A Visit From My Grandfather?
by Ken Wilson


As I sit here and type this, I am reminded of my childhood days and the “Edinburgh Walnut Festival”.  You knew Fall of the year was coming when the carnival was in town! Seeing moms and dads and their daughters and grandaughters going door-to-door asking for change to put in their cans for  the “Little Princess” and “Walnut Fesitval Queen” was a common site. A time for cooler weather and changing of the leaves. Also, the beginning of a new school year.  Ahhh the good ol’ days!  Now when I  think of Fall,  many of the same feelings are still there.  Except starting a new year of school.  I have replaced that with ghost hunting.  That’s right! Looking for those that have passed on but are still here is a hobbie of mine.  A hobbie that continues all year, but is more inhanced in the Fall.  Certainly more busy than at any other time throughout the year. 

I’ve been hunting ghosts with Hoosier Paranormal Research now for 4 years.  I haven’t always had an interest in ghost hunting though.  It wasn’t  until 1990 when I saw my first apparition did I become fascinated with the subject.  I lived in an old house that creeked a lot and things seemed to move around. But I had a large family and never thought much about it. 

One night, I was kicked back on the couch alone watching my favorite TV show, “Star Trek: TNG”.  Suddenly, I saw what would change my views on ghosts forever. 
My Grandmother, Alpha Sharp, was very sweet.  My mother is so much like her  it’s  not  funny.   She  had  the  most pleasent personality.  Her byword phrase was always, “looks like your’ve put on a few pounds!”, then slap you silly a few times. My mother and she was very close.  Her husband, my grandfather, died in the ‘40s from injuries obtained in an automobile accident. So I had never met him and as a matter of fact, never heard much about him.  In the late ‘80s, my grandmother was put into a nursing home and her house was sold.  I went to her nursing home and visited her a few times. The last time I saw her was in early September. I had a spiffy 1984 Pontiac Fiero and took it for a ride around town while my mom visited grandma and listened to Boston on the cassette deck.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  Anyway, grandma was on her death bed.  I knew it was only days and she would be gone but out of her misery.

Now, going forward to the night I saw my “ghost”.  It was about 2 weeks before my grandmother passed away.  The best way I can describe it is he, yes he, was wearing a fedora hat. Like they wore back in the ‘20s thru the ‘60s. He had long, flowing grey hair. He was wearing a light grey suit with a white shirt.  He looked very boney. He looked to be a very large man.  He was sitting in the chair, his body facing the TV, with his head turned and facing me.  Nothing was said and he never flinched.  I jumped off the couch quicker than you can say jackrabbit! 		In an instant, he was gone.  I was quite shaken by this.  I really didn’t know what it was.  I didn’t know why he was in my living room.  Most of all, I didn’t know why he was looking at me.

A few weeks later, after my grandmother’s funeral, I was telling my mom about my sighting and when I described him to her,  she calmly explained to me that it was her father.  Whether he was there to comfort mom and us before grandma’s death or to take her away once she died is yet to be known.  But thinking back at his image,  I either scared him profusely or he was not expecting me to see him and perhaps was not suppose to be seen and vanished.  Whatever he was, whatever his reason for being there and whatever reason I saw him,  I have to find out.   Until then,  I’m just a guy looking for ghosts. I just hope I have a video camera with me when I see one!

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