liked the frame a lot] and the photo was placed back in its spot on the table. Yet again, while watching the TV, this time with Paul, Lynne's photo crashed to the floor a second time. Jokes were made about Lynne **not liking the position of the photo, she was always nosey and couldnt see enough from that position.** We all make quips like this from time to time. Lynne's photo was put on the wall, where it has remained without incident, ever since. But that is NOT the story I want to tell you. It merely forms the back-drop for the real tale.
Before commencing the tale, Ellie prefaced it with "I don't believe in this stuff." I didn't imagine Ellie was talking about ghosts! Ellie could be a soldier ... as soon as she gets up, she gets dressed and makes her bed. No cuppa first - unlike me who can't function without caffeine first thing in the morning. Apparently, Ellie follows this regime EVERY morning without fail. I make a point of this because, by the time Ellie has dressed and made her bed, she is OBVIOUSLY wide-awake. This particular morning, just *after* Lynne's death, Ellie followed her usual morning routine. Ellie dressed, made her bed, and then exited her bedroom, to make a cuppa and go about her business. When Ellie came out of her bedroom, she walked into the hallway and saw Lynne "come through the window in a flowing white dress". Lynne was with "some man". Ellie, quite taken aback, she knew that her sister was deceased, spoke to Lynne. "Lynne, what are you doing here?" Lynne said, "I just came to see if you were alright." The man didn't say anything, he just stood there. Ellie then got quite upset. She was crying and visibly distressed. Helga, Ellie's next door neighbour came in for a cuppa and asked Ellie "What's the matter?" Ellie explained.
Now, Ellie didn't say how Lynne and the man left, whether they walked out or just disappeared. She also didn't say how long the visitation lasted. Ellie wasn't scared, she was shocked and upset because she knew full well that Lynne shouldn't have been in her house because she had only recently died. I said to Ellie, "You are very lucky! Lynne managed to come back to let you know she loves you and is watching over you." Millions of people on the planet would love ONE last conversation with their departed love ones. I can think of some people I'd dearly love to have one last conversation with. On the drive back home, I surmised to my other half that the man was actually Ellie's husband, Terry. This wasn't particularly well received by my boyfriend. Reason? Apparently Lynne and Terry didn't get on very well in life, he couldn't see them visiting Ellie together. I disagree. I believe that once people have died, all these petty little personality problems dissipate. I think it was Terry there with Lynne. Ellie's husband and sister paying one last visit. Maybe Lynne needed some help in *focusing* to visit Ellie and Terry came along to lend a hand. They both had one thing in common, a love for Ellie. I think they put their differences aside so that Lynne could let Ellie know that she was OK and still cared for her. I also think the reason the **man** was indistinguishable and didn't speak, was because it was Lynne's *mission* to contact Ellie, he was just there in support of Lynne.
What do you think?
This story was originally published at alt.folklore.ghost-stories and was republished with the author's permission.
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I really think that point is irrelevant. What is important was that she got the chance to see her sister again (it is interesting that she chose to come through the window, though) and they both were aware of the visit. Thank you.