Back quite a few years ago ( I think it must have been '86
or '87 from memory) I woke up with the distinct feeling
that my grandmother had passed away. There was no way for
me to have known one way or the other, as I lived in Sydney
and she lived in Ballina (about 800km away) and although
she had been slightly ill previously, and was in her 80s,
she hadn't given any indication that she wasn't long for
this world. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I came down
the stairs from my bedroom to be confronted by my mother
with the sad news that my grandmother had indeed passed
away overnight. This wasn't as hard for Mum to tell me as
it might have been, because it was my paternal grandmother,
and therefore her mother in law rather than her mother.
I had a hard time for a while convincing Mum and Dad that I
should have some time off school to travel up to Ballina to
attend grandma's funeral. She hadn't been to Sydney that
many times, and we really only used to see her once a year
at Christmas time. I think they thought that there wasn't
that much of a bond there. Anyway the whole family
(including uncles and aunts and various others) made our
way to Ballina for the occasion. Quite a few relatives were
already there, as most had either stayed in Ballina (where
the family had been based since about the 1940s), or had
gone back there to live.
I think it was either the day before, or possibly the day
of the funeral, when one of my aunts (one of my grandma's
daughters in law) decided that she'd have a look through
grandma's room. To give a bit of background, this was the
daughter in law that my grandma either didn't like or
didn't approve of. She went so far as to actually go into
the wardrobe and try on one of grandma's dresses. She had
barely said the words "that's not Peg's" (obviously
grandma's name), when the light fitting came falling from
the ceiling, missing my aunt by mere centimeters. Not only
did it narrowly miss her, but against all odds the light
bulb survived the fall (whilst other parts of the glass
light fitting shattered).
The funeral went off without a hitch, and naturally enough
for a large catholic family there was a large wake that
went on until quite late that night. Grandma had left the
house to "the family", this was a very loose fitting
explanation of what she wanted, as she had had 10 kids, and
they had all had kids, and some of them had kids etc. I
think the gist of it was that she wanted family to be able
to visit from Sydney or wherever and be able to stay in the
house during their stay. Dad felt quite attached to the
house (as I'm sure some of his siblings did), as he'd grown
up there, and part of him still feels that it it home (even
though he hasn't lived in Ballina since the 60s).
At any rate time went on. One of my cousins moved into the
house for a while then moved into the house next door,
which he and his brother had purchased.
About 3 or 4 years passed. People moved in and out of the
house over time, they were either tenants, family or
friends of the family. I decided it was about time that I
visited my relatives in Ballina, and as the house was empty
at the time, I was offered my grandma's old house to sleep
in overnight. I was glad to be offered the traditional
family home. The family had actually been there so long
that the back lane was now named after us. I'd had a few
beers with one of my cousins next door, and might even have
consumed some weed that night (pretty common in northern
NSW). Anyway, I had the house to myself, and I was dog
tired. Being from Sydney, I made a point of switching all
the lights on, checking everything was okay, then locking
up. I also made sure that I switched off all the lights
before retiring for the night.
I'd like to say that I saw my grandma and had a
conversation with her that night, or something of that
nature, but the truth is quite a bit more mundane. Upon
waking in the morning, I found that several lights were
switched on. I was positive that I had switched them all
off, and there was no one else in the house at the time,
nor had anyone been in whilst I was asleep. I also found
that the back door, which I had been most careful to make
sure was locked, was in fact now unlocked. I had likewise
made sure the front was locked the night before, but the
front was still locked.
Although my cousins were living in the house next door at
the time, I am certain that they were not playing tricks on
me. They are quite a bit older than me (I was either in my
late teens or early 20s at the time) and quite past pulling
a prank on their cousin from the city. Not only that, but
their Dad (my uncle, and one of grandma's son's) lives in a
shed out the back behind the house, and next door to my
cousins, and he would have known if something was amiss. He
also is one to not go for practical jokes, and cried the
hardest and longest when grandma died, and therefore,
wouldn't pull a prank that would imply his mother sending a
message from the grave.
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