Aging Wisely
October 18, 2023
By
Harriet Vaughan
Ghost Story # 1
When Edna returned to haunt her house and see what her family was doing, she was surprised to see a dumpster on the lawn. She was dismayed when she looked inside it to see most of the things she had cared about were in it. Her family had one thing in mind – the quick sale of Edna’s house. Her children knew the real estate market was red hot and they wanted to act fast. They only had a weekend to empty it. The bigger money to be made from the sale of the house outweighed the value of Edna’s possessions. The only thing that was slowing them down was the need to dispose of some hazardous waste materials that the trash hauler would not take and could not be recycled. Edna realized that the legatees of her many treasures would be the pickers who frequented the rubbish removal firm’s site.
Ghost Story # 2
Before his untimely death Hank had been a “prepper”. He was ready for the end of Western Civilization but not for his own demise. He’d got a great sense of security from knowing that the passwords for his many electronic devices and digital accounts were safely inside his head. When he came back to haunt his house he discovered his family had no way of unlocking his gun safe or the safe where he kept his vital papers and cash. They couldn’t access his online banking and investment accounts. They didn’t know about the bitcoin account which was now also lost to them. Even his Facebook account was still living on after him.
The Haunted Carpet
Apparently there is an additional option for the displaced soul besides Heaven or Hell, and that is inside your daughter’s head. Elsie(not her real name) had moved into a new house and wanted advice about what to do with the items she had inherited from her mother. Her living room was strangely compromised by a large, rolled up carpet that lay diagonally across the hardwood floor. It was much too big for that room or any other room in her house. I suggested that she sell the carpet and buy one that would fit the living room. She said she couldn’t because her mother would be too upset if she got rid of it. It made no difference that her mother had been dead for quite some time. I finally asked what she thought the solution should be and she said she would sell this house and buy one that the carpet would fit it. Problem solved!