February 26, 2007
Grandmotherly Visitor
Rate this encounter:
Kris M. Sutton, East Pulaski Avenue, Cudahy,
Wisconsin, 1970s
I remember as a child when going to bed at night my mom and dad would both
come in to tuck me in before I went to sleep. I would wake a little bit
later after my parents had gone to bed to find someone tucking me in again
-- it was a woman and she would come in through the door, look over at me,
and take the covers and pull them up to my chin and smooth them over. She'd
pat me on the head or back and then leave through the doorway like she had
entered. If the window was open and it was going to storm or get cold out,
she would close the window first then tuck me in. In the morning the window
would be closed if I saw her come in the night before.
I once asked my parents if they had come in to close the window and they
both said no. My mom said it must have been my dad doing it. I just shrugged
and walked away. I wasn't afraid of this woman, I just assumed she was my
grandmother who passed away when I was a small child.
Every once in awhile I would hear her call to me in the house or I would be
outside playing and I would hear her say I should go home
now. I'd
rush home to find my mom in the middle of doing something and needing my
help.
When I got older my mom and I talked about the experiences and she said it
was strange that whenever she felt sad or needed someone around, I would
just show up asking if she needed me. I just figured it was my mom wanting
me.
To describe how the woman looked, I would say she looked like a smoky gray
shadow. She moved like a strobe light was on in that kind of jerky movement.
I remember my grandmother and she didn't look like her, but I some how felt
it was her. I'd say it happened until I was about 10 years old or so. I
don't know what made her stop, but I can honestly say I miss her. She made
me feel safe. I have yet to feel that safe and secure ever since.
