From Harvey to Jackson

A woman from Jackson, Mississippi came on the tour back in the winter. She used to live in Harvey outside of New Orleans. In that home her kids would see a man come into their bedroom and keep an eye on them. He was an old black man who wore a red plaid flannel shirt and a newsboy hat. One day the woman was talking to a neighbor. The neighbor said that her uncle had died in the house during Katrina. She described him. The woman called her children over and had them repeat their description of the man they had seen in their bedroom-- it was the same.

Although the family had moved, the kids still saw him. He was a comfort to them. One day, not long after they had first moved, the woman was sitting on the bed facing the closet. Nothing had been placed in the closet yet, just a red flannel shirt belonging to her partner. As she sat in the bed looking at the otherwise empty closet, the arm of the shirt lifted, it turned 180- degrees to face her, then after a moment turned back at rest.

Long Island

Back in January, a man came on the tour with one of those stories that leaves me bawling. His daughter died at 3 and his son has serious birth defects; he cannot walk or talk. The man said that the daughter hangs out with her brother. She would be 26 today, and her brother is 21. One day the man and his son came home from lunch at McDonald's. He had to use the bathroom, so he wheeled his son into the house, locked the wheels, and ran to the bathroom. While he was in there, he heard the toy piano playing. It was in the closed toy box. Naturally he figured it was his deceased daughter, "Natalie, I know you want your brother out, but give me a minute" the playing continued. He said it again, and again the playing continued. This wasn't like her. He said, "Hit the key once for yes and twice for no--Are you Natalie?"  

Two hits.

 "Are you someone else?" 

One hit. 

"Are you with her" 

One hit. 

He said, "Okay, you can stay, so long as you are nice to my son and protect him." 

When the man came out of the bathroom, he fished the piano out of the toy box and turned it off.