This past month has been a rough one, emotionally packed for not only myself but also my wife Laura. Easing out of the restrictions of COVID 19 has not brought everything back to normal. It has brought on new and fresh challenges, including all the logistics involved in placing a family member into assisted living. The combination of a lot of factors opens up a door to explore our own mortality: of how we will live, how we will die, and if any contributions we’ve made during our relatively short time on this physical plane have made any difference in the long run.
Have we been a good husband, father or son; wife, mother or daughter? These are hard observations, gathered in sobering textures of fleeting and precious life; and ending far too soon for anyone’s satisfaction. In the paranormal realm it only brings up more questions—why do some seemingly continue after physical death and remain behind, while others do not? It’s the million-dollar question that begs an answer. As of yet,
there are no answers, just a bunch of theories. It all boils down to reflection and speculation upon our life that leads to thoughts about our death.
Do we have any control over a paranormal situation we suddenly find ourselves in? Yes and no. There might be the occasion where we find ourselves in a home or business already inhabited by previous occupants. We essentially become a victim of circumstance. Do we stay or do we go? There are decisions to be made, but we do have a choice. It is thought that not only can locations be haunted, but people can also. However, looking for ghosts on purpose is a different ball game entirely.
Some folks bring “things” home with them, possibly from misadventure (séances, Ouija boards, etc.) or from prior paranormal investigations. Sometimes becoming wrapped up with the paranormal is intentional in nature; an unhealthy interest in spirits in general? I have a co-worker possessing a ghostly hitchhiker. He figures it was a result of a casual ghost hunt years ago at Waverly Hills Sanatorium in Louisville, Kentucky. Since that evening, “someone” seems to follow him and his family wherever they move. It’s not malicious, but still there. They live with it.
Where does a spirit live? It could be old houses…new houses…it doesn’t seem to matter. It might just be the land itself that is charged with remnants of the past. What are you going to do about that? Not a whole lot. Small towns—or big cities—all have passages of history that define multiple life experiences; sometimes pleasant, sometimes not so much. Paranormal investigators explore, study, and experiment, trying to make sense of a challenge that continues to elude. They invest in costly equipment that beeps and flashes in the dark, but may not help them in the least. They grab momentarily for a slice of the paranormal pie—a quick grasp—and then it’s gone.
I would suppose—and I’ve been doing this ghost business for a few years—that half the fun of the hunt is attempting to gain some sort of rationalization to questions that have no definitive answers. A paranormal investigation is almost like a game of chess, whatever strategy you have put together doesn’t always work in your favor.
People love a good ghost story, especially if they are a part of it. They want to believe. That’s how I started. The paranormal road continues on.
