A lot of people ask me how I got involved in the paranormal or why I'm a 'ghost hunter'. I think my reason for getting involved in it is the same as many other investigators; I've had an experience. And when you experience something you can't explain, you want answers. So when people ask me why, I share my ghost story.
As a teenager, we lived in the second oldest town in Tennessee—the beautiful town of Dandridge. Shortly after moving into our house, we noticed some strange things happening. My little brother, who was around one or two years old at the time, would look into his dark bedroom and talk (gibber-jabber) to someone who we couldn't see. Then things started getting moved, usually while we were asleep or not at home. I came home from school one day to find the drawers under my bed pulled out and my clothes hanging out of them, pulled right out into the floor, yet no one had been in my room. And my mom couldn't find her tea, only to find it in the oven a couple of days later. In the oven! We would also hear noises, especially whistling, that seemed to come out of nowhere. It was always something, and something strange.
I remember being pretty frightened, especially at night. It felt like someone was always watching me. I was so scared that I rigged a thin rope up to my light so that I wouldn't have to walk from my light switch to my bed in the dark at bedtime. We all pretty much knew that we weren't alone.
Our house had been used as slave quarters during the Civil War, and the house at the end of the street had been used as a hospital. Civil War relics had also been found in our yard with metal detectors, so we knew that the area we lived in had probably been very populated by soldiers at one point in time. We knew about the Battle of Dandridge, we just didn't think it would affect us so many years later.
Sharing our experiences with family members prompted one of them to contact a friend of hers who was a sensitive. We had never talked to a sensitive or psychic before, so we didn't know what to expect. But we were curious, so we let her come to our home to do a reading, not thinking too much about what she may find, because honestly, we were a bit skeptical. She proved us wrong.
She wasn't told anything about us or our experiences, just that we thought our house was haunted. As she walked in, we just stood back and let her do her thing. The first place she went to was my little brother's room, which I was sure was just a coincidence. But then she went on to tell us the name of a woman who supposedly stayed in that room, and that she was waiting for her son to return from the war. But what really blew our minds was when she told us that the lady wasn't looking out the window, that she was sitting by a door. What she couldn't see, because it was covered by curtains and a changing table, was the old frame . . . of a door. The house had underwent a lot of renovations over the years, and that just happened to be one of them.
She proceeded into our kitchen, where she blew our mind, yet again. "I feel like I'm standing outside," she said. "This used to be a back porch." Yes, yes it was. "And I see a boy . . . whittling wood. Whistles? I see him whittling whistles." Well, that explained a lot. My mom and I were just staring at each other with our mouths open. This lady not only sensed spirits, but she knew structural things about our house that she couldn't have known. But that wasn't all.
Before she left, she gave us the names of the spirits she had felt; one was the lady's name, and the other was of a soldier she felt was on the property. And I knew first hand that we had a ghost outside because it had chased me across our neighbors yard one night—funny story, actually. Anyway, we ended up doing some research, hoping to find these names, doubtful that we would. But guess what? We did. The soldier's name was listed on a hospital record as having been a patient . . . in the very hospital that was at the end of our street.
For several years we lived with the ghosts who resided with us in our home and on our property. The psychic had said they were harmless, for the most part, and just wanted us to know they were there. Oh, we knew. That's when the paranormal became our normal.
As a paranormal investigator, I empathize with our clients, knowing how scary it can be to have things happen that seem to be out of your control. That is why our team,
Eyewitness Paranormal, volunteer our services to help those experiencing paranormal activity, either to debunk some things, putting their mind at ease, or to document proof of paranormal activity so that they know, and can prove to others, that they're not crazy.
If you have your own ghost story that you would like to share,
