This is quite lengthy, but it helps to understand the bond I had with my Grandparents and keep that in mind while reading the remainder.
My Grandfather (on my Dad's side) passed away in '72, Grandma in 2002. We lived next door and I was always at their house as they watched me from the time my parents left for work until the school bus came to pick me up in the morning and again from the time I got off the bus until my parents came home.
I was closer to him than I was to my own father (always at work
)
For a few years after Grandpa died I "saw" him several times.
First time was a month after he died - he came to me in a dream and told me to tell Grandma to look under the lining (under his clothes) in his top dresser drawer. She did and found a life insurance policy she (nor I) ever knew about.
Usually I'd see him watching me when I was doing something wrong. Never directly, always out of the corner of my eye. When I'd look directly at him...there was nothing there. Unfortunately (for me) I didn't realize at the time what he was trying to teach me. Looking back on my life I understand now.
When Grandma died my Dad and uncle were going thru her personal effects and found a box that had contained a small safe. They asked me to look for it as they had and couldn't find it. I went into her bedroom and as I started looking I could feel both Grandma and Grandpa's presence. At first I thought it was just from being in her bedroom...then I could "feel" them laughing at me. I'd look behind a door "chuckle". I looked under the bed "ha ha".
When I started going thru the closet the laughing stopped and I thought maybe I was on to something. Took me about an hour of looking before I found the loose floorboard containing the safe.
Now I had to find the key. After looking on her dresser, I could feel my hand being gently pushed down to the third drawer so I opened. Nothing here but clothes...wait - what is that lump? An old change purse with 2 keys in it. I still don't know what the other key goes to!
When Dad and his brother decided to sell the farm, I couldn't stand the thought of "strangers" in Grandpa's house and the loss of the use of the land I grew up on.
Anyhow, my wife let me buy the farm, with the stipulation we let our sons live in our other house. We had just paid off our home and 20 acres the year before and had been looking at retiring by 55 (so much for that with no income from sale or rent of the other house).
Two days after we moved into the farm house we were sitting in the living room when my wife said "Who was that?" I asked her what she saw and she described an older man in Bib-overalls walking with a limp down the hall way as she ran to the other end of it to see who was in our house.
I just smiled as I had seen him several times while moving in.
Startled her enough she wouldn't take a shower (or even change her clothes without being covered up in bed) in that house for several weeks.
She has seen him since and has grown kind of used to having him around.
Grandpa always loved to play jokes on people (but ya better not play one on him!) A couple weeks ago my wife was washing dishes when she hollered for me to "come out here!" The throw rug she was standing on was about half flipped over onto her shoes. She said watch this and kicked the rug back flat on the floor. A couple seconds later the rug flipped back over onto her feet.
The scenario repeated a couple more times before she gave up and kicked the rug away.
This past weekend I was doing some work upstairs in one of the bedrooms. Wife was at her mothers so when I heard the stairs creaking as someone ascended I thought it was probably one of our dogs...but none ever came up. About the fourth time I heard it I waited until the sound had reached approx. the center of the stairway and I walked over to it - nothing there and the sound stopped. When I returned to what I was doing the creaking resumed.
Strange.
If ya don't believe in Ghosts you can try to explain these events away.
When you do believe, you just chuckle and carry on.