I love this time of year! As a theatre lover, Halloween is an annual excuse to bring the costumes and set creativity out at home. New this year, the town of Wake Forest offered the “Spirits of Wake Forest” walking tour in downtown Wake Forest, complete with fun, historic facts, tales of ghost sightings and a few spooky specters who seemed to be following the tour. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour, but I found myself lamenting the fact that Broadsides & Brews isn’t opened yet, oh how we would have loved to participate! Since we will have to wait until next year to share any ghostly sightings at Broadsides & Brews, I thought I would share one of my own, personal ghost stories from my childhood……
It was a crisp autumn afternoon when we took the family station wagon to the service station for repairs. I was a very active toddler at the time, so my parents decided to take me across the street to investigate the old (I mean OLD, like Revolutionary War, old) cemetery. Crossing the busy four lane road with a hyper toddler and infant in tow was not easy but somehow seemed safer than trying to keep me occupied at the busy auto repair shop. As anyone with a toddler can guess, it didn’t take very long for the inevitable to happen…. yup, “Mommy, I have to go potty!” My mother now faced a dilemma, being that I was recently potty trained, she had to decide, run back across the four lane road to the service station bathroom, or, find a secluded spot in the trees behind the cemetery and let me go au naturale. My mother opted for the latter. After finishing my business, my mother used her boot to brush the leaves aside when, to her horror, there, beneath the spot where I had just done my business, was a gravestone. Devastated, my mom apologized to the stone and we went on with our day.
Later that evening, my mother was cooking dinner in our tiny kitchen when a pan, that sat nestled between larger and smaller pans, suddenly fell to the floor. As strange as it was, my mother continued with dinner without giving it another thought. Throughout the following week, strange occurrences continued to happen. Pictures and instruments fell off the walls, without their hooks or hanging wires being damaged or disturbed. Dolls and stuffed animals fell off my shelves without disturbing the items seated in front of them. One particularly loud bang in the kitchen caused our friend, a Yonkers, NY police officer, to draw his weapon! My mother explained all the strange goings on and our friend, the police officer, promptly said goodbye and left the house. The commotion continued to escalate and by the end of the evening, my mother had had enough. “I am sorry my daughter peed on your grave! It was not intentional! Now please, leave us and rest in peace!” She exclaimed. With a final BANG of a pan hitting the kitchen floor, our visitor left, never to return.
At Broadsides & Brews, we want to share stories and become a part of each other’s story. Do you have a ghost story you’d like to share? Please feel free to share your ghost story or any other stories with us here and we may even feature you and your story at Broadsides & Brews.
Wishing everyone a safe and happy All Hallows Eve!
