THE TIME I SAW A GHOST!

By Terra McConnell

It was a normal summer day. I was helping my dad, Mike, take care of the dogs, cats, birds, snakes, frogs, fish, and plants. Then my dad and I went into the Jacuzzi. ‘The Jacuzzi relaxed my body after a long day. My dad’s eyes are hazel, and his hair is dark brown. I think my dad the perfect father.

My name is Terra. My birthday is December 22 1989. I was four years old when it happened. My eyes and hair are brown. My hair has natural red highlights. I was three feet tall at the time.

That night I heard a sound in the living room. I got of my nice, warm, comfortable bed. I tiptoed through the hallway and looked once into the dark living room. No one was there. I looked back behind me. Then I glanced into the dark living room. I thought I saw something or someone.

I wasn’t scared. I went up closer and closer to it. Then I knew it looked like a person. I looked at his face. I knew his face looked familiar to me. I knew that there was a picture of him in the kitchen.

I asked him if he wanted something to drink. He said, "Yes."

So we went to the kitchen. I asked him, "Is that you?"

He whispered, "Yes."

"Here’s your drink. I hope you like orange juice?" I asked.

"Yes I do," he said. Then once he drank the orange juice. He started to disappear. S-L-O-W-L-Y.

Once he was gone I felt sad, but scared in a way. I wanted to know more about him, but I was getting tired so it had to wait until the morning.

In the morning I asked my mom who the man in the picture was? She answered, "That’s your grandfather Raymond Lester McConnell. He was born May 25, 1908 in a town called Wausa, Nebraska. He was an only child. His parents were Robert Wallace McConnell and Ellen Amelia Carlson. His grandfather Thomas McConnell came over from Ireland in the 1820‘s. His mother, Ellen came over from Sweden on a ship when she was a teenager. Raymond McConnell grew up in Wausa, which was a railroad town, where most people spoke Swedish. Your grandma knew from the moment she saw him that she wanted to marry him. So on June14, 1928, they were in married in Yankton, South Dakota which is right next to Hartington, Nebraska. They had seven children: Harvey, Betty, Dean, Ramona, Dale, Robert, Alice, and Mike. Due to his smoking cigarettes since he was a young teenager, he developed emphysema, which affected his breathing. So he had to be hooked up to an oxygen tank. He died on April 25, 1985 at the age of 76, in the house where I saw him.

I was surprised and wondered why he came back. I think he wanted to see how the family was doing, and maybe he really missed his life and wanted to see me. I’m really glad that my grandpa came back to meet me.