Emma: Reader Submission

Two Cents sent me this wonderful story. I think that spirits can really enhance our lives, and occasionally we seem to help them, too.
Thanks Two Cents, I love this!
___________________________


We've lived in many houses over the years. Most of them have had a spirit or two but the most memorable one was about 16 years ago. The house had sat empty for about 5 years but I was desperate to find a cheap place to live. The property manager agreed to do some basic work to make it livable and rent it to me at a decent price. The house itself was a two story/two bedroom, one for us, and one for our 2-year-old son. There was a small open area at the top of the stairs, which we used as a nursery for my newborn daughter. The first floor had a living room with recessed French doors, a dining room with the original build-in hutch and linen closet, a kitchen with a pantry and an entrance foyer. In the foyer was a large natural gas space heater. There was a dirt basement with an old coal chute under the house.



At one time, this had been a beautiful home and as I cleaned room after room, the beauty began to shine again. I noticed things moving from time to time, a rag I left in another room would appear next to me, and window cleaner I hadn't unpacked would show up on the kitchen table. With in a few days I became aware of "female" energy. She was happy and became more so as I brought this house back to life. Soon after I began to see the shape of an older woman, short and stout, dressed in a plain long dress with an apron. I asked her name and what I "got" was Emma. Every time I cleaned or cooked Emma would become more active, touching me or making little air whirl winds around my legs. It got so that I talked to her during the days, as if a friend were there visiting while I did my chores. She visited the children at night. More than once, I saw her over the baby's crib. My son talked about "the Lady" in his room. She would sit on his bed when he woke up in the night. He never seemed afraid of her mostly just comforted.



I was aware of other spirits but none made themselves overly apparent until winter set in. The space heater in the foyer was faulty and would shut it self off occasionally during the day and night. Days weren't too bad as one of us was always there to bleed the line and relight it but at night when it went out the house would get cold very quickly. As winter truly set in we began to hear footsteps during the night. Then they got louder and doors would be heard opening and closing. We finally figured out that one of the "males" was trying to heat the house. The doors were from the basement and the pantry. The footsteps were him trying to bring coal from the chute to the coal furnace that had once been in the pantry.



We ended up moving in the spring because the owner wouldn't fix the heater. Another family moved in after us but only lived there for 6 months and the family after that only made it a few months. It's been empty since then and is boarded over now. Neighborhood rumor has it the house is haunted by "evil" spirits and no one can live there for more that a little while. If I had the money, I'd buy that house and bring it back again. I miss Emma.
__________________________________

We had a house that, althuogh I never "met" the spirits personally, had wonderful, welcoming spirits that blossomed as we fixed up the old house that had been vacant for years. The owner sold it, and they tore it down to build a cotton gin. I always wonder what happened to the spirits that were there.